People often ask, "What is the difference between LNCC certification and other legal nurse certificates?" To assist you in communicating with your colleagues and clients and to help avoid confusion with the options available, we have provided the information below.
The Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC) upholds rigorous standards to ensure specialty nursing certifications meet high-quality criteria. Through accreditation, ABSNC promotes excellence in health care and helps to protect the public by verifying that certified nurses possess the knowledge, skills, and competency required for specialized practice. LNCC® is the only legal nurse consulting certification recognized and accredited by ABSNC.
Essentially, a certification validates expertise in a field, while a certificate shows completion of education.
Certification
- Results from an assessment process that recognizes an individual's knowledge, skills and competency in a particular specialty
- Requires professional experience
- Awarded by a third-party, standard-setting organization, typically not for profit
- Indicates mastery/competency as measured against a defensible set of standards, usually by application or exam
- Standards set through a defensible, industry-wide process (job analysis/role delineation) that results in an outline of required knowledge and skills
- Typically results in credentials to be listed after one's name (LNCC, ONC, CCRN)
- Has on-going requirements in order to maintain; holder must demonstrate he/she continues to meet requirements
Certificate
- Results from an educational process
- For newcomers and experienced professionals
- Awarded by educational programs or institutions often for-profit
- Indicates completion of a course or series of courses with a specific focus (different than a degree-granting program)
- Course content determined by the specific provider or institution, not standardized
- Listed on a resume detailing education
- Demonstrates knowledge of course content at the end of a set period of time
Some content adapted from Certified Fund Raising Executives International - www.cfre.org