Nurses are raising the bar

More than 570 of the nurses working at Upstate University Hospital hold specialty certifications, awarded for acquiring additional skills, knowledge and expertise in a special area. Many hold multiple certifications.
Experts say certified nurses raise the standard of practice in the profession and ultimately improve patient safety and care.
“Nursing is a very dynamic profession with new information and techniques being disseminated every day. Certification is a way to validate specialty knowledge and remain current while constantly enhancing skills and knowledge base,” says Upstate chief nursing officer Nancy Page, who holds the advanced nurse executive specialty certification.
To earn a certification, nurses must meet various eligibility requirements that include experience in the specialty, a specific number of continuing education hours in the specialty and participation in a rigorous program of study before taking an exam required for each specialty.
Upstate nurses, by the numbers
Of 95 nursing specialties, these 10 certifications are held by the highest number of Upstate nurses:
90 -- CMSRN, certified medical-surgical register nurse
89 -- CCRN, acute- or critical-care registered nurse, including adult and pediatric
53 -- CPN, certified pediatric nurse
40 -- SCRN, stroke-certified registered nurse
34 -- OCN, oncology-certified nurse
26 -- NP-C, certified family nurse practitioner (by American Academy of Nurse Practitioners)
21 -- FNP-BC, board certified family nurse practitioner (by American Nurses Credentialing Center)
20 -- CNOR, certified nurse, operating room
18 -- CEN, certified emergency nurse
15 -- ONC, orthopedic nurse certified
This article appears in the summer 2019 issue of Upstate Health magazine.