Benefits of Inpatient Obstetric Certification Essay

Introduction: RNC-OB (Inpatient Obstetric Certification)

Obstetrical nurses who give care to inpatient pregnant females during the antenatal, intrapartum, postoperative, and neonatal periods must be RNC-OB certified. Candidates should be able to define a detailed strategy for personalized nursing care that includes diagnosing, rehabilitative, and patient education elements (American Mobile, 2019). The certification displays obstetrical nurses’ expertise in fetal evaluation, pregnancy problems, childbirth and delivery, recuperation, postnatal, and infant care, with an emphasis on the medical treatment of pregnant women beyond twenty weeks of pregnancy until discharge.

The process to obtain clinical certification is as follows:

1. Being an eligible candidate;
2. Have complete contact information, including address, phone number, and email;
3. Submit an online application with payment;
4. Have available the following information: Nursing professional license, the current employment history for the past five years with specialty area, supervisor name, and employer contact information;
5. Sign the application agreement (American Mobile, 2019).

Cost of application and testing:

1. Computer exam fees are $325, which includes a non-refundable $50 application fee.
2. $125 fee to reschedule an examination if one were to miss their testing date.
3. $165 withdrawal fee.

Requirements prior to certification:

1. To be eligible for the RNC-OB certification, an L&D nurse must have 2000 hours of work as a clinical labor and delivery nurse;
2. Two years of specialty experience consist of direct patient care, education administration, or research.
3. Working as an L&D nurse in the last 24 hours (American Mobile, 2019).

RNC-OB Certification’s Details

Examination description

The exam is three-hour-long and consists of 175 multiple-choice questions. Out of the 175 questions, 150 are scored, and 25 are used to gather statistical data on performance for future exams. The exam consists of 29% of complications of pregnancy, 18% fetal assessment, 35% labor and birth, 15% recovery postpartum and newborn care, and 3% professional issues (Johnson, 2018).

Renewal time and process

The certification is valid for three years. In order to keep one’s certification updated, they are required to complete CE modules by login into your maintenance application through National Certification Corporation.

Required items for renewal

1. To have a valid maintenance application online with the National Certification Corporation.
2. Log in regularly to review your maintenance requirements and complete your required CE.
3. Individual must keep their personal information updated, upload a current license on file, and complete of Continuing Competency Assessment.

Problem Description

Being a Labor and Delivery nurse is a complex job with two patients at all times. L&D nurses have to advocate for both the mother and her unborn child. What many perceive as a simple delivery can become an emergency situation where you need to save two lives. New nurses with limited experience need to have their certification so they can be well-grounded on how to address emergency situations and carry patients during acute medical emergencies as well as high-risk morbidity. Having the certification nurses will show their specialty knowledge as obstetric nurses in fetal assessment, complications in pregnancy, labor and birth, recovery/postpartum, and newborn care.

Scholarly Article Key Points

A major issue for new graduate RNs in the specialty area of labor, delivery, recovery, and postpartum is the low retention rates. This is mostly attributed to the lack of preparedness among these new nurses, with 50% of nurses coming from agencies. The Perinatal Clinical Mentorship Program is aimed to help solve this problem. The program allows mentors trained in LDRP to mentor new graduate nurses to better assimilate them into the new environment (Lesher et al., 2021). The program consists of 14 modules that provide direct assistance in providing the proper care, simulations, and one-on-one help from the mentors.

After the modules are completed, new graduate nurses participate in clinical orientation during the day shift with their perinatal mentor, where they can gain more hands-on assistance with educational needs and psychomotor skills. Afterward, they partake in simulations to further meet the unique skills needed for the LDRP units (Lesher et al., 2021). This program has had great outcomes, with increasing retention rates to over 70% and exponentially decreasing the number of nurses coming from agencies.

Scholarly Article Connection

The program described in the article will provide greater patient satisfaction and better communication during the treatment. Certified nurses can become more effective caregivers in their specialty. They will have the confidence to better handle not only acute situations but also emergency situations in their department. This will also decrease the number of medical errors. Patients, in general, might feel more satisfied knowing that the nurse who is taking care of them has a growth of knowledge that is beyond their nursing credential.

Clinical certification impacts leadership skills by showing a commitment to lifelong learning and motivation in the nursing career. Seeing other co-workers have their own certifications will empower other nurses to seek and pursue their own certifications. This will show greater self-esteem and provide the opportunity for others to become mentors to newer nurses while also allowing new nurses to better receive their advice.

Conclusion

Obstetrical nurses who give care to inpatient pregnant females during the antenatal, intrapartum, postoperative, and neonatal periods must be RNC-OB certified. Candidates should be able to define a detailed strategy for personalized nursing care that includes diagnosing, rehabilitative, and patient education elements. Out of the 175 examination questions, 150 are scored, and 25 are used to gather statistical data on performance for future exams. The total cost involves computer exam fees with the non-refundable application fee, the fee to reschedule an examination if one were to miss their testing date, and the withdrawal fee.

A major issue for new graduate RNs in the specialty area of labor, delivery, recovery, and postpartum is the low retention rates. The program described in the article will provide greater patient satisfaction and better communication during the treatment. Moreover, clinical certification impacts leadership skills by showing a commitment to lifelong learning and motivation in the nursing career. The necessity of RNC-OB certification for nurses involved in the area of pregnancy was explored. The chosen article deepened the knowledge in this regard, as well as offered the program to achieve notable results.

References

American Mobile. (2019). Labor and delivery nurse certifications. Web.

Johnson, S. (2018). What is the RNC-OB certification? Career Trend. Web.

Lesher, B.B., Witt, J. M., Woodard, R.M., & Haberyan, A. B. (2021). New graduate RN perinatal internship. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 52(1), 47–52.