The Role of Nursing Certification for Improvement of Patient Health, Bettering Nursing Profession and Fraternity - Term Paper Example

Introduction According to Boyle (2017), nursing certification can be defined as the process by which a nurse is formally receiving recognition of the acquired technical skills, knowledge and experience that is shown through the achievement of the necessary standards of nursing in the promotion of topnotch health outcomes. Certification is viewed as concern that is voluntary and can be obtained from the specific organization while the state licensure issues individuals the legal authority required to practice professional nursing. Certification of the nurses gives the general public assurance that the certificant is qualified and has attained the level of knowledge and skills required to practice nursing and recertification ensures that competence is maintained throughout the career (Boyle, 2017). Healthcare organization that comprises of certified nurses reported to have highly trained professionals, a nursing team that is progressive in the provision of care and change in the perception of patient care. Most employers are seeking to employ specialty certified nurses because it is a sign of appreciation and dedication to their work and allows utilization of the current model of care. Obtaining certification is one of the ways that can be used in the expansion of knowledge by the nurses, evident growth in their career and advance as professionals. Certification also helps raise the standards of practice in nursing in the course of the profession and in the long run to provide quality services and improvement of patient safety (DePasquale, & Stange, 2014). Another reason to certify the nurses is that shows that they are competent and have acquired the skills and knowledge to provide high quality care to the community. Within the healthcare delivery, certification is an indication that the nursing profession cares about the safety of patients, and the quality of services delivered. Certified nurses are professionally credible and recognized, are an indicator of quality, acts as a component of ensuring a working environment that is positive and gives an individual feeling of personal accomplishment (DePasquale, & Stange, 2014). Certification is one of the ways a nurse can show their capacity for responsibility and continued advancement. My particular work setting on certification is Family Nurse Practitioners. Family Nurse Practitioners are trained to handle both children and adults and is based on the family context with long term goal of ensuring wellbeing, maintaining health with the aim of providing care. As a Family Nurse Practitioner, it is really motivating to my career especially if you offer education to the family members and they put it into action what was taught. As an FNP you get to have a long history of working with the patients in providing their career by ensuring that they understand their disease process and measures to be taken to improve their health outcomes. For nurses to become certified, most of the healthcare facilities are doing efforts to eliminate barriers and encourage the nurses to become certified Boyle, D. K. (2017). Hospitals are also willing to pay extra money for the nurses that become certified especially when it comes to the Magnet-designated hospitals which serve as a competitive strategy. Nurses receive certification bonuses and promotions to higher positions after they are certified. Some of the work site educational programs that lead to certification are the provision of tuition sponsorship, counseling and other services that support academic services to the people that are eligible. Worksite mentorship can be done through the pairing of two nurses in a mentor-mentee relationship which both nurses have a mutual benefit which can be imported in boosting the careers of the nurses involved. This kind of relationship helps the nurses develop problem-solving skills, communication skills, and critical skills which are very crucial when it comes to making decisions concerning patient care. Mentorship is one of the ways can be used to avoid unnecessary errors and frustrations, especially for the new managers because a promotion calls for more opportunities and responsibilities. Therefore, Having a mentor makes the transitioning easier for the protégé because they are able to develop new skills and cultivation of the organization's culture for easier adoption. The mentorship program helps in molding the manager’s confidence, a feeling of motivation, and the development of leadership skills and provision of a good working environment. Certification gives a nurse recognition of having advanced skills from what they learned and comes with both advantages and disadvantages. With certification, the nurses acquire more skills in decision making when it comes to giving care to the patients, hence increased the safety of patients, and ensure that that patient is satisfied. Another pro to achieving nursing certification is that nurses are able to provide care based on evidence-based guidelines which are a sign of commitment and responsibility to a potential employer (Boyle, 2017). Certified nurse’s exhibits personal responsibility skills to their education and therefore positive feedback on patient care and outcome are achieved. Cheng, Spaling, & Song (2013) argue that there is a relationship that exists between certification and better patient outcome and satisfaction, job satisfaction, higher nurse turnover, and performance. On the other hand, there are also numerous personal benefits that an individual get after certification which include a sense of fulfillment, and greater confidence when handling patients due to the assurance of knowledge validation (Cheng, Spaling, & Song, 2013). Certification also has an impact in terms of advancing in a career, job security, and improvement in the marketability especially if one comes from an organization recognized for raising standards of care. There are some of the disadvantages that have made the nurses not to seek certification. Certification is costly due to the cost of preparation and paying for the certification examination. Some of the nurses have test anxiety with the fear that they may fail examination which will both call for more expense and time. The nurses also lack guidance and support from the supervisor’s which could equally make the whole process of learning easier. Once a nurse is certified there is a renewal license fee that is supposed to be paid for you to continue being eligible (Cheng, Spaling, & Song, 2013). It is important to overcome these barriers because certification comes with more advantages than the disadvantages. Certification adds value to the patient because they receive ultimate quality care, value to the employer since the nurse is competent and value to self. A professional area of interest that I would consider to be certified in Critical Care Nursing. Nursing is such a rewarding career where you get to help people at their lowest by ensuring comfort and providing nursing care to them. To be specific as a critical care nurse, you get to work with a few patients who lead to becoming intimate with the patient and family (Cheng, Spaling, & Song, 2013). In this type of setting you to get to take care of patients that are critically ill, and are fully dependent on you as a nurse to help them in their daily activities. It also entails helping patients who are acutely ill with a life-threatening conditions and working harmoniously with the patient and family members with the aim of creating a healing environment and acting as the patient's advocate. Working in the Intensive care Unit requires skills and dedication which I am fully aware and ready to undertake because my passion is to assist patients with chronic illness. To be certified as a critical care nurse, it is required that you have a current licensure a Registered Nurse or an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse in the United States. The nurse should also have previous clinical experience in a healthcare facility with a minimum of 1750 working hours with an experience of 2 years working directly with either acute or critically ill patients. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required and demonstration of the ability to complete all clinical requirements for an advanced nursing program. Since I have been a volunteer in a hospice for the last one year, I am intending to continue for another year while I save the fee for certification and my plan is to ensure that I am certified within a period of one year. My passion for working in this unit being able to care for the patients and the trust that develops from relating with these patients. I get to meet so many people who I could not have met if I was a nurse and it’s my joy when they are satisfied with the services that I provide to them. The greatest reward is also having an influence on the patients, the community and the students and it is one of the professions where you never stop giving. Professional organizations are formed to act advocates for its members and represent their core values of the nursing profession. Some of the professional organizations available for the members include The American Nurses Association, Specialty Nursing Organizations and The National Association of Licensed Practical Nurses. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for certification purpose, a nurse is supposed to make an annual median pay of $70,000 (Cheng, Spaling, & Song, 2013). In conclusion, nursing certification is important for the purpose of bettering our profession, improvement of the health of our patients and ourselves as a nursing fraternity. These expectations can be met through prioritizing certification process and being each other motivation to advance in our specialties. With the current technological advancements, there is a need for nurses to advance in their education in order to keep up with the growing healthcare sector. Most of the healthcare organizations are investing in ways to reduce medical errors within the healthcare facilities. One of the remedies to reducing medical errors is hiring specialty certified nurses to improve the outcome. It is clear that specialty certification has promoted quality care, building individual confidence and credibility, a demonstration to willingness to take care of patients and validation of the nurse's skills and acquired knowledge. Value can remain consistent but change is what brings about improvement. Read More