Circle of Excellence: Palm Beach County Chapter

Excellence in Promoting the Value of Certification

Palm Beach County Chapter of AACN, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., is proud of our accomplishments in promoting certification. Currently, 39% of our local chapter members and board officers are CCRN-certified.

The value of certification is promoted at monthly educational dinner meetings and though our Web presence. Our members are recognized monthly and annually for achievement of certification at a CCRN /PCCN Recognition Luncheon or Dinner Gala.

We implemented a system to reward certification with scholarship merit points system for certified chapter members. We collaborated in January 2012 with St. Mary’s Medical Center on a 2-Day CCRN review course that had 35 registered participants representing 16 area hospitals.

Our goals and future plans for promoting certification include increasing certified chapter members by 10%. Our chapter will continue to promote certification in an effort to be "Together. Stronger. Bolder." in the upcoming 2011-2012 year and meet our certification goals.

We will:

• Implement a CCRN/PCCN Certification Committee and NTI Promotion Committee.
• Continue to promote the benefits of certification at monthly meetings with member recognition, written AACN information for interested parties and in new member packets.
• Hold CCRN/PCCN Review Bowl, “Battle of the Wits” — Jeopardy-style review game at our April 2012 meeting.
• Collaborate with the nursing leadership at local hospitals that are currently seeking Beacon or Magnet recognition to discuss the benefits of certification.
• Create a Palm Beach County Chapter membership story board that is shared with local hospitals interested in acquiring more knowledge regarding AACN membership and the benefits of certification.
• Continue collaboration with our sister chapters and local hospitals in hosting additional CCRN/PCCN reviews, scheduled for February and June 2012, using email and Web presence to encourage members to attend.