Nursing Certifications: The What, Why, and When

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Who You’ll Hear

Kati Kleber, MSN RN– Nurse educator, former cardiac med-surg/stepdown and neurocritical care nurse, author, and speaker.

Melissa Stafford, BSN RN CCRN SCRN – highly experienced and currently practicing nationally certified neurocritical care nurse.

Elizabeth Mills, BSN RN CCRN – highly experienced neurocritical care nurse, current Stroke Navigator for a Primary Stroke Center.

Karen Kesten, DNP APRN CCRN-K CCNS CNE, chair of the certification board of directors for the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). 

What You’ll Learn

• Certifications
• Exam vs NCLEX
• Tips
• Maintaining Nursing Certifications

Nursing Certifications: The What, Why, and When

In this episode, we talk about nursing certifications and why they are important to our profession, plus how to become certified.

Certification

• A way to meet national standards in a specialty area
  • OB, mental health, med-surg, critical care, progressive care, dialysis, cardiac, etc. are just some examples
• Essentially, you demonstrate that you meet this standard by practicing for a certain amount of hours (typically around 2 years full time at the bedside) and passing a rigorous exam
• Long-term goal
• Example:  CCRN (certified critical care nurse)
• The Why? The Benefits of Nursing Certification
• It feels amazing to pass the exam
  • All three FreshRN Podcast hosts are certified, nurses
• Whenever you pass, you get to add letters behind your name
  • Kati Kleber, BSN RN CCRN
  • Melissa Stafford, BSN RN CCRN SCRN
  • Elizabeth Mills, BSN RN CCRN
• Take a prep course
  • Check with the organization who gives the exam
    • For example, checking if the AACN has a review course for the critical care certification (spoiler alert: they do)
  • Online resources like review books are typically available
    • For example, Pass CCRN book

      PASS CCRN®! 5e

Certification exam vs. NCLEX®

• It’s not computer adaptive (which means giving you a harder question based off of the answer to your previous question)
• Experience really helps you answer the questions, while NCLEX® is very textbook
• You typically find out if you pass immediately, versus going
• You don’t have to go through your State Board of Nursing / Pearson Vue to take it, rather through the accrediting body (like AACN or ACCN)
• Focuses a lot on the synergy model

Tips

• See if your hospital/facility offers a review course or resources
• See if your hospital/facility reimburses for the exam or will increase your pay for having a certification
• Before you start to study…
  • Take a pre-test – tells you where to focus your time
  • Look at the blueprint for the exam so you know what’s on the exam
• Question banks + a review course are really helpful

Maintaining your nursing certification

• Every organization handles this differently, be aware of what’s expected of you before it’s time to renew
• Typically, you must have a minimum amount of hours and many CEU’s OR you can take the test over again
• Make sure you’re taking the CEU’s you need in the correct categories to maintain appropriately
• Keep track of your paper trail of CEU’s

More Resources on Nursing Certifications

• What is Continuing Education and Why is it Important for Nurses
• List of Common Certifications from Nurse.org
• Review of CEUFast

Wish you felt more confident making decisions on the floor?

You’re a good nurse—but you want to be a great one. The kind who notices subtle changes, makes smart decisions under pressure, and earns the respect of coworkers and providers alike (even that kinda intimidating one 👀). That next-level skill? It’s critical thinking—and it’s something you can learn. In Critical Thinking for Nurses, I break down exactly what critical thinking actually is (spoiler: it’s more than just “using your judgment”) and how to use it every day on the floor. You’ll get practical tools, real-life examples, and simple steps to start thinking like a seasoned nurse—now, not five years from now.

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