Skip to main content

Upstate AHEC Providing Nurse Certification Review Courses

Nursing, like health care in general, has become increasingly complex. While a registered nurse (RN) license provides entry to general nursing practice, the knowledge-intensive requirements of modern nursing require extensive additional education, as well as a strong personal commitment to excellence by the nurse.  With this in mind, many hospitals are encouraging national board certification for their nurses. Additionally, patients are advised to inquire whether there are certified nurses on staff when they visit a hospital or primary care provider. Board certification of nurses plays an increasingly important role in the assurance of high standards of care for patients and their loved ones.

There are a number of nursing certification specialties such as medical-surgical, pediatric, pain management, cardiac vascular, oncology, hospice, case management, emergency nursing, critical care and many others. Nursing certification bodies exist to serve the full range of specialized nursing care offered in the contemporary health care system and most are accredited by either the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC) or the National Organization for Competence Assurance (NOCA), or both. Nursing certification validates knowledge, professional skills and practice, clinical expertise, and expert clinical judgment and a standard that improves care.  

Upstate AHEC understands that certification review courses are in demand and has planned six courses for the remainder of 2015. Certification review courses provide information that can be utilized in preparing for certification exams, valuable study tips and continuing education contact hours. In an effort to support the need for life-long learning, expand nurses’ knowledge and increase the percentage of nationally certified nurses, Upstate AHEC has already offered 12 certification review courses over the last 24 months. During this time 199 nurses participated in these courses. 


For more information about Upstate AHEC certification review courses, visit www.upstateahec.org.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

SC AHEC Scholars: Preparing the Next Generation of Primary Care Providers

Hannah Robinson, MD knew she wanted to pursue a career in healthcare from a young age.  “I’ve always wanted to be a doctor since about the sixth grade,” said Dr. Robinson. “I remember being in health class and watching the Miracle of Life video and just being fascinated with women and their ability to create and bear life.” Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Robinson spent time working on the obstetrics unit at her local hospital in Rock Hill and observed a trend with their patients. “What I noticed was a lot of the families that we serviced actually weren’t from Rock Hill. We also served surrounding counties that were really rural and seeing how these families were traveling to Rock Hill to deliver their babies was really shocking to me,” said Robinson.  Due to a maldistribution of OB/GYNs in the state of South Carolina, individuals may have to travel great distances just to receive the care they need. In its most recent South Carolina Health Professions Data Book published in 20

Lowcountry AHEC’s Strong Partnerships Serve School Nurses Statewide

For over three decades, Lowcountry AHEC has been proud to support school nurses across South Carolina in their professional development through statewide conferences and meetings. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and in-person events came to a halt, Lowcountry AHEC along with their partners, were able to pivot to alternate methods to continue providing training opportunities for school nurses. One such way Lowcountry AHEC was able to adapt was implementing online modules so that school nurses could continue to receive the same professional development and learning opportunities in a virtual setting. The first course, Foundations of School Nursing , included nine modules and was uploaded to the South Carolina AHEC Learning Portal (ALP) by August 2020 . With over 1,600 registrations to this day, Foundations of School Nursing is the most popular course currently on ALP. “We began to do some work with them on online modules,” said Lowcountry AHEC Center Director Diane Mathews. “All new schoo

Medical Mentors: Pee Dee AHEC Connects Students to Clinical Experiences

Pee Dee AHEC has partnered with Francis Marion University to collaborate on a Medical Mentors program, connecting undergraduate biology students with practicing medical professionals to gain real-life experiences in the field. Health Careers Program Coordinator Subira Smalls serves as the Pee Dee AHEC point of contact for the program and has been involved since its inception. “The goal is to introduce undergraduate college students to clinical experiences,” said Smalls. “We want them to step into the world of healthcare, by shadowing physicians, nurses and other professionals, and give them a firsthand look at the day-to-day realities of medicine.” Students in the program are given the opportunity to shadow a variety of healthcare professionals at McLeod Health Regional Medical Center, including physicians, physician assistants (PAs), nurses and other disciplines. Experiences students have been able to witness include surgical procedures like hip replacements, the insertion of vascular