TNCC and other certs. Which are worthwhile?

[tolachi]

I'm almost out of nursing school and looking at trying to make myself as atractive as possible for a job in the ED. I learned about TNCC and was looking into it, but found that none of the nurses at the ED where I am preceptoring have it. Apparently it isn't required and there is no benefit to getting it. I was wondering what the deal is with these certifications? Is it strictly a hospital by hospital deal or are there regions that use one certification over another like the sat and act(?). ACLS and PALS seem to be universally required, but I'm wondering what the deal is beyond that. SF Bay area knowledge is particularly welcome.

Thx.

[jncRN]

the ed where i work pays to put 5-10 people through tncc every year. the goal is to have all rns who work in our ed certified after a few years of doing this.

i think any time you have certifications, it is a plus. it is all knowledge, and as a new nurse, you will be lacking in experience so the more knowledge you have, the better off/more employable you will be. i am a nurse with less than a year experience myself, and i am certified in tncc, acls, and ctas.

take care.

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nursescarlett, emerg rn

[Babs0512]

I took TNCC, PTNCC, ACLS, PALS. I found them all worthwhile. At the time they were required for working in the ER. Now I work PACU, so I have to keep my ACLS and PALS up to day.

[loricatus]

I would say it would be better to get board certification (CEN) than TNCC right now.

Although, I wish I had TNCC training, employers have neve bothered to give me the time off when I needed it to for the 2 days-guess they don't think it is that important.

CEN has the advantage, in some places, of earning you more money & contributes to the board certification requirements of having a certain percentage of nursing staff board certified in their specialty, if your hospital decides to go magnet.

[loricatus]

Removed post for being off topic

[futurecnm]

Our ED puts all of us through TNCC, PALS, and ACLS. I have done PALS and ACLS so far. I will probably have TNCC this winter. I'd love to get the CEN but obviously have to get some experience before taking that test.

[tolachi]

Thanks for the advice. The CEN sounds like a great idea but perhaps requires a bit more experience/knowledge to pass. It sounds like the TNCC is a good course for building skills but CEN might impact employability more.