• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Alphabet soup: In the nursing industry, success can be a 26-letter ’word’

Stressed Out Nurses Weekly, January 8, 2007

RN is an easy one. BSN is pretty simple, too. But how about APRN, PNP, and DEd? Or CEN and QXLPTV? Okay, that last one is made up, but you get the point. Tongue-twisting collections of credentials-due to various degrees and certifications-are growing almost daily in the nursing world.

"We seem to love our alphabet," says Diana Swihart, PhD, DMin, MSN, CS, APRN, BC, a CNS (clinical nurse specialist in nursing education) and ANCC Magnet Recognition Program® Project Director at Bay Pines VA Healthcare System in Florida.

The alphabet soup that follows Swihart's name could cause fits for even the most experienced Scrabble® players. At conferences, it can take up to five minutes for her just to introduce herself! Maybe that's an exaggeration, but she does have more degrees than, well, let's just say she has a lot of them.

"Degrees for me just kind of became a little like toilet paper," she says with a chuckle. "It was so hard to tease out that first piece of paper, but I realized if I just stayed in school, paid my bills, and did what was asked of me, they just kept coming. I even had fun along the way!"

But what does it all mean? Are the credentials for personal satisfaction? To improve patient care? To earn extra money? Or are they just there to cause stress for companies that print nametags?

For the rest of the story (plus a whole lot more!), please click here.

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive