When I talk to nurses about becoming certified, many respond that they are afraid that if they put all the time and money into certification and they do not pass the exam that it will all be a waste. Fear keeps many of us from pursuing our dreams and our goals. Fear can keep you stuck in an uncomfortable situation for years or even a lifetime. Fear makes us negative thinkers, resentful and defensive.
Those who pursue certification are not fearless. Rather, they have found courage. Courage is not a lack of fear. Courage is acting in spite of fear. Faith is required in order to have courage; faith in yourself and faith that your goal is worth pursuing. You must have faith that the end result of pursuing your goal will be good no matter what the outcome.
By pursuing certification, you will gain additional knowledge that will help you in your practice and you will be a better nurse. If your goal is to improve your practice and become better, then pursuing certification would be a worthy goal. The American Nurses Association surveyed nurses who were certified and nurses who were not and found that certified nurses had more confidence, better patient satisfaction ratings, and fewer errors and adverse effects in their practice. It is neither the credential nor the certificate that makes the better nurse. It is the process of additional learning that comes with preparing to take a certification exam. By becoming certified, you can improve your practice.
Certification would be a worthy goal and one that may pay handsomely in terms of career mobility and other opportunities. Have faith in your goals and you will have the courage to work through your fear. My mentor, Zig Ziglar, says fear is an acrostic for “False Evidence Appearing Real. Do not believe in your fears. Believe instead in your goals and you will be empowered to become extraordinary.
For more information, see www.100K-certified-nurses.com.
Best wishes,
David W. Woodruff, MSN, RN-BC, CNS, CEN
President, Ed4Nurses, Inc.