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S3E25: Nursing Certifications: The What, Why, and When

July 24, 2018 By Kati Kleber, MSN RN Leave a Comment

S3E25: Nursing Certifications: The What, Why, and When

This podcast is available on iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and Google Play

Articles contain affiliate links. For more information on affiliate links, click here.

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.

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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®!, 5ePASS 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

Filed Under: Podcasts, Professional Development for Nurses Tagged With: CEU, FreshRN Podcast, interview, nursing certifications

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Kati Kleber MSN RN is the founder and nurse educator of FreshRN. [Read More]

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