NR 351 Week 4 Assignment: Scholarly Paper Phase 1 (Graded)

Specialty certification by a recognized nursing organization supports and validates the nursing profession and professionalism. it’s beneficial to have certification in a specialty. Specialty certification gives nurses advancement, financial increment and more confidence in their nursing skills. American nurses’ credentialing center provides a requirement for certification. Pursuing and attaining a nursing specialty certification is a personal accomplishment and professional success. Barbara B. Blozen states in her article that ” Nursing specialty can provide opportunities for advancement and differentiate you from others seeking the same position you are.”  Barbara Blozen wrote, “According to the 2018 survey, nurses certified in their specialty earn 23% more on average than their not certified coworkers.”

       Organizations recognize nurses that earned their certification in their specialty by organizing parties for the employee, giving onuses, adding certification identification on their badges. Research had shown that specialty certification increases your nursing confidence and impact patient care positively. Before choosing a specialty, you have to know the nursing areas you are drawn to, your strength, weakness and the are you have most experience. There is a requirements for applying to any nursing specialty certification.

          The article  Making The Case for Nursing Specialty Certification impact my future professional nursing practice by the t the information it gives on the need I will need to specialize in the nursing field I might choose in the future, the benefit I will derive from certification, tips on how to prepare for the certification. Although I don’t know the specialty  I will choose,  I am leaning toward Medical-Surgical certification for now. This article gives me more information on how to study, the website to get the list of nursing requirements I need to be specialized. It gives me more understanding of the benefits of getting specialization in the nursing field. How it will benefit me and enhance my confidence in my nursing skills.

               It is my goal to reach at least the Masters level in Nursing Education, although I am not sure of the specialty I will do, but I know where I want to reach and all I am doing now as a new nurse is to be confident in my critical thinking and my skills.

References

Barbara B. Blozen Ed D,MA, RN-BS,CNL (Dec 2018 )”Making the case for nursing specialty certification: Promote the profession, advance your career, and improve patient care” http://americannursetoday.com

The Joint Commission developed the initiative, SPEAK UP, which helps patients and their families attentive to “Speak up if you have questions or concerns, Pay attention to the care you get, Educate yourself about your illness, Ask a trusted family member/friend to be your advocate, Know what medicines you take and why you take them, Use a health care organization that has been carefully checked out, and Participate in all decisions about your treatment” (Hood, 2016). Our hospital here, enforces a lot of the speak up concept with in-room signage and daily documented nursing education with patient and family. This education, delivered awareness, and understanding to the patients and families helps to improve quality and safety by having the patient/family understand to be able to partake in care and plan of care development in the hospital setting and to be carried out after discharge.

Also, in our hospital here, a RN handoff is a form of safety and a tool to improve quality care. This is a nurse to nurse exchange/report given when a patient is transferred or transported somewhere in the facility. Similar to shift change report, but shorted and direct, the RN handoff gives me valuable time to get direct pertinent information from the primary nurse and patient when I assume care or to address any changes in status or care.

Another one that is a national standard but very pertinent in my department is a “time-out”. In our hospital, our time out includes everyone in the room: Physician, nurse, tech(s), patient. It is a time for everyone to ensure one last time that we all have the right patient, procedure, and equipment needed before beginning.

I found an article that I thought was really interesting in seeing how facilities improve the culture of safety without punitive measures. According to Jones, Podila, and Powers a trial was done in an ED that had high nursing turnover, decreased patient satisfaction and a poor patient culture of safety. This ED implemented an evidence-based teamwork system called, TeamSTEPPS (Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety), which teaches employees “how to communicate safety concerns, report errors, and report equipment or system failures” (p 195). In reading this, I felt that this can increase communication, cohesion and employee satisfaction which then creates a better team dynamic that positively affects the culture of safety. I feel that this type of education would be a great step in the hospital I work at and would improve a non-punitive culture of safety.

Hood, Lucy. (2017). Leddy & Pepper’s Professional Nursing (9th Edition). [Vitalsource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781496351388/cfi/6/24!/4/2/462/4/4@0:94.6Links to an external site.

Jones, F., Podila, P., Powers, C. (2013, April). Creating a culture of safety in the emergency department: the value of teamwork training. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 43(4), 194-200. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0b013e31828958cd

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