How to Display Your Credentials
When you graduate from nursing school, do you ever wonder where you should put your new credentials? And what order it should be in? I know that I wanted to know!
First things first. As a nurse, you will have to get licensed first (this is your RN). After you work a year or two, you can then pass an exam to get your specialty certification (medical surgical nursing, etc – thus becoming a RN-BC). You can find the different certifications at the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). There are also Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist Certification for who go back to school for their masters. Another national certification is the CCRN – Critical Care Registered Nurse.
According to the ANCC, the preferred order is:
- Highest earned degrees (BSN)
- Licensure (RN)
- State designations or requirements (FNP)
- National certifications (RN-BC, CCRN)
- Awards and honors (FAAN)
- Other recognitions (EMT)
So after you graduate and you pass the NCLEX, you want to write your title like this:
Your Name, BSN RN
And whenever you’re signing anything in the healthcare field, sign your name as such:
Your Name RN
Now you can be confident when you write your name.