Let’s get straight to the point: yes, CCRN training is more than worth your time and money. If you are in the direct or even indirect care of critically ill patients, becoming a CCRN helps you become better prepared to care for the sickest patients. Certification also gives you more license to lead in your unit. What is more, the personal gains of becoming a CCRN nurse are plentiful. Yet, there is a lot of speculation amongst nursing professionals if certification is valuable or even legitimate. Here’s why CCRN training is a necessary step in your career.
Your patients need you to go through CCRN training.
We all arrived in the nursing profession for various reasons. Yet, most of us got here because we feel a sense of joy, pride, duty, or fulfillment in caring for others. To provide the best care possible, we have to be up-to-date with current evidence-based practices. We also have to be willing to continue learning and studying our area of practice beyond the NCLEX.
Several studies show that CCRN nurses have better patient outcomes. Nurses who take the CCRN exam need to have a thorough understanding of disease processes and their unique nuances. They also need to know how to support a patient with medically assistive devices like CRRT, ventilators, and hemodynamic monitoring systems.
Your confidence in your nursing knowledge and skills will have a significant impact on your patient outcomes.
Your unit needs your expertise.
CCRN nurses become natural leaders in any unit where they work. Fellow nursing and hospital staff recognize that CCRN nurses have a high level of experience and understanding when it comes to caring for acute patients. They also are likely to have seen more complex patient situations and have had their skills tested in multiple ways. Indeed, CCRN nurses often presume a leadership role in any critical situation, such as cardiac arrest and traumas.
The more CCRN nurses a unit has, the more likely it is to handle complex patients successfully. These units also have more leadership and are more likely to be filled with staff who can think outside the box to help care for their patients and grow their department.
Furthermore, nurses with CCRN certification are better positioned to train new nurses, educate student nurses, become charge nurses, and perform managerial tasks. Designation can also place you ahead of other candidates when you are looking to assume a leadership role like managing an ICU or becoming a unit educator.
Your organization benefits from your career advancement.
CCRN is a highly recognized certification in most hospitals. Therefore, it can enable your organization to care for patients with a higher acuity, which inevitably attracts more health professionals with greater skill sets to specialty areas. Hospitals with certified nurses are also more likely to achieve credentials like Magnet Status and obtain accreditation from the Joint Commission.
CCRN’s also lower the rate of adverse outcomes related to patient care. Therefore, your hospital is likely to gain better ratings and reimbursement, leading to more money within the organization. Most organizations recognize that CCRNs are invaluable and are therefore willing to invest in these nurses to retain them and continue educating and promoting them.
Your paycheck will likely reflect your achievement.
Perhaps the part you were most interested in is whether or not CCRN certification will have a positive impact on your bank account. After all, while we generally love what we do as nurses, we also do it for a fair and competitive income. (And indeed, there may be days where you think no sum of money could get you to return the next day after a nightmare shift.)
Most organizations pay certified nurses a higher hourly rate once they achieve certification. Indeed, many managers will even compensate you for your CCRN exam fee and possibly review course fees to encourage you to pursue the achievement.
CCRN nurses are also more promotable, meaning that you have a better chance of moving into a role that has a higher hourly rate or salary, such as ICU manager or lead charge.
If you are curious if you will have a pay increase after getting your certification, check in with your manager to see if there are any changes in compensation for certified nurses.
Your profession demands evolution
Nursing is a constantly evolving profession. With advancing technologies, new infections, increasingly complex diseases, and a worsening crisis of chronic health problems in the United States, nurses need to be at the forefront of understanding and tackling these changes. We cannot become stagnant in what we know and how we practice. We have to continually strive to improve our skill set for our patients and colleagues
Where can you get CCRN training?
CCRN training is one of the best ways a critical care nurse can help promote the nursing profession. However, there is no specific ‘CCRN training’ course. Rather, your training is on the job, coupled with plenty of studying leading up to your exam date.
Typically, nurses choose to go after their CCRN once they have had ample experience in an acute or critical care setting, such as an ICU or emergency department. Once they decide to become certified, they select a review course that fits their needs. Most nurses will opt for an online review course, as it is the most flexible and feasible for their busy schedules.
There are several CCRN online review courses out there, so you will want to take a careful look at what each course offers. Some require you to attend virtual classes at specific times, whereas others let you work at your own pace. Additionally, you will want to make sure you choose a course that offers access to instructors so you can seek further clarification on those hard-to-understand topics. Finally, make sure your course provides plenty of practice questions, as that is one of the best ways to measure your progress and prepare for the exam.
So, is CCRN training worth your time and money? Absolutely!
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