CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System Celebrates Board Certified Nurses

In recognition of Certified Nurses Day, CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System is recognizing the unique contributions of 257 board-certified nurses across the region.

Certified Nurses Day, celebrated annually on March 19, promotes certification as a commitment to high standards of patient care and continuing excellence in the nursing profession.

“Certification is a voluntary next step and involves extensive study, 2,000 hours of working in a specialty area prior to testing and investment and successful completion of an exhaustive national test,” said Micah Johnson, vice president and chief nursing officer for CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System.

Reflecting the value of certification, the CHRISTUS St. Michael Surgical Services Department has received the CNOR Strong (Certified Perioperative Nurse) designation for the last four years from the Competency & Credentialing Institute.

“The recognition demonstrates that more than half or our eligible nurses have achieved certification in their specialty,” said Liberty Bailey, administrative director of surgical services.

Nursing certification specialties include, but aren’t limited to critical care, neonatal intensive care, stroke, trauma, emergency nursing, medical-surgical, pediatric, cardiac/vascular, oncology, hospice, quality, case management, obstetrics, diabetes, infection control, rehabilitation and wound care.

Initially proposed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the day honors the birthday of the late Dr. Margretta “Gretta” Madden Styles, RN, EdD, a national pioneer of nursing certification who designed the first comprehensive study of nurse credentialing.