How to Choose Which Examination to Take
And How to Acknowledge Certified Nurses
Maureen Craig
Helen Currier
Deciding Which Examination to Take
Q:
I meet the eligibility criteria for both Certified Dialysis Nurse (CDN)
and the Certified Nephrology Nurse (CNN) examinations. How do I decide
which exam I should take?
A: Start by reviewing the CDN and CNN
examination content. Both the CDN and CNN exams have been developed
based on a role delineation survey of nephrology nursing practice. This
survey identified elements of clinical practice and asked nurses to
indicate the frequency and importance each element occupies in their
practice. The resulting data were used to develop the examination
blueprint, which defines the concept areas to be tested and how they
are weighted. The test questions are distributed according to the
blueprint. The blueprints for the CDN and CNN examinations are shown in
Table 1.
Next
consider your practice setting and the patient population you serve.
Nephrology nurses perform their work in a variety of practice settings
serving a variety of patient populations. The CDN examination best
evaluates the expertise of the nephrology nurse caring predominately
for patients older than 12 years of age and practicing in chronic
and/or acute hemodialysis units.
The CNN examination best evaluates the expertise of the nephrology
nurse working (or with experience) in several practice settings, for
example three of the following: chronic hemodialysis unit, acute
hemodialysis unit, other acute therapies, chronic peritoneal dialysis
unit, chronic kidney disease clinic, hospital transplant unit,
outpatient transplant clinic, or pediatric dialysis.
The CNN examination is also appropriate for nurses who have more global roles, such as nephrology education or research.
Both CDN and CNN certification demonstrate to you, your colleagues,
and your patients that you are committed to excellence in nephrology
nursing. Make the decision regarding which examination best fits your
practice and make plans today to become certified.
Acknowledging/Rewarding Nursing Certification
Q: How can a nurse manager or administrator acknowledge or reward nursing certification?
A:
Ideally, nephrology nurses are internally motivated, but successful
organizations find lots of ways to acknowledge efforts toward
professional nursing certification and reward nurses for achieving
certification in their specialties. Certification is one objective,
measurable way to ensure that a professional nurse has the knowledge to
practice competently within the specialty of nephrology nursing.
Encouraging and acknowledging certification of staff members is an
investment in their professional development, in your facility’s
commitment to providing quality care, and in your institution’s public
image.
Opportunities exist for employers of all types to encourage
professional certification — financially, personally, and publicly.
These include reimbursing for review courses, practice examinations,
certification examinations, and/or re-certification expenses. Other
ways to encourage certification include offering paid time off for
review courses and/or examinations, or hosting the same. There are even
more ways of acknowledging and rewarding certification, including
sending congratulatory letters, adding credentials to name badges,
displaying the names of certified staff on a plaque in the unit,
incorporating certification into a career ladder, tying monetary
bonuses to certification, hosting a social event (for example, ice
cream or luncheon) to honor those who are certified, sending press
releases to institutional newsletters and local media when
certification is achieved, presenting certified nurses with
credentialing pins, and adding professional certification to job
descriptions and performance appraisals.
As a voice for and advocate of nephrology nurses, nursing managers and
nurse administrators should assume leadership in acknowledging and
rewarding nephrology nursing certification.
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