Some people may think that obtaining a nursing certification in this day and age of dire nursing shortage is both a waste of time and money. After all, due to desperate needs, even Magnet organizations are willing to relax their Bachelor of Science in Nursing preference just to fill that critical bedside position asap. So, really, why would one want to pursue earning certifications if they don’t add value to one’s professional portfolio?

The link to the podcast can be found here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/YYT0jo5Czvb

and here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Oo7J4aoIqRtr7RMPfnjKB?si=DJAIzolESeyAz5qI6yS0MQ

Maybe, this was also my thought process why I postponed studying for and taking the examination that would give me my second nursing certification in the field of informatics. When I and my fellow then Pediatric nurses were preparing for our Certified Pediatric Nurse (CPN) certification, it was a very different scenario. We had review materials hanging all over our computers, our break room… Yes, even in our bathroom! During breaks, we would huddle in front of a computer and review our topic for the week.

It’s Pediatric developmental stages this week, guys! Make sure you remember the differences between Freud’s and Erikson’s theories! Or…let’s talk about Benner’s Novice to Expert theory and really understand each of those phases.

It was fun preparing for a certification, or any exam for that matter, jointly. We all shared our sighs and self-doubts, and also played on each other’s strengths. We made a pact that no matter what the results will be, we will celebrate. At the end of the day, we studied hard and gave it our all. Thankfully, all 13 of us passed. That was more than a decade ago. Most of us have either moved on to different fields while a few retired. Those were days to reminisce, indeed!

Nursing Certification in Informatics

So, fast forward to today. Although it is not an expectation for me to have another certification, I just wanted to challenge myself. In fact, this is two years overdue as my original intent was to take it right after graduate school. I theorized at that time that my practicum hours and school credits were enough to meet the requirements to sit for the ANCC exam.

However, the pandemic happened (yes, that derailed our graduation ceremonies in 2020), so all of the plans went back to the drawing board. When I started reading the review book I excitedly purchased as a self-gift for graduation (I know, I am weird that way, haha!), I realized that this nursing certification was unlike any of the previous nursing examinations I have taken in the past.

My Philippine boards was hard. My Commission on Graduate of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) exam and the NCLEX test were even more difficult. And yes, that CPN test was not a walk in the park either. Regardless of those facts, they were all nursing. In a way, I was already somehow familiar with the workflows and marrying the concepts with practice.

Nursing Informatics was a different beast!

When I started in the specialty, I literally felt like my first day in kindergarten all over again. It was a humbling experience that made me question my sanity. I was an expert in my Pediatric field. Why in the world would I trade my comfort zone with what seemed to me then as the Twilight Zone?

My Twilight Zone! Are you hearing that theme song in your head yet?

The Nursing Informatics Specialty

As I said, it is a hard pill to swallow trading in our expertise in one field (Pediatrics, in my case) with being a neophyte in another. It was and still is, a learning experience all the time. I was literally absorbing everything like a sponge, or a toddler, depending on how one looks at it.

I had to mentally remind myself to take off my end user hat and take on my nursing informatics hat whenever I am helping out my former bedside nursing colleagues. In a word, I can describe my role as that of a liaison, the go-in-between the frontline nurses or clinicians for that matter, and the information technology (IT) folks. Maybe, it is, for this reason, that informatics nurses earned the moniker “IT nurses.” Although we don’t do much with the actual hardware and software applications, we advocate for how they can be utilized efficiently in practice.

Deciding to Take the Nursing Certification Exam

With a year and a half of experience in the field, I feel that I am a little bit more prepared to finally take that long-delayed plunge. Luckily, I had similar-minded colleagues who were pursuing the same goal. We started doing informal review sessions, shared resources and did practice quizzes. The initial results were dismal to say it lightly. If I want to be honest about it, it was downright disheartening!

We initially felt defeated. Cue in that Twilight Zone theme again, please!

Nevertheless, we persevered. We continued and persisted on the routines (I will share these preparation steps in another blog entry) until we had to make a decision on when we will each take the test after receiving the approval from ANCC.

My goal was to take it before the year ends. Since the Thanksgiving Holiday typically includes a long weekend, I settled on doing it on Cyber Monday. So yes, instead of doing online shopping, I was in front of the computer, too, but toiling on answering 175 test items.

My Version of Cyber Monday

I selected a mid-day test. I figured not too early and not too late is a good time for me. Basically, I can take my sweet time preparing for the day and still have plenty of time to have either a celebratory or a “pity me” party. Food is one of my love languages, so I promised myself that I will eat well regardless of the results. Hey, I had to motivate myself one way or the other, right?

Kidding aside, I already mapped my day and my way the day before. I stayed in a hotel room a couple of blocks away just so I can kind of shut out the outside world for a short time. I brought all of my comfort food (again, love language!) with me, heat them in the microwave in the room, and binge-watched the Harry Potter marathon on TV. Harry Potter is my other guilty pleasure, plus I was trying to summon and channel my inner Hermoine Grainger.

I was up bright and early on Monday. Seeing that there was a Catholic Church near the testing center, I started my day by hearing mass. This has always been my routine since time immemorial. I offered my day, asked for clarity of mind, and lifted everything up to the Lord. I stated that I have done my all, and the results were now up to Him.

The test itself was uneventful. After checking in and placing my belongings in a locker, I was ushered to my computer. I watched a quick tutorial regarding flagging the questions I may want to go back to and drawing a strikeout to options that I wanted to rule out. A couple of dry-erase boards were also provided. I used them to list down my items to review.

The Conclusion

Thankfully, I was able to finish my test with some spare time to review the questions I needed to go back to. By the way, I will share in my next blog post how I did that.

With five minutes left in my time clock, I said a final prayer, and hit “Submit!” A couple of popup screens asked if I was sure. After affirming, I received another popup that informed me that I will receive my result within an hour of my test. I didn’t know if I should feel anxious or relieved by that notification. Nevertheless, I just brushed it aside and proceeded to gather my belongings.

As soon as I stepped out of the exam room and into the locker room/lobby, I already got an email. Unsure if it was from my job or from ANCC, I just continued gathering my stuff. I was rationalizing to myself that I won’t be able to see the details anyway since I already put away my glasses.

But, curiosity got the best of me…

I peeped, and saw that it was from ANCC…my heart started racing!

When I saw that the first word started with a “C,” I was like, okay, time to go back to church for Thanksgiving!

And as they say, the rest is history…

Yes, I passed the test and I am now able to officially use the letters RN-BC (Registered Nurse – Board Certified) after my name. I couldn’t have done this without God’s blessings and the help and support of so many people. Thank you all!