Advances in the way we do healthcare often occur at warp speed. For nurses who want to advance their education and certification, this can mean a jump in income. Depending on the type of nursing certifications and specialty you pursue, you can increase your pay significantly.
As a nurse, you realize the importance of staying on top of medical trends so you can best serve patients. You may be seeking to further your career by going back to school. Perhaps you’d like to become a nurse practitioner or earn your master’s of science in nursing. For an RN, with or without your BSN, this can take dedication as well as a chunk of your time. In the end, however, the investment in yourself will certainly pay off when you obtain these advanced nursing certifications.
Nursing Certifications That Increase Your Income
Hospice Nurse
Providing care to those facing the end of life requires a great deal of independent nursing care and intensive care as well. Your focus will be on palliative care and offering the assurance that patients will be given comfort and their pain will be controlled at all stages of their disease.
Obtaining a BSN is the first step on becoming a hospice nurse. Next, you’ll need to pass the NCLEX-RN exam and obtain your license. You will also need experience in handling acute care. And exposure to med-surge, geriatric, and ICU care will be beneficial to becoming a hospice nurse.
Once you’ve satisfied those requirements, your next step will be to become certified in hospice and palliative care. You can obtain your certification through the National Board for Certification of Hospice and Palliative Nurses. Your application must be secured, and then you will be given an exam consisting of about 150 questions.
After you pass your exam, you will be given your NCHP nursing certification and can apply to work as a hospice nurse.
Informatics
An informatics nursing certification combines nursing with analytics and information management. As an informatics nurse, you’ll be able to provide data that will be used to improve patient care. In communicating this analytical information, you’re creating support for your fellow nurses while improving the quality of care that patients receive.
Medical technology grows at a rapid pace every day. As an informatics nurse, you will help to develop and improve medical technology. For nurses with strong critical thinking skills and who are talented problem-solvers and enjoy working with technology, becoming an informatics nurse may be a logical next step.
You will begin with a BSN, and begin working on an advanced degree such as a masters or doctorate. You can obtain the courses needed for informatics in nursing certification concurrently with your advanced degree. Or, if you already have your advanced degree, you can contact the American Nurses Credentialing Center to inquire about independent study programs in nursing informatics. Upon completion of your courses, you will need to obtain nursing certification from the credentialing center.
Burn Care Nurse
A burn care nurse helps treat patients from initial trauma to after-care and recovery. As a burn care nurse, you will play an instrumental role at each stage of a burn victim’s care. While a nurse is able to work on a burn unit with their RN licensure, it takes certain certifications to become a specific burn care nurse. This is due to the fact that burn care and the treatments associated with it are highly specialized.
A burn care nursing specialty certification is coming in 2023. By earning this certification, a burn care nurse can show he or she has the knowledge, skills, and abilities to succeed in a challenging role.
In 2023, a nurse can become a Certified Burn Registered Nurse by completing an exam that assesses this individual’s burn care knowledge, skills, and abilities. After the nurse passes this exam, this individual can verify that he or she has what it takes to thrive in a burn care unit.
Today as a burn care nurse, you are required to obtain the following certifications:
- Advanced Burn Life Support
- Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support
- Basic Life Support
Your employer or nursing association will be able to direct you to the proper source to obtain your certifications.
Orthopedics
In recent years, orthopedics has made significant advances in diseases and musculoskeletal issues. Surgeries for joint replacement alone have become extremely common.
Orthopedic nurses are trained in ortho-specific procedures and are instrumental in surgery and recovery. To become certified in orthopedics, you must first complete your BSN and obtain licensure as an RN. Many ortho centers and medical facilities prefer an advanced degree specifically in the field of orthopedics.
In order to sit for the Orthopedic Nurse Certification Exam, you will need to have worked as an RN for 1,000 hours in the last two years. You will then likely want to enroll in an orthopedic certification program to review prior to sitting for your certification exam. Contact the Orthopaedic Nurses Certification Board for information about the review and certification examination.
Psychiatric
A psychiatric-mental health nurse will need to obtain a BSN and become a licensed RN. Then, the nurse will need to obtain an advanced degree with a concentrated study of psychiatry and mental health. This is a highly specialized nursing career, and you’ll need to attend a university program specializing in advanced practice.
A psych-mental health nurse is certified and must have worked for two years as a full-time RN, obtained 2,000 hours of clinical psychiatric-mental health nursing within three years, and have 30 or more hours of continuing education in psychiatric-mental health. Check with the ANCC for further information on getting certified.
Be Prepared for Nursing Certification
Many hospitals and medical facilities seek out nurses with specialized nursing certifications. As you can see, it can be fairly time-consuming to obtain certification for those specializations requiring advanced degrees. These five nursing certifications are sure to increase your income while allowing you the best possible path to specialized patient care.
Do not wait to get any of the following nursing certifications. The sooner you earn a certification, the sooner you can make a bigger difference than ever before in a healthcare facility. Plus, you can boost your income and career earnings.
To get started, consider what you want to accomplish in your career. Oftentimes, it helps to make a list of career goals. From here, you can determine what certifications you want to earn.
At this point, you can earn one or more certifications. Work diligently and commit the time, energy, and resources you need to do so. It can be difficult to earn a certification. Regardless, do your best, and you’re well-equipped to achieve your desired result.
Once you earn your certification, continue to learn. As you do, you can position yourself to land a nursing job that meets your expectations. In addition, you can work with a healthcare organization that wants you to feel and perform your best every day.
Lastly, if you want help in your nursing job search, partner with BOS Medical. Our team can put you in touch with top healthcare organizations and help you land your ideal nursing job. To learn more, get in touch with us today.
