Nurses who achieve and maintain board certification in their specialty exemplify clinical excellence, professional growth, and a strong commitment to patient care. These credentials signal advanced knowledge and leadership in some of healthcare’s most complex and high-acuity environments.
Key Takeaways
As healthcare continues to evolve, the impact of nursing specialty certification is increasingly evident. It improves patient outcomes, strengthens teams, and supports healthcare organizations working to enhance quality, retention, and overall performance. At the same time, certification benefits nurses directly by expanding career opportunities, building confidence, and reinforcing lifelong learning.
In a video interview with Nurse.com, Janie Schumaker, MBA, BSN, RN, CEN, ICE-CCP, CENP, CPHQ, FABC, Chief Executive Officer of the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN), emphasized how specialty certification creates measurable value for nurses, healthcare organizations, and the patients they serve.
Watch the full interview here.
Why nursing specialty certification matters
When a nurse earns board certification, they have demonstrated mastery of nationally recognized standards in a defined area of practice, whether in emergency nursing, critical care, or another specialty. Certification validates advanced clinical knowledge and highlights a commitment to ongoing professional development and leadership.
In practice, that expertise translates into:
- Improved patient outcomes
- More timely, evidence-based clinical decision-making
- Stronger interdisciplinary collaboration
- Increased clinical confidence
According to Schumaker, specialty certification strengthens a nurse’s clinical foundation because exam preparation requires a comprehensive review of the entire specialty.
She added that, in emergency nursing, clinicians may regularly treat certain presentations while rarely encountering others. Certification preparation helps bridge those gaps, equipping nurses with the knowledge and readiness to recognize, assess, and manage the full spectrum of patient scenarios they may face.
Building systems of support for certification
Pursuing certification can be time-consuming and costly. Organizations committed to clinical excellence recognize that certification cannot be left to individual effort alone and that it requires infrastructure.
Common barriers include:
- Time constraints for exam preparation
- The financial costs of exam fees and review courses
- Limited structured mentorship
Understanding these barriers allows organizations to build meaningful solutions.
Alice Kazekjian, MSN, RN, Administrative Director of Nursing Emergency Trauma Center/Pediatric ED/Observation at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, New Jersey, described her organization’s approach to overcoming those hurdles.
“We have intentionally created a comprehensive support system to dismantle the common barriers to certification,” she said. “Recognizing the financial burden, we cover the costs of review courses and exam fees through a voucher program. We also offer paid time for professional development, including time off to study and take the exam...”
Kazekjian added that, beyond financial support, her organization provides structural resources, including hosting study groups led by certified nurses and providing access to review materials, such as guides or online tools.
Nursing specialty certification is a personal achievement but also an organizational investment in safety, quality, and long-term workforce stability.
“This combination of financial, educational, and cultural support has been instrumental in our success, leading to climbing certification rates, higher staff satisfaction, and lower attrition,” said Kazekjian.
Supporting recertification with the same urgency
In 2025, BCEN released the 2025 BCEN Culture of Certification Support Survey, which explored workplace support for nursing specialty certification among six emergency specialty areas. Findings from this survey revealed that 72% of respondents reported receiving workplace support for initial certification, while only 54% reported support for recertification.
While many organizations celebrate nurses earning credentials, fewer actively support maintaining them, based on the BCEN’s survey findings. Yet recertification ensures continued knowledge development and sustained expertise.
Certification is designed to build and maintain an expanded knowledge base over time, not just at the moment of passing the exam, according to Schumaker. Organizations that invest equally in recertification show a continued dedication to lifelong clinical excellence.
Recognizing & celebrating achievements
Support doesn’t end once a nurse passes the exam. Recognition plays a critical role in sustaining momentum and morale.
Kazekjian shared how meaningful recognition is a cornerstone of her organization’s strategy.
“We understand that celebrating this significant achievement reinforces its value and inspires others,” she said. “Our approach is multifaceted, incorporating public praise, professional advancement, and financial rewards. We celebrate every nurse who earns their credential by highlighting them in internal newsletters and making announcements during department meetings. A ‘Wall of Fame’ is another way we publicly showcase their accomplishments.”
Hackensack University Medical Center recently received the BCEN 2025 National Certification Champion Award for its dedication to creating a culture that supports nursing specialty certification.
