Certified Nurses Day
Celebrate Certified Nurses on March 19
Certified Nurses Day is March 19. Join us every March as we celebrate specialty certified emergency, trauma, transport and burn RNs and their commitment to clinical excellence and professionalism, along with board certified nurses in every nursing specialty!
What is Certified Nurses Day?
Certified Nurses Day™ is celebrated worldwide every March 19, the birthday of Dr. Margretta “Gretta” Madden Styles, RN, EdD, FAAN. Gretta was one of the earliest and greatest champions of nursing certification. Her vision, leadership, research and advocacy helped form and influence certification throughout the U.S. and around the globe.
Certified Nurses Day is a day for organizations, communities and leaders to honor and recognize the clinical excellence, professionalism and service of nurses whose dedication to their specialty advances nursing and patient care every day.
This international nursing celebration day was created in 2008 by the American Nurses Association and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Why does nursing specialty certification matter?
National specialty certification, also called board certification, is the highest professional credential a nurse can earn.
In order to become a registered nurse, an individual has to sit for a licensing exam, which is designed to determine whether it’s safe for them to begin practice as an entry-level RN.
When an RN becomes interested in a particular specialty, such as adult or pediatric emergency nursing, trauma nursing, or flight nursing, they can become board certified in their specialty, similar to what physicians do. To earn a specialty credential, RNs must pass a national specialty certification exam.
While the purpose of specialty certification is to independently validate specialty knowledge, skills and abilities, thereby demonstrating a nurse’s expertise to colleagues and employers, and assuring patients and families, nurses earn specialty credentials for many reasons, including the sense of accomplishment and pride that comes with being among the best of the best in their specialty.
Research links specialty certification with improved patient outcomes—and certification also benefits nurses and their careers, healthcare teams, hospitals and other providers, and entire communities.
When you receive care from a nationally certified emergency, trauma, transport or burn nurse, you know you’re being treated by the best of the best.
Board-certified RNs voluntarily go above and beyond their nursing license requirements to master advanced knowledge across their specialty, much like physicians do. They take a rigorous exam to prove it. And they commit to staying on top of the very latest advances and best practices.
That’s the kind of nursing care we all want and deserve. And that is definitely worth celebrating!”
That was really life-changing… but looking back, it was also career-changing.
I came to have a very different perspective of those families we talked to, whether it was a trauma or a medical emergency,” said Gretchen Brown Carroll, BSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, of becoming board-certified in trauma nursing. “Sometimes people’s comfort or what you’ve been able to communicate with them may be just as important as the medication you’ve given them.”
Investing in yourself is doing something today that will benefit you tomorrow.”
For Wilmar Flores, MS, BSN, RN, CEN, NEA-BC, achieving CEN certification, “became the catalyst of how I led my career as a bedside nurse and as a leader in our profession… Since then, I’ve kept it and seen the value of the certification throughout my career.”
The emergency room has always been in my heart… It’s an honor to say I’m a certified nurse.”
Paula-Perron Landry, RN, CEN, one of the longest continuously certified CENs said, “The studying and the test taking helped increase my knowledge so much, I felt like I was more efficient in the emergency room… Being a certified nurse, with all of the resources you get from BCEN, increases my knowledge and my competence in taking care of my patients.”
I knew it would be worth it to demonstrate my clinical knowledge and be able to share that with patients and colleagues.”
“It gives you a professional satisfaction knowing that you have invested in yourself and your career,” said Mariah Rosensweet, MAGS, BSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, TCRN, CFRN, CCRN. “You will be proud of it walking into a patient’s room. You’ll be proud of it with a fellow nurse. You’ll be proud of it with a physician.”
While pediatric patients make up a small percentage of the overall emergency department population, people underestimate the unique challenges of taking care of kids.
Having pediatric emergency specialty knowledge is critical, and being a CPEN is the best way to show families that you are as equipped as possible to care for their kids.”
Quite simply, being a Certified Emergency Nurse makes me a better nurse, and it raises the performance of the team around me.
The heightened knowledge I’ve obtained through specialty certification allows me to quickly anticipate changes in patients’ conditions, which means I can intervene sooner, and that gives patients the best chance for positive outcomes.”
In the dynamic outside-the-hospital environment, being certified in transport nursing means we bring an expertise to patient care that offers an advanced knowledge-informed perspective on diagnosis and treatment to support our patients’ best possible outcomes.”
Specialty certification helps me feel more comfortable and confident in my role that I have the knowledge and skills it takes to provide really good care for patients in the burn setting.”
I’m proud of my board certification because it helps me and my patients feel more confident in what I do as a nurse. Nurses who become board-certified raise the bar for nursing specialty practice.”
The patient wrote: ‘I just felt so much more comfortable knowing your expertise was in trauma. I just knew I was going to receive the best care.’”
Celebrating Certified Nurses
I put off getting a certification for years. Maybe it was because I was tired after getting two bachelor’s and finishing my ER residency. Then I had a couple kids and didn’t feel like studying. But I am so glad I finally did it a few years ago!
I love explaining what the TCRN stands for on my jacket… I am proud of my certification! It’s never too late to get certified!”
Happy Certified Nurses Day to all the nurses out there who went the extra lengths in their careers to get certified.
Certification shows the world you have not only the knowledge and competency in your specialty, but also a passion for it.”
Credentials matter!”
Grateful to be acknowledged for having certifications.”
Celebrate Your Own Certified Success
Get started with BCEN certification to demonstrate your expertise and provide patient care with confidence.