Stat Staff Professionals, Inc. has added many great education benefits in 2019 including partnering with ANCC’s Success Pays Program® and the BCEN® “Yes You Can!” program, to encourage and help our benefit-eligible employees obtain their specialty certifications more easily.

Earning a certification and completing the required continuing education to maintain it, enhances your experience, adds value, and empowers your career. In addition, specialty certifications are viewed as a contributor to improving patient outcomes. Increased knowledge equates to better quality and advanced care.

Our patients aren’t the only ones that value the added credentials; our fellow nurses and employers recognize their worth as well. It helps a nurse to enhance one’s career, boost self-esteem, validate knowledge, and improve practice. It is important for nurses to be empowered. I believe this provides nurses with the confidence to be more innovative in their thinking and profession. As discussed in a previous blog, we are all innovators, but unless you believe and cultivate it, you won’t be able to share that insight to its full potential.

Healthcare is continually growing and improving. Certifications help nurses to stay abreast the ever-changing healthcare environment and to increase patient satisfaction and outcomes. More and more hospitals either require or prefer a specialty certification in order to be considered for a position on certain units. In addition, the number of certified nurses within an organization is one of the factors the ANCC considers when awarding Magnet® status. Thus, hospitals that seek to obtain this prestigious recognition encourage their staff to become certified within their specialties or seek out employees who already have them.

In conclusion, specialty certification is viewed as a mark of excellence within healthcare and demonstrates a nurse’s knowledge and ability to deliver the best care. 

References 

American Association of Critical Care Nurses. Certification Benefits Patients, Employers, and Nurses. Retrieved from https://www.aacn.org/certification/value-of-certification-resource-center/nurse-certification-benefits-patients-employers-and-nurses

Bonsall, Lisa. (2012). NursingCenter® Blog. Retrieved from https://www.nursingcenter.com/ncblog/march-2012/specialty-certification

Schroeter, Kathryn. (2015). The Value of Certification. Journal of Trauma Nursing, Volume. 22 (No. 2). Retrieved from https://www.nursingcenter.com/journalarticle?Article_ID=2779001&Journal_ID=607948&Issue_ID=2779000

American Nurses Credentialing Center. Our Certifications. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/our-certifications/