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Published on: June 21, 2010
Why Some Nurses Obtain Specialty Certification and Others Do Not
Andrew M Dierkes1, Amelia E Schlak, Rachel French
1Author Affiliations: Assistant Professor (Dr Dierkes), Department of Acute and Tertiary Care, School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Postdoctoral Fellow (Dr Schlak), School of Nursing, Columbia University, New York, New York; and Predoctoral Fellow (Ms French), Associate Director (Dr McHugh), and Director (Dr Aiken), Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to determine whether there are modifiable characteristics of nurses and hospitals associated with nurse specialty certification.
Background:
Hospitals, nurses, and patients benefit from nurse specialty certification, but little actionable evidence guides administrators seeking higher hospital certification rates.
Methods:
This is a cross-sectional, secondary data analysis of 20 454 nurses in 471 hospitals across 4 states.
Results:
Rates of certified nurses varied significantly across hospitals. Higher odds of certification were associated with Magnet® recognition and better hospital work environments at the facility level, and with BSN education, unit type (most notably, oncology), older age, more years of experience, and full-time employment at the individual nurse level.
Conclusion:
Two strategies that hold promise for increasing nurse specialty certification are improving hospital work environments and preferentially hiring BSN nurses.
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