Nursing Credentials and Certifications

Nursing Credentials And Certifications

A nurse's postnominal (listed after the name) credentials usually follow his or her name in this order:

• Highest earned academic degree in or related to nursing (e.g. "MSN")
• Nursing licensure (e.g. "RN")
• Nursing certification (e.g. "CCRN")

Generally credentials are listed from most to least permanent. A degree, once earned, cannot, in normal circumstances, be taken away. State licensure is only revoked for serious professional misconduct. Certifications generally must be periodically renewed by examination or the completion of a prescribed number of continuing education units (CEUs).

Nurses may also hold non-nursing credentials including academic degrees. These are usually omitted unless they are related to the nurse's job. For instance, a staff nurse would likely not list an MBA, but a nurse manager might choose to do so.

Some nurses who achieve a master's degree (MSN) leave the patient care aspect of nursing, and practice in a more administrative role. An example would be earning an MSN in health care risk management. Such a nurse, while still fully an accredited nurse, will likely become the risk manager for a hospital, and perhaps even the director or manager of the risk management department. In this role, he may never see another patient except while doing hospital inspections, or perhaps talking to a patient or the patient's family about a quality of care concern. In this role, the nurse becomes something similar to an auditor and a teacher of patient care quality and risk for the entire hospital staff. This nurse likely will also get the certification listed below: CPHQ: Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality.

Nursing credentials are separated from the person's name (and from each other) with commas. There are usually no periods within the credentials (e.g. "BSN" not "B.S.N.").