NACHRI 2008 Annual Meeting Session Presentation

The Certified Pediatric Nurse:  Workforce Characteristics and Perceptions of Employer Support

Jan Wyatt, PhD, CRNP, FAANP, Chief Executive Officer
Peg Harrison, MS, RN, CPNP, Executive Vice President
Pediatric Nursing Certification Board, Gaithersburg, MD

Learning objectives:  Following this session attendees will be able to:

1. Understand how certified pediatric nurses define job satisfaction
2. Define professional characteristics of certified pediatric nurses
3. Understand how certified pediatric nurses perceive employer job support

Introduction/background:
Today more than 87 percent of all CPNs work in designated children's hospitals and major medical centers. With the rapid growth in health care knowledge, hospitals and nursing leaders are challenged to integrate continuing education as an important nursing role expectation. We will the report the strategies that CPNs identified as best for updating their knowledge and skills. Perceptions of employer support for continuing education, certification and other aspects of nurse professional development will also be shared. Most importantly, we will explore how perceptions of employer support are related to reports of employer rewards and associated job satisfaction and job retention.

Initiative or project description:
As NACHRI affiliated institutions seek to recruit, educate and retain the best nursing personnel to maximize quality patient care, the PNCB will share key characteristics of its nationally Certified Pediatric Nurse population including educational preparation, practice role status and other relevant demographics. Special practice findings from the PNCB’s 2008 national pediatric nursing practice analysis research will also be presented including a profile of the critical tasks and role responsibilities performed by CPNs.

Results/Outcomes:
The survey will be completed in the summer of 2008. As studies emerge that link certification to decreased hospital stays and positive attitudes towards nursing care, our research will explore the impact of reported CPN® factors on patient care satisfaction. Data regarding how CPNs perceive that their certification impacts patient care will also be shared.

Future of initiative:
These findings will be compared to those from the PNCB's 2002 role delineation study to describe evolving changes in pediatric nursing tasks and responsibilities.

Lessons learned:
Presentation of the characteristics of the CPN® workforce combined with information describing important CPN® perceptions associated with job satisfaction and patient care factors will provide valuable information for leaders of children's hospitals who are interested in supporting quality nursing care. This presentation should lay the foundation for leadership to explore the benefits of certified pediatric nursing staff together with factors important to both nurse job satisfaction and patient care satisfaction.

The Certified Pediatric Nurse presentation (PDF File)

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