MSNCB Announces Virtual Acute Care RN Certification

MSNCB Announces Virtual Acute Care RN Certification

PITMAN, NJ (MARCH 1, 2023) – The Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board (MSNCB) announces a new virtual acute care nursing certification that is designed to elevate patient care, increase rapid interventions related to core measures, leverage staff expertise, and support excellence in monitoring patient care to support greater risk assessments and intervention.

The new MSNCB certification brings virtual acute care nursing to new and innovative models of care to meet growing patient demands, while optimizing the latest telemedicine technologies designed to allow for real-time exchange of information through video and audio in any acute care setting. Key factors in the move to establish a virtual acute care RN certification include:

• Patient Demands. As hospitals are increasingly serving populations demonstrating a rise in the elevation of higher acuity and co-morbid conditions, the need to leverage innovative models of acute care is vital – particularly as nursing shortages continue to proliferate the healthcare landscape. Currently, according to the American Nurses Association (ANA), there are approximately 4.3 million licensed nurses in the United States, with the average age of a registered nurse near or over 50.
• Nursing Support: Implementation of virtual acute care nursing offers a response to the crushing national nursing shortage, as well as an opportunity for retention of nurses by providing a virtual work environment that leverages a nurse’s clinical knowledge and experience for the betterment of patient communication and care outcomes.
• Clinical Experience Sharing. Virtual acute care nurses will bring knowledge and clinical experience to virtual nursing support at the bedside, deploying virtual acute nursing care rooted in critical thinking and interpersonal communication.

Real-Time Patient Monitoring; Improved Patient Outcomes

Key functions of nurses with MSNCB’s new certification will include, but not be limited to, patient education, staff mentoring/education, real-time patient monitoring, physician rounding, improved patient outcomes through ongoing risk assessment and admission/discharge support activities. MSNCB’s virtual acute care nursing certification will concentrate on the domains of Quality & Safety; Patient & Family Education; Communication; Teamwork and Inter-Professional Collaboration; Coaching & Mentoring; Leadership; and Informatics & Technology.

According to Wes Foster, MSN, BA, CMSRN, OCN Emeritus, MSNCB President, virtual acute care nursing was amplified due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but several institutions and health care systems across the country were piloting or implementing virtual nursing into their acute care model prior to the pandemic.

“MSNCB recognized this valuable and innovative care model and supports its use to improve patient care outcomes and contribute to experienced nurse retention,” Foster reports. “We are thrilled to launch this credential to validate the knowledge, skills and abilities of nurses providing virtual care to their acute care patients. We believe virtual nursing will continue to grow in its use and impact in inpatient acute patient care.”

According to the MSNCB, this new certification is not only for medical-surgical nurses, but for any registered nurse working in the acute care setting, whether that be pediatrics, orthopedics, maternal/child, or other inpatient settings where virtual nursing is utilized to augment and support bedside nurses in the provision of care. The focus of this certification is on the competencies required of nurses working in a virtual care model and does not test their expertise in their specific nursing specialty.

ABOUT THE MEDICAL-SURGICAL NURSING CERTIFICATION BOARD (MSNCB)

The Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board (MSNCB) is a professional nonprofit organization that administers the Certified Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse (CMSRN®) certification program. The CMSRN® credential is the recognized path for medical-surgical nurses to demonstrate their commitment, confidence, and credibility. For more information, visit www.amsn.org/certification and on Twitter follow @MedSurgNurses.

ABOUT THE ACADEMY OF MEDICAL-SURGICAL NURSES (AMSN)

The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) is the only specialty nursing organization dedicated to the practice of medical-surgical nursing. A dynamic community of more than 10,000 medical-surgical nurses, and more than 40,000 Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board (MSNCB) certificants, AMSN ranges from nurses who work in a hospital’s med-surg unit, to those in leadership roles working to impact patient safety and quality of care delivery. AMSN is committed to quality patient care through the ongoing support of professional development, certification, scholarship, and advocacy. Medical-surgical nursing is the single largest nursing specialty in the United States and beyond, practiced in several settings across the health care industry, including hospitals, outpatient settings, in homes, via telemedicine and other non-traditional settings. For more information, visit www.amsn.org and on Twitter @MedSurgNurses.

HEADQUARTERS

Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN)
200 East Holly Ave
Sewell NJ 08080
www.amsn.org