Celebrating Certified Nurses

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By Marisa Thomas

A nurse might work by the bedside of a patient, in the emergency room, or in the operating room.


As the work looks different depending on where the nurse is, certified nurses day helps acknowledge nurses’ specific expertise of one field.

“Every single role you go into is really different. Which is one of the reasons why we have certified nurses day nationwide, and why we celebrate that, because of all the sub-specialties within nursing that nurses can go into.” Clinical Director of Perioperative Services UPMC Hamot Ashlee Skarzenski said.

As a nurse for 10 years with four certifications herself, and as a current member on The American Board PeriAnesthesia Nursing Certification, Skarzenski knows how difficult these certifications are.



“It’s really really hard to get your certification. It takes many many hours to study, and I can say that for the CPAN and CAPA certifications, there’s really only a 65 – 70 percent pass rate. So there’s no guarantee you’re going to pass that examination when you go in.” Skarzenski said.

Though it takes a lot of hard work, studies have displayed that these nurse certifications improve patient care.

“The National Institute of Health did show that nurses who are certified have higher rates of patient satisfaction, as well as lower rates of errors at the bedside. So really, it does have a direct impact on patients, and our certified nurses are really the cream of the crop. They’re the ones that are going to take the best care of our patients,” Skarzenski said.

 



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