Hello everyone and happy summer!

I do hope that you are able to take time this summer to relax and reflect on your nursing career and the value of your certification. The past two years have been incredibly exhausting, and while things are slowly returning to normal, all of us are still facing challenging times in our careers. 

A former mentor of mine used to say, “better days are coming” and I know that is a true statement still today. Please remember that the great work you are doing matters to our patients and their loved ones.

I recently had the privilege to participate in a podcast webinar with MSNCB Director, Cindy Frazer, about some of the upcoming activities for MSNCB that will benefit our certificants. Afterwards, we both thought that this would be a great time to discuss the MSNCB website and some of the frequently asked questions about recertification.

I do want to start off by saying that we will soon have a new website and a new URL for AMSN and MSNCB. We are in the design phase of the website, and we are excited about what we have seen so far. In the meantime, you can access the certification website through https://www.amsn.org/certification. Since you all are already CMSRN certified, let’s talk about some of the details that you need for recertification.

To recertify your credential, you must have a current RN license or foreign equivalent, accrued 1,000 practice hours in a med-surg setting in the last five years, and earned 90 contact hours in the last five years

To recertify your credential, you must have a current RN license or foreign equivalent, accrued 1,000 practice hours in a med-surg setting in the last five years, and earned 90 contact hours in the last five years.

Frequently, we are asked, “what practice hours count towards recertification if I am not at the bedside?” We are glad you asked! First and foremost, we set the standard of 1,000 hours in five years to capture the nurses that work on a per diem basis.

The practice hours are wide and varied for medical-surgical nursing. If you are teaching in a nursing program (in the classroom, skills laboratory, clinical rotation, or any combination of these), those practice hours count towards recertification. If you are a leader, manager, director, or executive in a medical-surgical setting, those hours count as well.

If you are working in the industry as a registered nurse, whether it is in sales, consultant, advisor, or another nursing role, those hours count towards your recertification practice hours. Remember, medical- surgical nursing is not where you practice, but what you practice!

AMSN is a great source of NCPD for the CMSRN credential. The 2022 AMSN convention offers up to 38 NCPD hours towards your recertification.

The AMSN online library also offers NCPD that is divided into many specialty areas within medical-surgical nursing practice. Go check it out and see what is available for you.

If you are an AMSN member (and I highly encourage you to join AMSN if you are not a member), there is a discount on the cost of these educational offerings.

One advantage of using the AMSN online library is that once you complete the activity, the hours will load automatically to your account through the contact hour tracker.

AMSN is not the sole source of accredited NCPD. NetCE, CE Broker and HealthStream are just few. Other activities you can obtain contact hours for to renew your credential include precepting, academic course work, and many others.

Check out our handy Contact Hour Guide to learn about all the CMSRN contact hour activities. No matter what resource you use for contact hours, please make sure that you log that information in your  contact hour tracker. It is very easy to add in your NCPD from other sources on the tracker. Just follow the steps and you will be done in just a minute or two.

This is just a brief overview of the recertification process. There is a lot more detail in the Certification section of our website you can check out about recertifying your credential. You worked hard to earn your CMSRN, and we want you to retain that certification. Please let us know what we can do to help you with the process and what can we do to make the process smoother for you.

Again, look for announcements and details about our new website soon. Thank you again for everything you do for our patients and to promote the specialty of medical-surgical nursing.

Continue to do great things out there. I am always inspired by your commitment to excellent patient care delivery and for being the great medical-surgical nurses that you are.

Wes Foster, MSN, BA, RN, CMSRN, OCN
President, MSNCB