[hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nursing certifications are an invaluable career tool if you’re looking for a promotion or moving into a specialty area. But with so many possible certifications, how do you choose?[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]We spoke with three experienced nurses to see which certifications are the most desirable in 2021.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-heading variant=”h2″]Nurses Recommend These Top Nursing Certifications and Career Specialties[/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nursing certifications demonstrate that you have mastered a particular specialty in nursing and can safely practice within that specialty. They also show your employer that you value professional development and best practice in your focus area.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nursing certifications have different prerequisites for nurses, but all require an active and unencumbered nursing license, graduation from an accredited nursing school, and passing an exam. Learn more about which nursing certifications nurses recommend below.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-list variant=”unordered” bullet-style=”bullet”] [hen-ui-list-item][hen-ui-flex direction=”column” gap=”xxs”] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h4″]Critical Care Registered Nurse Certification[/hen-ui-heading] [hen-ui-text-stack gap=”xs”] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Description: [hen-ui-link href=”/careers/critical-care-nurse/”]Critical care registered nurse[/hen-ui-link] (CCRN) certification prepares you to treat the most serious injuries or illnesses.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Requirements: Requirements include either two years of nursing experience with 1,750 hours in direct care of acute/critical adult patients or five years with a minimum of 2,000 hours in direct care of acute/critical adult patients, plus the examination.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nurse Recommendation: “The CCRN certification is a very popular certification for registered nurses to obtain. This extra certification is often required by employers and covers all acute and critical care specialties, making it the ‘jack of all trades’ of RN certifications,” says Jenna Liphart Rhoads, BN, MS, Ph.D.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-text-stack] [/hen-ui-flex][/hen-ui-list-item] [hen-ui-list-item][hen-ui-flex direction=”column” gap=”xxs”] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h4″]Certified Emergency Nurse[/hen-ui-heading] [hen-ui-text-stack gap=”xs”] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Description: A certified emergency nurse (CEN) is one of the nursing certifications for critical care patients. You can work in emergency departments with the most critically injured or ill patients from all age groups.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Requirements: The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing recommends but does not require two years of emergency nursing experience before sitting for the CEN exam.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nurse Recommendation: “The CEN is the cornerstone of every emergency department where the RN is recognized as having the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform competent emergency nursing care,” Nicholas McGowan, a nurse educator, comments.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-text-stack] [/hen-ui-flex][/hen-ui-list-item] [hen-ui-list-item][hen-ui-flex direction=”column” gap=”xxs”] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h4″]Progressive Care Nursing Certification[/hen-ui-heading] [hen-ui-text-stack gap=”xs”] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Description: With this nursing certification, you can provide direct care to acutely ill adult patients. These patients often do not need to be in an intensive care unit but still need a higher level of care than in a standard hospital unit.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Requirements: Requirements include either two years of nursing experience with 1,750 hours in direct care of acute/critical adult patients or five years with a minimum of 2,000 hours in direct care of acute/critical adult patients, plus an exam.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nurse Recommendation: McGowan notes this is a flexible certification.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]”Nurses interested in this certification might work in areas such as intermediate care, direct observation, stepdown, telemetry, transitional care, or emergency departments,” he says.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-text-stack] [/hen-ui-flex][/hen-ui-list-item] [hen-ui-list-item][hen-ui-flex direction=”column” gap=”xxs”] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h4″]Family Nurse Practitioner Certification[/hen-ui-heading] [hen-ui-text-stack gap=”xs”] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Description: This nursing certification is for advanced practice registered nurses who want to work in family practice. Family nurse practitioners (FNPs), like other nurse practitioners, are qualified to work as primary care providers.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Requirements: For this nursing certification, you must graduate from an accredited master’s or higher-level [hen-ui-link href=”/nurse-practitioner/fnp/”]FNP[/hen-ui-link] program and pass a multiple-choice examination.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nurse Recommendation: Robin Squellati, Ph.D., faculty member in Walden University’s master of science in nursing program, recommends this nursing certification for job prospects.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]”The number of nurse practitioners is expected to grow by 52% over the next eight years,” Squellati says. She explains the reason for this growth is because “there are many physicians who want to specialize instead of going into primary care, where the salary is not as high.” NPs as primary care providers is also growing because they offer considerable cost savings to patients, healthcare organizations, and the entire health system.