Preparing for Certification in Nursing Education (Quick Reads‪)‬

CERTIFICATION IN NURSING dates back to 1946 for nurse anesthetists (1). Now there are more than 65 certifying organizations, 95 different credentials, and certification in more than 130 nursing specialties (2). Nursing education joined the list of specialties that provide evidence of expertise through certification in fall 2006 with the administration of the first Certified Nurse Educator exam at the NLN Education Summit. I recently completed the CNE exam and thought it might be helpful to share my experiences. I had been teaching nursing for more than 15 years when I made the decision to pursue certification. I saw certification as potentially helpful with faculty evaluation activities, such as tenure and promotion. Also, since I teach graduate nursing education courses, I hoped to gain some insight into the exam and become a role model for my students. It was particularly important to me to become certified before my students did.