Certification Plan for Nurse Practitioners in All States

            Certification Plan Name Institutional Affiliation                 Certification Plan             On top of licensure, nurse practitioners in all states apart from New York, Kansas and California are required to be certified. While licensure permits a nurse to engage in the nursing profession upon acquisition of essential education and competence, certification gives the assurance that a nurse practitioner has acquired a set of skills and knowledge in their specialty. Moreover, while the states offer licenses, certification is awarded by the national organizations. Five organizations offer certification in the United States depending on one’s specialty. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) is one of the bodies that offer the certification examinations. I have chosen to take the ANCC examination for various reasons. ANCC offers certification in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care, Family, Pediatric Primary Care, and Psychiatric-Mental Health. My population-foci falls within the scope of the organization. The organization also requires one to be a holder of at least a Master’s degree.  Being a holder of an active Registered Nurse license as well as a Master’s degree, I am eligible for the examination. The ANCC certification is recognized nationally. Moreover, the program has established itself as a measure of excellence since its inception in 1990. More than a quarter million nurses have passed through the program (ANCC, 2018).             The ANCC exam consists of 200 questions, 25 of them are pretest questions, done over 4 hours. The score is converted to scale score. 500 is the maximum score. One must score at least 350 to pass. The knowledge I have acquired throughout my academic years will play a great role in the preparation and taking of the exam. I have also acquired practical skills during my voluntary and clinical practice. These are some of the strengths that I possess going into the exam. However, I bear some weaknesses that must be addressed before the exam. First, I have time constraints due to the voluntary work that I carry out at a local nursing home. Also, although I am a good team worker, I do not gain much academically through group studies. Due to the immensity of the material covered in the exam, its importance, as well as the weaknesses highlighted above, plotting a study plan is essential. I plan to start preparing for the exam six months prior. Since my schedule is not synchronized with those of ...