Board Certification
For the past six
months I spent time preparing for the ANCC Informatics Nursing Certification
exam. I am pleased to report, I
passed!
Honestly, my decision
to take the exam was the longest part of my journey. I believed that graduate
informatics nursing education was enough; so for 5 years I avoided the certification
process thinking it didn’t apply to me. It was last year that I accepted the challenge
to sit for the exam because I realized that the certification provided a spark
to have a conversation with others about informatics nursing specialty. I am leveraging my recent certification as an
opportunity to discuss the unique skills and knowledge that an informatics
nurse specialist brings to projects and the workplace. These conversations inform others about the informatics
nursing specialty and as a young profession it is important to tell our story
with a clear voice.
To learn more about the
application process for certification visit the ANCC website. There are a number of helpful tools to
support preparation that achieves a successful outcome. My personal approach was to participate in an
online review program, and to use a review text. Additionally I found this
website very helpful to create my own practice exams www.quizlet.com. My reward has been a number of occasions to
explain and discuss the role of the informatics nurse. These discussions
resulted in me finding more opportunities to be engaged with a wider range of
project that involve process improvement of system where data and information
sharing activities are key.
Interesting. I haven't even considered testing for a certification as I've been told that a MS in Nursing Informatics supersedes a certification. Not that there's anything wrong with getting the certification of course ... and congrats on passing! Ambitious of you to do both.
ReplyDeleteI'm very glad to be a part of this growing field! I'm notably biased, but Nursing Informatics is one of the most meaningful and potentially rewarding career paths out there. Way to continue to refine your skills in the field.
Thanks for your comment Brett! I was told the same thing about a MS in NI superseding a certification. And for a long time I avoided the exam. But boy did it break down walls when I just did it. Now the conversation moves to what really matters and I get out of the debates of should you or shouldn't you.
Delete