By: The Capella University Editorial Team with Buddy Wiltcher, EdD, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, Interim Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences
Reading Time: 12 minutes
Nursing isn’t a static profession. It moves fast, and many specializations demand deep expertise. That’s why there are so many different types of nursing certifications.
Nursing certifications validate your expertise and may determine the type of work you can do.
Certifications generally fall into three broad categories: foundational clinical certifications, specialty nursing certifications and advanced practice certifications.
Some of these certifications are mandatory depending on your desired role, and some are voluntary. Some are clinically focused, while others specialize in leadership or education.
Learn about the major types of nursing certifications, how they differ from nursing licensure and academic nursing degrees and what to consider when choosing a certification pathway.
Because nursing is such a diverse and specialized profession, you can pursue a wide variety of nursing certifications. However, most nursing certifications fall into four broad categories.
Some types of nursing certifications may be required by employers or a particular healthcare setting. Others are voluntary credentials that demonstrate specialty expertise in a specific area of nursing practice.
Foundational clinical certifications are credentials that validate a nurse’s ability to respond to medical emergencies, perform life-saving interventions and support safe patient care in clinical settings.
These certifications form the baseline clinical competencies expected in many healthcare environments. As a result, they’re often required by employers because they help ensure nurses can respond effectively during critical situations and contribute to patient safety.
Foundational nurse certifications all need to be renewed periodically through continuing education or skills assessments.
Basic Life Support (BLS)
Basic Life Support (BLS) is a foundational certification that teaches you how to respond to life-threatening emergencies like cardiac arrest or respiratory failure.
The training you’ll need to complete to achieve a BLS certification includes:
BLS is essentially the foundation for emergency patient care, and so it’s commonly required across hospitals, clinics and other healthcare settings. BLS certification is usually completed in one day, and there are no prerequisites to pursue this qualification.
Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) builds upon your foundational BLS skills and focuses on managing adult cardiovascular emergencies.
ACLS certification training covers areas like:
Like a BLS certification, nurses working in emergency departments, intensive care units and other acute care environments are often required to hold an ACLS certification. This certification usually takes between 8.25 and 16.5 hours to complete, and you must already hold a BLS certification to pursue your ACLS.
Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) is a foundational clinical certification that focuses on emergency care for infants and children.
The training involved in your PALS certification will typically cover:
PALS certification may be required for work in pediatric hospitals, children’s clinics or pediatric intensive care units. Like ACLS certification, you must obtain your BLS before pursuing a PALS certification. The time needed to complete PALS training depends on the course format and provider, but it usually takes between one to two days on average.
Specialty bedside certifications recognize your expertise within a specific clinical area of nursing. Unlike foundational certifications, specialty credentials are optional. However, some Magnet hospitals encourage nurses to pursue one of these certifications within one to two years of choosing a specialty.
Some nurses simply choose to pursue specialty certifications to demonstrate advanced clinical competency and deepen their expertise in an area they’re passionate about. While specialty nursing certifications vary, they generally require an exam and must be renewed periodically.
Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN)
The Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) credential validates your expertise in caring for critically ill patients.
CCRN-certified nurses commonly work in:
The CCRN certification emphasizes advanced clinical judgment, patient monitoring and complex decision-making. It’s accepted by the Magnet Recognition Program. To pursue a CCRN, you must already have an RN or APRN license.
Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN)
The Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) credential is designed for nurses working in emergency and trauma settings.
Areas of focus include:
The CEN certification demonstrates your expertise in fast-paced environments where you’ll need to make regular, time-sensitive clinical decisions. You must have an RN license to pursue a CEN certification.
Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification (MEDSURG-BC)
A Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification (MEDSURG-BC) is awarded to RNs who demonstrate advanced knowledge and expertise in the field of medical-surgical nursing.
This credential covers areas of specialized clinical knowledge including:
Because medical-surgical units serve patients with diverse conditions, gaining certification demonstrates your broad clinical competence. It’s offered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). To pursue a MEDSURG-BC certification, you must be a licensed RN with at least two years’ experience.
Oncology Certified Nurse (OCN)
An Oncology Certified Nurse (OCN) credential focuses on your ability to care for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer.
Certified oncology nurses may support patients across treatments and areas like:
This certification is offered by the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC), which is a national body that recognizes specialized knowledge in cancer and other complex areas of patient care. To apply for an OCN certification, you must be a licensed RN with two years of experience and a minimum of 2,000 hours of adult oncology nursing practice.
Other specialty nursing certifications
Critical care, emergency nursing and oncology aren’t the only specialty certifications you can pursue as a nurse. There are also recognized national bodies that offer credentials in areas like:
As you gain more experience as a nurse, you may naturally gravitate towards one of these areas and want to achieve a specialty certification to demonstrate your expertise. Specialty certifications also may support your long-term career goals. However, it’s worth researching these certifications, what they look at and the specific requirements before you pursue them.
Post-master’s nursing certificate programs enable nurses with graduate-level education to develop advanced knowledge and skills in highly specialized clinical roles. These certificates are often pursued to meet educational requirements for specialty certification and work alongside state licensure requirements.
Most nurses pursue a post-master’s certificate in nursing after completing their Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) or Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), and they’re generally designed to be completed on a part-time basis so you don’t have to press pause on your current work responsibilities. That’s why Capella’s post-master’s certifications offer a mix of in-person and online learning through our GuidedPath learning format.
