There are some changes for the Certification Program that pertain to the eligibility criteria to apply to write an initial nursing specialty certification exam.
No changes were made to the eligibility criteria for the nurses who will be renewing their nursing specialty credential either by submitting 100 CL hours or writing the nursing specialty certification exam every 5 years.
The eligibility specialty experience hours required for nurses to apply for certification will be reduced. There are two options:
- 1,950 hours of experience in your nursing specialty within the last five years (formerly 3,900 hours).
- 1,000 hours of experience in your nursing specialty within the last five years plus 300 hours of formal education, which can be a specialty post-basic course or program at a college/university (as opposed to the former 2,925 hours of specialty experience plus education).
These new changes will be launched on our the Certification Program website page the week of December 14, 2020. We will be using various communication strategies to promote this exciting new change.