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Congratulations on securing a nursing degree! Now it's time to learn how to assimilate them to make them look standard and professional. Today’s nursing field has given rise to numerous credentials for nurses to award their skills and expertise in performing various tasks in hospitals and clinics.

However, as important as it is to secure the certification and credentials, understanding how to make them appear professional and in order should be given equal importance. Doing this can help the reader properly recognize the expertise and prove that the nurse can work in a particular hospital.

Moreover, besides using it for a resume, having an orderly arranged credential might be helpful when filling out medical and legal documents and showing the importance of the nurse in front of colleagues in the healthcare industry. Therefore, it is time to dive deep into understanding how to display nursing credentials with helpful illustrations and tips!

Having Proper Order is the Key

The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) believes that a standardized display of nursing credentials is not just a formality, but a way to promote healthcare as a unified industry. This reassures patients that they receive the best care and adhere to the strictest standards.

To help nurses achieve this, the ANCC published a set of guidelines in 2015. These guidelines are designed to sort nurse credentials based on degrees, nursing licences, and certifications. Let's take a look at them!

1. Newest to the Oldest Degree

Following the name, begin arranging the degrees descending from the recently obtained to the old ones. One reason to arrange it this way is to show that it belongs explicitly to the nurse and proves their expertise in completing it.

However, in some cases, if the nurse has majored in other fields irrelevant to nursing, then begin listing the highest degree earned in that field, followed by the highest degree earned in the nursing field. It can be any advanced degree besides just the bachelor’s or the master’s. Moreover, it is up to the nurse whether to limit or refer to all the degrees earned.

2. The Licensure

Next to the degrees comes the licensure, which comprises all the licences (official permissions) granted while practicing a profession. These are subject to last for a limited time as they must be renewed before the mentioned expiration date. It is up to the nurse to just leave it till it expires or renew. Generally, these are some of the licensures earned by most nurses:

● Nurse Practitioner (NP)

● Registered Nurse (RN)

● Nurse Practitioner-Certified (NP-C)

● Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)

3. State Designations

Though it comes next to licensure, it shares some similar factors. However, the highlight of this point factor is that it shows the nurse’s expertise using the latest practices in specific states. These include:

● Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN)

● Nurse Practitioner (NP)

● Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)

4. National Certification

This title follows the State designation that comprises awards given to nurses from renowned and certified groups such as the ANCC (American Nurses Credentialing Center). Here are a few of them:

● Family Nurse Practitioner-Board Certified (FNP-BC)

● Registered Nurse-Board Certified (RN-BC)

● Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (CPNP)

5. Accolades and Recognition

Towards the end, next are awards and honors to recognize the accomplishments and outstanding services the nurse has offered. They can be in the form of:

● FAAN (Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing)

● FCCM (Fellow of Critical Care Medicine)

6. Other Certifications

Finally, the certifications area represents the nurse’s capability to do the job. However, these are pretty different from the Certificates you might have earned during your career. The difference is that certificates are not included after a name and are not obtained based on skills not associated with the nursing profession.

When nurses get back on track, they can list more than one certification in the order they received, from the latest to the oldest. For instance, the arrangement order should be ABC, 2013, ANA, 2009, etc.

Moreover, when displaying them, the name of the nurse should follow with a comma and a space, and everything should run in uppercase without space, with just a comma and a space in between. For instance, it should look like Helen Deborah, MSN, RN, APRN.

Tip: If doing these steps manually is too tardy, then avail a nursing evaluation service to save time!

Ready to Organize Nursing Credentials?

In today’s world, nurses with ample qualifications are in demand across hospitals. Therefore, organize your nursing credentials to enroll yourself in serving the healthcare industry and the patients with care! Count on ERES if you plan to get a nursing evaluation report from its wide range of services, predominantly managed by the best industry experts!