Specialty certification enhances patient safety in health care by validating that practice is consistent with standards of excellence. The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between direct-care, specialty-certified nurses employed in perioperative units, surgical intensive care units (SICUs), and surgical units and nursing-sensitive patient outcomes in SICUs and surgical units. Lower rates of central-line-associated bloodstream infections in SICUs were significantly associated with higher rates of CPAN (certified postanesthesia nurse) (β = -0.09, P = .05) and CNOR/CRNFA (certified nurse operating room/certified RN first assistant) (β = -0.17, P = .00) certifications in perioperative units. Unexpectedly, higher rates of CNOR/CRNFA certification in perioperative units were associated with higher rates of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (β = 0.08, P = .03) and unit-acquired pressure ulcers (β = 0.13, P = .00), possibly because of a higher risk of pressure ulcers in the patient population. Additional research is needed to clarify this relationship. Our findings lend credence to perioperative, SICU, and surgical nurses participating in lifelong learning and continuous professional development, including achievement of specialty certification.

OR managers face increasing pressure to ensure nursing competency. Subspecialty education programs provide a critical foundation upon which eventual clinical competency will be built, but the relationship between competency and clinical performance is not yet well understood. A variety of perioperative nursing subspecialty programs are described in the literature. These programs were examined in the context of the theoretical connection between education, clinical experience, and nursing competency.

Future theory-based research should examine the association of nursing specialty certification with patient outcomes and investigate the effect of Magnet status on SSI.

No abstract

Health care certification programs are experiencing a period of great change because of increased public expectations and recent accreditation requirement changes. Nursing certification programs, including the CNOR credential administered by the Competency & Credentialing Institute (CCI), are not immune to these changes. The CNOR credential is the most common perioperative nursing certification and has more than 40,000 certificants worldwide. In response to updated accreditation standards, CCI recently announced CNOR credential recertification process changes. This article provides perioperative nurses with information on the effectiveness of continuing education for recertification, accreditation processes for certification programs, the nature of the new recertification mechanism and the process by which CCI revised and strengthened it, and specific information for CNOR‐certified nurses on the timeline for recertification changes.