Specialty certification is nursing’s highest professional achievement, and makes a significant impact on nurses, patients, and health care organizations. According to the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing, once nurses are certified, they are more likely to practice at the top of their specialty and stay that way.

Staying on top is more important than ever in today’s increasingly complex health care environment. For Deepesh Subedi, a nurse on the Medical-Surgical unit at TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center in Nashville, specialty certification was an early career goal. Deepesh recently earned his Medical-Surgical Board Certification (RN-BC) from ANCC, and he shares his story with us.

An Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) is a registered nurse with graduate education and advanced clinical training in one of four roles: Certified Nurse Practitioner (CNP), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CNRA), Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), or Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS). APRNs are independently licensed health care providers who use their highly developed knowledge and skills to provide care for specific patient populations, including family/individual across the lifespan, adult-gerontology, pediatric, neonatal, women’s health/gender-related, and psychiatric-mental health. Benefits are numerous and include enhanced job opportunities and pay, greater practice autonomy, and increased authority to improve health care quality and delivery.

After working as an ICU nurse for five years, Christin Khayat chose to pursue her Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-BC) certification to advance her career and empower her practice. She recently began her first job as an FNP at the CHI Health Kearney Clinic in Kearny, NE, and shares her journey with us.

This 11-minute video examines how to assess a patient on a ventilator and important differences compared to routine patient assessments.

Written and presented by Julie Miller, BSN, RN, CCRN-K. Julie Miller is a Clinical Practice Specialist with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. She currently serves as the Clinical Lead and one of the content experts for AACN’s Essentials of Critical Care Orientation (ECCO) eLearning program. She has an extensive background in adult critical care and maintains her CCRN-K certification. For 18 years of her 36 year nursing career she served as a critical care nursing professional development specialist ensuring a comprehensive orientation for novice acute, progressive, and critical care nurses. Julie’s passion is to ensure nurses have the evidence and education to provide the very best care for their patients.

This 8-minute quick video examines how to assist during intubation.

This 11-minute quick video examines basic ventilator settings and abbreviations such as rate, tidal volume, PEEP, and the modes of ventilation commonly encountered for patients with respiratory failure and ARDS.

Written and presented by Julie Miller, BSN, RN, CCRN-K. Julie Miller is a Clinical Practice Specialist with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. She currently serves as the Clinical Lead and one of the content experts for AACN’s Essentials of Critical Care Orientation (ECCO) eLearning program. She has an extensive background in adult critical care and maintains her CCRN-K certification. For 18 years of her 36 year nursing career she served as a critical care nursing professional development specialist ensuring a comprehensive orientation for novice acute, progressive, and critical care nurses. Julie’s passion is to ensure nurses have the evidence and education to provide the very best care for their patients.

This 14-minute quick video examines ventilator alarms: Types of alarms, the how to’s of ventilator alarm assessment and troubleshooting measures and interventions for apnea, high pressure (including how to suction a patient with an ETT), high minute ventilation, and low pressure/low minute ventilation.

Written and presented by Julie Miller, BSN, RN, CCRN-K. Julie Miller is a Clinical Practice Specialist with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. She currently serves as the Clinical Lead and one of the content experts for AACN’s Essentials of Critical Care Orientation (ECCO) eLearning program. She has an extensive background in adult critical care and maintains her CCRN-K certification. For 18 years of her 36 year nursing career she served as a critical care nursing professional development specialist ensuring a comprehensive orientation for novice acute, progressive, and critical care nurses. Julie’s passion is to ensure nurses have the evidence and education to provide the very best care for their patients.

This 17-minute video presents nursing care of patients on ventilators including equipment you will need at the bedside, and pain management and sedation.

Written and presented by Julie Miller, BSN, RN, CCRN-K. Julie Miller is a Clinical Practice Specialist with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. She currently serves as the Clinical Lead and one of the content experts for AACN’s Essentials of Critical Care Orientation (ECCO) eLearning program. She has an extensive background in adult critical care and maintains her CCRN-K certification. For 18 years of her 36 year nursing career she served as a critical care nursing professional development specialist ensuring a comprehensive orientation for novice acute, progressive, and critical care nurses. Julie’s passion is to ensure nurses have the evidence and education to provide the very best care for their patients.

This 16-minute quick video examines real life tips when caring for COVID-19 patients in the ambulatory setting, how traditional roles that nurses fill take on new urgency, and the range of emotions that nurses feel while caring for COVID-19 patients.

Written and presented by Schquthia Peacock, FNP. Mrs. Peacock graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She worked as a Registered Nurse for 7 years before deciding to go back to UNC for a Master’s Degree in Advance Practice Nursing. Schquthia has been in private practice as a Family Nurse Practitioner since 1999. In 2014, North Carolina Nurses Association named Schquthia “Practice Nurse of the Year.” She was also named Legislative Nurse of the year in 2017. She is the Chair of the North Carolina Nurses Association Council of Nurse Practitioners. She also serves on the University of North at Chapel Hill School of Nursing Alumni Board.

This 7-minute quick video examines what to anticipate as your COVID-19 cases increase, the benefits of knowing your infection control fundamentals, and nurses as leaders and advocates.

Written and presented by Justin Gill, DNP, APRN, FNP. Mr. Gill is an APRN and Family Nurse Practitioner in Washington State and leader in health policy. He currently serves as Chair of the Legislative/Health Policy Council and member for the Board of Directors for the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA). He is a member of the legislative committee for ARNPs United of Washington State and serves as a member of the ANA Political Action Committee (ANA-PAC) Board of Trustees. He holds a doctorate degree from Yale, a master’s degree from Georgetown, and a Baccalaureate degree from the University of Washington, Bothell. Mr. Gill received the ANA Nurse Advocate Award, which was granted to both him and Senator Susan Collins of Maine.

This 7-minute quick video examines the magnitude of nurses’ distress related to caring for COVID-19 patients and its implications.

Written and presented by Kathleen Spadaro, PhD, PMHCNS, RN