What Do I Need to Do to Become a Certified Nurse & How Much Does a Registered Nurse Make?
There were nearly 2.6 million registered nurses working the United States as of May 2009, according the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, making registered nursing the largest employment category in the health care industry. Some registered nurses choose to specialize in a particular field or area of health care. A number of independent, non-governmental organizations offer certification in specialty fields to registered nurses who meet their minimum qualifications and who pass the required credentialing examination.
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Basic Education
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All 50 states and the District of Columbia require registered nurses to pass the National Council Licensure Examination in order to be licensed by the state in which they practice. There are three primary educational pathways that can qualify a candidate to sit for the NCLEX-RN examination. A candidate may obtain a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree from a traditional four-year college or university. A candidate may complete an associate degree in nursing from an accredited two-year community college. A candidates may complete a three-year diploma program from an accredited program at teaching hospital.
Certifying Organizations
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There is no requirement for registered nurses to specialize in any particular field of health care, but many choose to do so. There are specialty fields for both registered nurses and advanced practice nurses ranging from acute care nurse practitioner to school nursing. Certification in registered nursing specialties may be offered by different credentialing organizations which have different requirements based on the specialty. The largest registered nurse credentialing organization in the United States is the American Nurses Credentialing Center, but other organizations such as the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing, the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation, the American Board of Perianesthesia Nursing Certification and many others offer registered nurse specialty certification.
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Certification Requirements
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The requirements for certification varies based on the credentialing organization and the registered nursing specialty being certified. All specialties require the candidate to hold a current, valid registered nurse license. Most require the candidate to have a prescribed number of years of experience working as a registered nurse. Most require the candidate to have practiced a minimum number of hours within the specialty within the recent past. Most require the candidate to obtain a minimum number of continuing education credits within the recent past. Typical prerequisites may include two years working as a registered nurse with at least 30 hours of continuing education and 2,000 hours within the past three years working in the specialty. Once all prerequisite requirements are met the candidate may sit for the organizations credentialing examination. If the candidate passes the exam she is certified in her specialty and award the appropriate credential.
Income
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Annual wages for registered nurses at all levels of experience across the United States ranged from less than $43,970 to more than $93,700 as of May 2009, according to the BLS. The mean annual wages for registered nurses was $66,530. A registered nurse's income may be significantly affected by a number of factors, including the geographic location where she practices, the type of employer she works for, her level of education and experience and any specialty training and certification that she had obtained.
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