Job titles and employment settings mentioned in this blog are examples intended to serve as a general guide. Some positions may prefer or even require previous experience, licensure, certifications and/or other designations along with a degree. Capella cannot guarantee any specific job title, promotion, salary increase, or other career outcome. We encourage you to research requirements for your job target and career goals.
Family Nurse Practitioner certification (FNP)
Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) certifications are designed to prepare you to independently diagnose and treat patients across every part of their lifespan. This is a role that focuses on areas like health promotion, disease prevention and ongoing patient management.
FNP-certified professionals tend to work in settings including:
Capella’s online FNP program is designed to help prepare you for eligibility to take national certification exams administered by the ANCC or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).
Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner certification (PMHNP)
The Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) certification recognizes your expertise in behavioral and mental healthcare.
As a certified PMHNP, your responsibilities may include:
At Capella, our PMHNP post-master’s certificate aims to help you develop the skills to assess, diagnose and treat psychiatric disorders while promoting mental wellness and recovery. Upon completion of this specialization, you’ll be eligible to take the ANCC or AANP national certification exam.
Other post-master’s nursing certifications
Given how many areas of specialization there are within nursing, there are plenty of additional post-master’s certifications you could explore.
Other popular pathways include:
While each of these certifications carry different requirements, you’ll generally be expected to complete a graduate-level program. When in doubt, it’s important to conduct your own research before pursuing one of these credentials.
Not all nursing roles focus on bedside care. As your career progresses, you may want to move into leadership, education, informatics or care coordination roles.
Leadership and nurse executive certifications
Leadership-focused nursing certifications are designed for nurses who want to manage teams, departments or healthcare operations. Examples include the ANCC’s Nurse Executive – Board Certified (NE-BC) credential, although there are a wide variety of leadership credentials on offer from different national bodies.
Generally speaking, these credentials emphasize organizational leadership, workforce management, quality improvement and financial stewardship.
Nursing informatics certifications
Nursing informatics is a growing field that combines clinical expertise with technology and data management. Informatics professionals can support healthcare organizations with electronic health record systems, clinical decision support tools, data analysis and workflow optimization. Examples include the ANCC's Informatics Nursing Certification (NI-BC) credential.
While some nursing bodies offer one-off certifications in this area, you can also specialize in nursing informatics as part of a comprehensive nursing degree. Capella offers an online, Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)-accredited MSN in Nursing Informatics designed to equip you with the skills to assess facility and patient needs, provide technology solutions and manage patient data.
Nursing education certifications
If you’d like to use your nursing experience to teach future healthcare professionals, it could be worth pursuing a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) credential.
This credential equips you with the skills required to teach nursing courses, and areas of focus include:
Like informatics, it’s also possible to specialize in nursing education at the graduate degree level. Capella offers an MSN in Nursing Education program that’s designed around National League for Nursing (NLN) competencies for nurse educators and integrates AACN Essentials for professional nursing education to help you pursue your goals in education.
Case management certifications
Case management certifications support nurses who want to coordinate care across a variety of healthcare providers and settings. Examples include the Accredited Case Manager (ACM) offered by the American Case Management Association (ACMA).
If you choose to specialize in case management, your role may focus on areas like care coordination, resource management, patient advocacy or discharge planning.
Because there are so many types of nursing certifications, licensing rules and degrees, it can be confusing trying to figure out how they all come together.
The first step to becoming a nurse is to earn an academic degree. A degree gives you the foundation for nursing practice, and most nurses pursue either an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) or Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Both programs prepare you for licensure, though licensure can’t be guaranteed only based on completion of a degree program.
Acquiring a nursing license comes next. It gives you the legal authority for clinical practice. This is a non-negotiable, and both RNs and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) must meet state licensing requirements before they’re allowed to provide patient care.
Nursing certifications serve a different purpose. They validate specialized knowledge or expertise within a particular area of nursing practice after you’ve achieved your RN license. Some are optional while others are mandatory depending on your employer and the state you’re practicing in. Existing Registered Nurses (RNs) can also expand their skills set by pursuing an RN-to-BSN degree.
The right nursing certification for you depends on what your healthcare interests are and where you want your career to go.
Think about whether you want to remain in bedside care, pursue leadership opportunities or want to focus on working with a specific patient population.
After you’ve figured out where you’d like your career in nursing to take you, look at employer requirements in these roles. Find out which certifications are mandatory or will highlight your expertise, and explore the eligibility and clinical experience requirements for achieving them.
Remember that certifications are often just one part of a broader lifelong learning journey. That’s why many nurses choose to continue building their expertise through advanced education like an MSN or DNP.
Capella offers MSN programs that enable you to specialize in:
These programs not only integrate areas of special focus but also emphasize flexibility to support working adults balancing full-time jobs and caring responsibilities with their studies.
For working professionals, learning formats such as FlexPath and GuidedPath may help make continuing education more manageable while balancing career and personal responsibilities. Our MSN programs are available in the GuidedPath learning format, with deadlines to keep you on track and 24/7 access to the courseroom, and the FlexPath learning format, which allows you to complete the coursework at your own pace.
The right learning format and certification should support both your current role and the nursing career you hope to build in the future.
Nursing is a fast-moving profession, and earning certifications enables you to showcase your growing expertise and how your role can evolve alongside the wider industry.
From foundational life support training to specialty clinical certifications and advanced practice credentials, each nursing pathway has its own distinct set of certifications. It’s just essential that you understand the differences between these certifications to ensure you’ve got a clear view of how each one could support your professional development.
At Capella, you can strengthen your clinical skills or expand your leadership capabilities through a range of nursing degrees and specializations.
We've received your message and will get back to you soon.