The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Commission on Certification (COC) has officially announced ANCC’s new advanced practice credentials for clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) and nurse practitioners (NPs). The previous credential, APRN,BC (Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, Board Certified) is retired effective January 1, 2008.

CNS Credentials

The new ANCC credential for the advanced practice role of clinical nurse specialist (CNS) will be CNS-BC. (Clinical Nurse Specialist – Board Certified). In order to keep consistent with the Nurse Practitioner (NP) credential released in January 2008 and outlined below, the individual specialty will be annotated in front of the CNS. Examples of this would be:

• ACNS-BC (Adult CNS - Board Certified)
• GCNS-BC (Gerontological CNS - Board Certified)
• HHCNS-BC (Home Health CNS - Board Certified)
• PCNS-BC (Pediatric CNS - Board Certified)
• PMHCNS-BC (Psychiatric Mental Health CNS - Board Certified) - used for both Child/Adolescent and Adult

This change has been supported by the major CNS stakeholder organizations, the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA), the International Society of Psychiatric Nurses (ISPN), and the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS). ANCC worked closely with these groups to assure that all issues and perspectives were considered. It was also supported by a majority of certified CNSs, who were given the chance to submit their feedback in an ANCC survey which was posted on the NACNS website.

One concern some CNSs had was that the change could undermine their status as advanced practice nurses. According to Kelly A. Goudreau DSN, RN, CNS, Immediate Past President of NACNS, “the CNS role is best served by a unique credential that differentiates the CNS role from that of other advanced practice nurses. In some states, the CNS role is not recognized and state boards allow the NP to practice as a CNS. This trend poses a challenge to the continuation of the unique CNS role. NACNS and ANCC support the independence and continued recognition of the CNS as a separate and distinct advanced practice role. The new CNS-BC credentials will help to highlight this important distinction” while still recognizing the specialty practice of the CNS.

NP Credentials

The new credentials for ANCC-certified nurse practitioners will be NP-BC (nurse practitioner-board certified) preceded by a letter indicating the particular specialty, i.e.:

Implementation of New Advanced Practice Credentials

ANCC’s new advanced practice credentials go into effect January 1, 2008. ANCC will notify state boards of nursing and other stakeholders of this change. Furthermore, all ANCC-certified NPs and CNSs will receive an updated certificate by mail during the second quarter of 2008, with the new credentials clearly stated. ANCC hopes this will help to avoid or overcome any potential confusion or difficulty.