It's all happening!
Steering Committee Activity
It has been a while since a news update for the C4N project – but that’s not because we’ve been doing nothing!
The project steering committee has been working hard on establishing a MOU between the organisations, investigating options for an online credentialing application system and a governance framework that will support C4N into the future.
The next face-to-face meeting for the steering committee is being arranged for May.
A new Project Manager
The C4N project is now being managed by Peta Marks, the ACMHN's Professional Development Manager. Peta brings with her a wealth of experience in project management for the College and, as a Credentialed Mental Health Nurse, Peta understands the importance of being recognised as a specialist within her field of practice.
The C4N Credentialing Survey
We’ve had over 140 nurses responding to the C4N survey, with some interesting results thus far.
The majority of respondents have been 40-59 year old (70%) Queensland-based (52%) female (95%) clinical (60%) RNs (98%), who are members of the Australian College of Children & Young People’s Nurses (85%). Nearly all of the respondents (95%) consider themselves to be specialist nurses and they state that they demonstrate this specialisation to patients and colleagues through their qualifications and experience. 92% of respondents would like to be identified as a specialist nurse by the professional nursing organisation of their specialty and 89% said they would be interested in being credentialed by their specialty nursing organisation if a credentialing program was available.
A text analysis of the perceived value or benefit of being credentialed in the nursing specialty was possible and produced this pretty word cloud!
What exactly is Credentialing?
Credentialing recognises the qualifications, skills, expertise and experience of nurses who are practicing within a nursing specialty. It demonstrates to employers, professional colleagues, consumers/patients and carers that an individual nurse has achieved the professional standard for practice in their nursing specialty. The Credential also increases awareness of the contribution specialist nurses make to the health of the community.
Credentialing is a core component of clinical/professional governance or self regulation where members of a profession set standards for practice and establish a minimum requirement for entry, continuing professional development, endorsement and recognition.
Registered nurses working in specialised fields and other disciplines have developed credentialing as a means to ensure standards of practice and competence within their specialist domain beyond entry to practice.