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-text-stack] [/hen-ui-flex][/hen-ui-list-item] [hen-ui-list-item][hen-ui-flex direction=”column” gap=”xxs”] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h4″]Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certification[/hen-ui-heading] [hen-ui-text-stack gap=”xs”] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Description: Nursing certification as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner qualifies you to work as an NP for psychiatric and mental health conditions. Like other NPs, nurses with this certification can diagnose conditions and prescribe treatments.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Requirements: You must graduate from an accredited psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner ([hen-ui-link href=”/nurse-practitioner/psychiatric-np-programs-online/”]PMHNP[/hen-ui-link]) master’s or doctoral nursing program and pass the certification exam through the American Nurses Credential Center. The PMHNP program must include a minimum of 500 faculty supervised clinical hours.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nurse Recommendation: “The field is diverse and broad,” Squellati comments, adding that this is a great certification as mental healthcare needs are growing.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-text-stack] [/hen-ui-flex][/hen-ui-list-item] [hen-ui-list-item][hen-ui-flex direction=”column” gap=”xxs”] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h4″]Certified Nurse Educator[/hen-ui-heading] [hen-ui-text-stack gap=”xs”] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Description: Nursing certification as a certified [hen-ui-link href=”/careers/nurse-educator/”]nurse educator[/hen-ui-link] prepares you to teach other nurses, either in a nursing school or as an in-house educator within a hospital or health system.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Requirements: In addition to passing an exam, this nursing certification requires a master’s or doctoral degree in nursing plus coursework in nursing education, such as nine hours of graduate work in education or a postmaster’s education certification.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nurse Recommendation: Squellati points out the need for nursing faculty to meet the growing demand for nurses.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]”There are not enough nurse educators due to academic requirements, lower compensation compared to other nursing positions, and an older nursing workforce,” Squellati says.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-text-stack] [/hen-ui-flex][/hen-ui-list-item] [hen-ui-list-item][hen-ui-flex direction=”column” gap=”xxs”] [hen-ui-heading variant=”h4″]Adult Nurse Practitioner Certification[/hen-ui-heading] [hen-ui-text-stack gap=”xs”] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Description: With an adult NP certification, you can work as a primary care provider with authority to diagnose conditions and prescribe treatments.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Requirements: This nursing certification is available only for renewal. Applicants must have graduated from a board-certified program and maintain continuing education requirements, including at least 25 hours in pharmacology.[/hen-ui-text] [hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Nurse Recommendation: “This certification is popular because it prepares nurse practitioners to be able to care for adult and geriatric patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings,” Rhoads comments.[/hen-ui-text] [/hen-ui-text-stack] [/hen-ui-flex][/hen-ui-list-item][/hen-ui-list][hen-ui-heading variant=”h2″]Popular MSN Programs[/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.[/hen-ui-text][hen-ui-heading variant=”h2″]Meet Our Contributors[/hen-ui-heading][hen-ui-flex direction=”column” gap=”lg”][hen-ui-expert-bio name=”Jenna Liphart Rhoads, Ph.D.” img-src=”https://res.cloudinary.com/highereducation/image/upload/c_fill,h_300,w_300,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto:eco/e_grayscale/v1617126787/experts/Jenna_Liphart_Rhoads.jpg” img-alt=”Jenna Liphart Rhoads, Ph.D.” layout=”horizontal” background=”white” /][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″ slot=”contentRight”]Jenna Liphart Rhoads is a nurse, educator, and writer who has earned a BSN, an MS, and a Ph.D. in nursing education. She works for Nursetogether.com, a website providing trustworthy information on nursing and healthcare education.[/hen-ui-text][/hen-ui-flex][hen-ui-flex direction=”column” gap=”lg”][hen-ui-expert-bio name=”Nicholas McGowan” img-src=”https://res.cloudinary.com/highereducation/image/upload/c_fill,g_face,h_300,w_300,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto:eco/e_grayscale/v1593484742/experts/Nicholas_McGowan.jpg” img-alt=”Nicholas McGowan” layout=”horizontal” background=”white” /][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″ slot=”contentRight”][hen-ui-link href=”https://www.ccrnacademy.com/” target=”_blank”]Nicholas McGowan[/hen-ui-link] is a nurse educator and teaches review courses for nurses looking to get their CCRN. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses is the largest specialty organization in the country with over 95,000 acute and critical care nurses currently certified worldwide.[/hen-ui-text][/hen-ui-flex][hen-ui-flex direction=”column” gap=”lg”][hen-ui-expert-bio name=”Robin Squellati, Ph.D., APRN-C” img-src=”https://res.cloudinary.com/highereducation/image/upload/c_fill,h_300,w_300,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto:eco/e_grayscale/v1607019421/experts/Robin_Squellati.jpg” img-alt=”Robin Squellati, Ph.D., APRN-C” layout=”horizontal” background=”white” /][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″ slot=”contentRight”]Robin Squellati is a faculty member in Walden University’s [hen-ui-link href=”https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waldenu.edu%2Fonline-masters-programs%2Fmaster-of-science-in-nursing&data=04%7C01%7Cabryant%40highereducation.com%7C8010bee897bd4a2fa87808d941694c93%7C4289d6102cfd46218c9644a1518ddb0a%7C0%7C0%7C637612742778965294%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=p1JEubhnqIx%2FQSxv8FgZi26fX0RyH1gQ267mbEeVCLQ%3D&reserved=0″ target=”_blank”]master of science in nursing[/hen-ui-link] program. Squellati is a certified nurse practitioner and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, where she served as a nurse for 28 years.[/hen-ui-text][/hen-ui-flex][hen-ui-text variant=”b4″]Page last reviewed July 30, 2021[/hen-ui-text]