Credentialing and certification: Overview, science, and impact on policy, regulation, and practice.

Aim: To engage the global nursing community in sharing knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned about credentialing of individual nurses to improve nursing practice, patient safety, and quality of care.

Background: Although the United States has a long and robust history of credentialing individual nurses, the opportunity exists to expand the dialogue globally, and is supported by globally focused governing bodies who call for increased or expanded investment in nursing certification and credentialing. Foundational work to define and operationalize certification for research purposes and develop an administrative home for stakeholders interested in certification can be leveraged by countries and regions globally.