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To
The Letter
Nurses
puzzle over value of |
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To
The Letter
Nurses
puzzle over value of |
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By
Chris
Schreiber
The next time you consider adding a credential or certification after your name, think about the possibility that you might be making nursing’s "alphabet soup" just a little bit thicker. "We call it the alphabet soup because of all the letters you can list after your name," said Connie Highsmith, RN, president of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. Letters everywhere Why are letters important? Because they tell your colleagues and your patients that you have the necessary qualifications to do your job, experts say. Most nurses agree that the initials denoting academic degrees are meaningful because they sum up an individual’s educational achievements. But after that, there’s little agreement about which credentials and certifications nurses should list. "I vary mine depending on whom I talk to and what I want them to know about me," said Mary Smolenski, EdD, FNP, RN, director of certification services for the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), a division of the American Nurses Association. "You see some people’s names that have 10 or 15 letters after them, and I think a lot of people don’t even know what the letters mean. Not only the public, but the professionals themselves. I’m sure there is some confusion." The ANCC certifies a host of clinical specialties and says more than 35,000 nurses received board certifications in 27 specialty areas in 1997. Smolenski said part of the confusion is a lack of uniformity from state to state and the existence of subsets of broader certifications. A nurse practitioner, an NP, can be an FNP (family), an NPP (psychiatric ), a PNP (pediatric), or a GNP (geriatric). Depending on the state, the initials will vary again. In Florida, ARNP signifies an advanced registered nurse practitioner. In Maryland, the same person would be a CRNP, or a certified registered nurse practitioner. The ANCC uses ‘C’ to denote certification and ‘CS’ for certified specialists. In addition to the certifications offered by the ANCC, many nursing specialty organizations, such as the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care and the Oncology Nursing Society, offer their own certifications, adding to the confusion. View from the outside Confusion about what all these credentials and certifications mean is so great outside the healthcare industry that legislation has cropped up, in California and other states, to limit the use of the title "nurse" or simply to force healthcare personnel to wear badges indicating their job titles to help explain the jumble of letters. However, many nurses say that’s OK, because even with the potential for confusion, credentials are an important way to ensure quality health care. "Credentials are positive for the consumer," said Ruth Ann Terry, MPH, RN, executive officer for the California Board of Registered Nurses. "They indicate that you have someone who maintains currency and competency." And employers agree. What confuses the public provides clarity to employers, said Kate Purcell, owner of National Nurse Search, a nursing recruiting firm in Oklahoma City. "A typical layperson would not understand what those initials mean," Purcell said. "But most employers do know what the letters mean, and most of the time the letters are for the employer’s benefit." Certifications may make a candidate appear more attractive as an applicant and can sometimes lead to a higher salary. An informal survey by the ANCC revealed that more than half of certified nurses received a pay increase upon becoming certified or were reimbursed for some or all of their certification-related expenses. What’s more, some advanced practice nurses report that the certifications have induced some insurance companies to pay nurses directly. Still, Smolenski said, one of the most common complaints from nurses is the lack of financial compensation that certifications bring in the workplace. And certification doesn’t come cheap. Though the price tag varies widely depending on review and preparation material, most estimates put it between $500 and $1,000. The tab includes $296 for tests offered by the ANCC; test preparation materials including books and tapes, priced from around $50 to close to $300; and test-preparation classes, which can cost more than $500, according to the ANCC. Demands of the profession The healthcare marketplace has undergone such a transformation that graduate degrees and additional credentials are almost required, according to Verena Briley-Hudson, MN, RN, a nurse executive with the Department of Veterans Affairs in Temple, Texas, who sits on one of the regional boards of directors for the American Organization of Nurse Executives. "A lot has changed over the years—mainly that we have improved our standards and educational level," Briley-Hudson said. "In what we are teaching nursing today, some of the responsibility and leadership roles nurses must assume make it necessary [to get advanced education.]" The ANCC’s Smolenski agrees. "The marketplace is requesting higher numbers of certified nurses," she said. But even though outside groups are increasingly seeing the value of certifications, "the No. 1 reason [nurses pursue certification] is personal satisfaction." |
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