“…This commitment goes beyond simple acknowledgment to actively fostering a culture that encourages and supports certification,” Kazekjian said. “This visible and consistent celebration helps shift the pursuit of certification from a personal goal to a shared organizational value.”
How certification strengthens team culture and morale
The impact of certification extends beyond individual performance. It can often transform entire units.
According to Kazekjian, certified nurses frequently step into leadership roles, participate in quality improvement projects, and even lead nursing-driven protocols.
This level of individual growth creates a powerful ripple effect across the entire department, she said.
“Certified nurses become more engaged beyond direct patient care,” Kazekjian said, adding that they ask insightful questions, mentor new graduates, and serve as clinical resources to peers.
Schumaker echoed this sentiment, highlighting that when certification becomes a shared goal among team members, the impact can be even more profound.
“I think that when teams of nurses decide that they're going to be specialty certified, it brings them closer together,” Schumaker explained. “Oftentimes, what you'll see happen is they'll study in groups together, which is a very effective way to prepare. They're all going after a goal together, and it just brings them closer.”
The collaborative energy often continues at the bedside. Nurses who prepared together are more likely to openly discuss new clinical findings, ask questions, and look up evidence to strengthen their practice, said Schumaker.
How certification makes a difference for nurses and organizations
Nursing specialty certification is a strategic investment that produces measurable returns for both healthcare organizations and nurses.
What nurses really gain
For individual nurses, specialty certification offers tangible and intangible benefits. It strengthens clinical competence, increases professional confidence, and opens doors to career advancement opportunities.
According to Schumaker, one of the most immediate benefits is increased confidence in clinical practice and decision-making. Preparing for a certification exam requires an in-depth review of specialty-specific pathophysiology, pharmacology, evidence-based interventions, and best practices. That deeper knowledge base translates into sharper assessment skills, earlier recognition of patient deterioration, and more effective interdisciplinary communication.
“You instantly have an elevated confidence as you take care of your patients and work within your team,” said Schumaker. “And you become this go-to person that everybody's now looking up to because you achieved this momentous accomplishment.”
In some organizations, certification is also tied to financial incentives such as hourly differentials, bonuses, or advancement-based pay increases. Even in settings without direct financial rewards, certification can enhance long-term earning potential by strengthening a nurse’s qualifications for higher-level roles.
Additionally, certified nurses often experience a broader impact on their professional identity. Certification reinforces accountability to evidence-based practice and encourages ongoing continuing education to maintain the credential.
“Achieving a specialty certification is a challenging milestone, and accomplishing it renews a nurse's sense of purpose and pride,” said Kazekjian. “For the organization, this translates into a more skilled, engaged, and stable workforce.”
Certification as an organizational asset
Healthcare organizations that actively support specialty certification can experience meaningful benefits across quality, safety, and workforce metrics. In fact, studies have linked higher proportions of certified nurses with lower patient mortality and failure-to-rescue rates, as well as improved safety indicators.
In addition to clinical outcomes, certification plays a key role in workforce stability. Nurses who feel supported in their professional development are more likely to remain with their organization.
“Our primary motivation has always been an unwavering commitment to patient safety and providing the highest quality of care,” Kazekjian shared. “We believe that supporting nursing specialty certification is one of the most valuable investments an organization can make in its patients, nurses, and future.”
When a nurse earns certification, it reflects a higher level of specialized knowledge and clinical competence, which leads to better patient outcomes, fewer errors, and stronger critical thinking across the healthcare team, according to Kazekjian.
However, Schumaker emphasized that building a culture of certification requires intentional effort and leadership support.
“It's not something you can put in place overnight,” she said. “The biggest thing to begin that culture is you start to talk about it, and you inform people why it's important and what it means for teams, patients, communities, and organizations.”
BCEN’s guide, Support Your Emergency Nurses to Board Certified Success: A Step-by-Step Guide, offers practical strategies to help organizations build and sustain successful certification programs.
Final thoughts
Nursing specialty certification reflects a shared commitment to clinical excellence, professional growth, and safer patient care, while also boosting nurses’ confidence, credibility, and career opportunities. When organizations support and recognize certified nurses, they build stronger teams, increase engagement and retention, and drive measurable improvements in quality outcomes.
