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The Benefits of Nursing Certification

It may be for personal fulfillment, or it may be your commitment to excellence, or it may be the incentive of a differential. Whatever your reason, attaining nursing certification helps establish your professional identity. It also makes you a hot property.

Barbara Jackman, former chief operating officer at Memorial Hospital in Martinsville, Va., notes that healthcare institutions today are under tremendous pressure. Simply finding enough nurses to provide basic medical and surgical care is a huge challenge. Nurses with specialty certification, therefore, are at a premium—and that often translates to higher salaries, especially at teaching and tertiary facilities in larger cities. Jackman points out that some hospitals offer educational healthcare programs—cardiac or diabetes wellness, for example—and certified nurses who teach as well as supervise patient care within these specialties often earn higher pay than their non-certified peers.

“As we see the Baby Boomer population aging,” Jackman says, “demand for related healthcare—cardiac, diabetes and other obesity-related illness, cancer—is increasing. So nurses with the additional requisite qualifications and experience may find additional compensation and career opportunities down these avenues.”

But is it just about money? Of course not. Although financial advantages and career advancement are certainly important points, certification also brings intangible benefits. Nurses who complete the rigorous training and testing for certification demonstrate their commitment to their profession and to their specialty. Patients may feel more confident they’ll receive quality care when their nurse holds a special certification, and indeed, nurses themselves indicate that certification may help reduce healthcare errors. Additionally, certified nurses may experience more job satisfaction because their peers view them as reliable and knowledgeable healthcare providers.

“I believe that there are many nurses in the profession who want to prove they are among the best of the best,” says Julee Bolg, director of Standards and Quality Improvement for Cross Country TravCorps, a travel nurse agency that matches many certified nurses with facilities across the U.S. “It is this select group of nurses who are interested in learning, who are active in our professional organizations, and aspire to hold themselves to the highest standard.”