Call for nominations
Nominations for the ABNS Award for Nursing Certification Advocacy are due January 29th of each year. Download the award brochure and application here.
Learn more about the advocacy award here.
For more information, contact ABNS at (330) 995-9172 or email abns@nursingcertification.org .
2011 Recipient
ABNS Announces East Jefferson General Hospital as the Recipient of the 2011 Advocacy Award
The American Board of Nursing Specialties (ABNS) Awards and Recognition Committee announced during the organization’s Spring Assembly meeting that it has selected the East Jefferson General Hospital (EJGH), Critical Care Division in Metairie, LA as the recipient of the 2011 Award for Nursing Certification Advocacy. The award recognizes health care organizations, facilities or departments that are strong advocates of specialty nursing certification.
“We received a record number of applications for the award this year from candidates who demonstrated their dedication to supporting specialty certification for nurses,” Judy Lentz, Chair of the ABNS Awards Committee, said. “It was difficult to choose a winner, but East Jefferson General Hospital’s Critical Care Division clearly exemplified the characteristics of a unit worthy of this prestigious honor.”
Click here to read the full press release.
Healthy Lifestyles Magazine, inserted into the Times Picayune newspaper, featured the award‐winning staff in honor of Certified Nurses Day 2011.The hospital’s intranet and internal news outlets featured a picture with ABNS representative, Sandra Lee Schafer, RN, MN, AOCN, who presented the award and a story on the division’s accomplishment. Click here to see how the hospital honored the award recipients.
2010 Recipients
ABNS Congratulates the Duke University Health System on Receiving the 2010 ABNS Advocacy Award
ABNS presented the 2010 Advocacy Award to the Duke University Hospital and Durham Regional Hospital earlier this month. Attending the presentation were, Jackie Stewart, President-elect of the American Board of Nursing Specialties, Mary Ann Fuchs, Chief Nursing and Patient Care Services Officer for Duke University Hospital and Duke University Health System, Dr. William Fulkerson, Senior Vice President for Clinical Affairs at Duke University Health System, and Susan Avent, Associate Chief Nursing Officer, Quality for Duke University Hospital.
Among the criteria necessary to win this award, the organization must document the total number of direct patient care RNs and nursing managers and the number and percentage who are certified in specialty nursing. Nearly 30 percent of direct caregivers and 62 percent of the nursing management employed at Duke are certified.
Other criteria include how the organization supports those nurses interested in seeking certification. Duke encourages certification through a system of career ladders that are designed to reward and promote certified nurses, on-site courses for exam preparation, paid leave for nurses attending educational events and conferences, opportunities to earn continuing education credit for recertification, and financial payments to cover certification and recertification fees. Duke currently offers a one-time payment of $1,000 at the time of initial certification and $750 for recertification.
Utilizing a grant from BearingPoint, a global consulting company focused on systems integration, and managed services, Duke created the Certification Ambassadors Council in 2006. The Council is a formal group within the health system (complete with bylaws, mission and vision statements and values) whose mission is to promote a culture which values and encourages nursing certification. It hosts recognition events such as the annual nursing certification breakfast and activities related to Certified Nurses Day and Nurse Week. They are also responsible for placing announcements recognizing new certificants in the system’s internal publications.
ABNS congratulates the Duke University Hospital.
Click here to read more about the 2010 Advocacy Award Winner.
ABNS Congratulates Three Organizations Receiving Honorable Mentions
ABNS recognized the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, MA, the Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, AK, and the CHRISTUS Hospital-St. Elizabeth & St. Mary in Beaumont, TX as strong advocates of specialty nursing certification.
- Lahey Clinic – more than 17 percent of direct patient care RNs and 46 percent of nursing managers are certified. For those nurses who have successfully achieved their initial certification, Lahey Clinic’s policy is to reimburse the cost of the initial examination fee and subsequent recertification fees.
- Providence Alaska Medical Center – more than 25 percent of direct patient care RNs and more than 42 percent of nursing managers are certified. For the Providence Alaska Medical Center, geography is one of the biggest barriers for RNs interested in obtaining a specialty certification due to travel expenses from Alaska to the lower 48 states. PAMC provides a tuition reimbursement benefit to offset costs of travel fees.
- CHRISTUS – 26 percent of direct patient care RNs and 57 percent of nursing managers are certified. CHRISTUS Hospital requires certification for many open positions, including listing credentials for various positions in job announcements. Nurses also receive a pay differential of $.50 per hour. The hospital also celebrates Certified Nurses Day and holds a quarterly tea to celebrate certified or recertified nurses.
Past recipients
Past recipients of the ABNS Award for Nursing Certification Advocacy include:
2009
St. Mary’s Medical Center, Evansville, Indiana
2008
Orlando Regional Healthcare (ORH), Orlando, Florida
2007
Robert Packer Hospital, Sayre, Pennsylvania
2006
The 4th Floor Surgical Acute Department of Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, California
2005
Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick, New Jersey
2004
Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
2003 (Inaugural Award)
Genesis Medical Center (Davenport, IA) and the Iowa Department of Public Health (Des Moines, IA)