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It Is Time to Renew My CNRN. What Am I Supposed to Do?

Despite having worked hard to obtain the Certified Neuroscience Registered Nurse (CNRN) credential initially, all nurses who hold this credential must have it renewed every 5 years. For most CNRNs, renewing this credential may be a secondary thought as they move through daily activities of caring for patients, teaching new and experienced nurses, and completing research. Then all of a sudden, it is your year to renew!
   If you are a CNRN who has kept your information current with the American Board of Neuroscience Nursing (ABNN), you have received a letter informing you that you must submit your renewal information by October 3, 2008. (If you haven't kept your information current, we cannot remind you! However, the list of CNRNs due to renew this year is posted online at www.AANN.org/credential/Recert.html.) Luckily for those of us who need a little extra time, there is a later deadline, but it requires an extra fee.

There are two paths you can take to obtain renewal, but both require meeting the necessary practice hours in neuroscience nursing. Like most CNRNs, you may have vowed to never take the CNRN certification examination again. Retaking the exam is Option 1—the first path—but if you do not pass the exam, you are not allowed to recertify by the second path, which is to recertify by providing documentation of the required continuing education units (CEUs). Option 2 necessitates completing 75 hours of qualified CEUs (and at least 2 years' full-time neuroscience nursing work equivalent) while Option 3 calls for finishing 100 CEUs (and at least 14.5 months' full-time neuroscience nursing work equivalent) in the previous 5 years. It is important to review the practice and CEU requirements in the current Recertification Handbook, which also can be found on the Web site.
   Recertification by CEUs is not an easy task and must be completed during the 5 years that your CNRN credential allows. There are three categories of CEUs that qualify for recertification, and each category has a minimum or maximum number that may be applied. The categories are as follows

• Category 1 is Neuroscience Nursing CEUs
• Category 2 is Neuroscience, Nonnursing CEUs
• Category 3 is Nursing, Non-neuroscience CEUs.

   Each of these categories has a specific definition that is listed in the Recertification Handbook. If you have not kept track of your CEUs, it can be a daunting task when the time comes, especially if you find that you do not have enough of the mandatory Category 1 CEUs.

Last summer, an experienced CNRN who was recertifying for the third time came to me asking questions about practice hours and CEUs. (I am the nurse educator in the neuro/trauma ICU.) She asked me the following questions:

I am getting ready to renew my CNRN. Do you have a list of all the neuro conferences we have had at the hospital the past few years? Do you have a list of the in-services I have attended that are related to neuroscience nursing? Also, do you know how many hours I have practiced in the last 5 years since I only work PRN and teach the rest of the time?

   As we researched her practice hours, we found that she could count the hours that she taught neuroscience content as practice hours along with her hours in the ICU. It turned out that she had just enough practice hours in the ICU to meet the Option 3 requirements but her CEUs were in question. She obtained a copy of the Recertification Handbook and application and began to count the CEUs that she thought she had for each category. When she was done, she discovered that she did not have enough Category 1 CEUs (23 of the required 40); she needed 5 more Category 2 CEUs (35 of the maximum 40); and she had more than the maximum Category 3 CEUs (42 of the maximum 20). She then asked, "Is there anything that I placed in Category 2 or 3 that will qualify for the Category 1?"
   My response was to ask if any of the conferences she had attended in the Category 3 area had contained neuroscience content. As it turned out, two of them had specific neuroscience sections. These conferences shifted a few CEUs from Category 3 to Category 1, but this was not nearly enough CEUs.
   We went on to discuss other options for CEUs that she could have taken advantage of during the past 5 years. One that stood out was AANN's free CEUs in the month of May through the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing (JNN). This option could have provided several Category 1 CEUs each year. Another helpful suggestion was organizing her CEUs as she obtained them so that it was not such a hassle when it came time to recertify. The AANN Online Store has a CNRN CE Tracker, a special binder with inserts and folders to assist you in organizing certificates and other materials that will document your continuing education.
   Another option that is often overlooked is service on an AANN, ABNN, or NNF committee. This includes CNRN exam-question writing, ABNN's Test Development Committee, and Role Delineation Study. Attending neuroscience presentations and in-services may also count toward needed CEUs, as does reading articles in a peer-reviewed journal or providing a poster presentation at the AANN Annual Educational Meeting.
   As the later deadline loomed, she spent many hours reviewing JNN CE articles and submitting them for credit. A valuable lesson was learned. She is already using the CNRN CE Tracker, and she attended this year's AANN Annual Meeting to gain Category 1 CEUs for the next renewal in 2011. See if you can learn from one nurse's last-minute work. If you are a new CNRN, talk with nurses who have renewed in the past in order to find tips that have assisted them in organizing their CEUs and avoid the last-minute panic.
   To purchase the CNRN CE Tracker, visit the Online Store on the AANN Web site, www.AANN.org.