The impact and perception of nursing certification in pediatric nursing.

Nursing certification is an assessment and formal recognition of specialized knowledge, and is awarded through achievement of standards identified by a nursing specialty (Niebuhr & Biel, 2007). This recognition is a method of not only assessing competency, but knowledge and skills, and has been linked to an increase in patient satisfaction and nurse retention (Kleinpell, 2009). For these reasons, a heightened focus has been on identifying the value of nursing certification and outcomes related to patient care.

Nursing portfolio study: the use in annual performance reviews.

Professional portfolios allow staff to document their participation in areas of education, certification, shared governance councils, national nursing organizations, and community outreach. In this study, nurses tracked their professional development in a virtual electronic portfolio. A preperception/postperception questionnaire for both staff and unit directors revealed that nursing portfolios proved to be a valuable tool during annual performance reviews to acknowledge accomplishments and encourage continued professional growth of individual direct-care staff nurses.