PNCB Employer Spotlight

The PNCB was proud to nominate Our Lady of the Lake (OLOL) Children's Hospital for the 2007 American Board of Nursing Specialties Award for Nursing Advocacy.

With over 200 children's hospitals in the United States,
what makes OLOL stand out?

Under the leadership of Nicole Telhiard, Director of Nursing, at least one third of the eligible direct patient care RNs at OLOL Children's Hospital are Certified Pediatric Nurses. With a staff of 150, this makes for a sizable number of nurses who have taken their commitment to pediatric nursing to the next level. Equally impressive was OLOL's policy of reimbursing 80% of the exam application fee upon passing. And for nurses with limited financial resources, the Children's Miracle Network education fund will pay the application fee upfront. Review courses are offered at the hospital at no charge to RNs to help them prepare for exams.

At OLOL, specialty nursing certification is a criterion for advancement up the clinical ladder, and nurses are offered paid "workshop time" to attend continuing education programs, with many opportunities for CE hosted onsite. Last summer alone over 38 classes were offered, which gave CPNs wanting to fulfill CE Recertification options in October a convenient way to earn these contact hours. OLOL is committed to financial incentives as well, with a salary differential of $1.00 per hour for nurses who earn and maintain certification.

Recognition is on-going at OLOL: Plaques displaying the names of CPNs are publicly displayed with pride in high-visibility areas of the hospital, and credentials are listed on nametags. CPNs are often asked what the initials by their names mean; this opens the door for discussion with the public about the significance of certification. The names of newly certified nurses are published in Pedi-Patter, the Children's Hospital newsletter, and the names of all certified nurses are published in a program brochure during Nurses Week. We were also pleased to see that two Certified Pediatric Nurses were recently honored on the OLOL website feature Profiles in Nursing Excellence.

It's plain to see that this is an employer who continues to support nurses long after they pass the initial exam. Here, certification is valued and rewarded regularly, publicly, and in tangible ways. And this philosophy is imparted to the next generation of OLOL nurses; as Children's Hospital staff visit surrounding nursing schools to talk about pediatric nursing, they share with students their belief that certification is the hallmark of a nursing specialty. We applaud the nursing leadership at Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital for their commitment to certification. Your hospital truly deserves to be in the first PNCB Employer Spotlight!

Does your employer go the extra mile to support PNCB certification? We'd love to hear about it. Email Lori Boocks, Director of Marketing, and maybe your facility will be featured in the next PNCB Employer Spotlight! We also offer free brochures on how employers can support certification at your facility. Simply contact us and we'll send you copies to share with your administration.

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