Post-it 3-27-22-Poly letters, is it worth it?

The note reads ‘poly letters after your name, is it worth it?’.

I know what this is referring to. Especially after going to an international conference and meeting people with what seems like an alphabet after their names. Letters of all kinds-CNS, CNOR, DNP, and CNE. And the letters are followed by more letters.

And going to a conference and paying attention to all of the letters is surreal. Before they were just part of the landscape. Oh, you have letters, me too.

But I know what those letters mean. The most memorable is the education letters.

There are the PhD nurses. This one is self explanatory. I will be going back to school again to earn these letters so I can write textbooks. Teaching has not been ruled out as well. Maybe online.

DNP is a doctorate of nursing practice. This is a degree that can be obtained in a variety of specialties, including leadership. This can be used to teach or to lead.

The MSN which means there is a masters in the mix. This can be any one of three tracks: education, leadership, informatics. There are probably more.

The MBA which means there is a business administration masters. Some leaders get these to establish their bona fides as leaders. And also to be able to steer the ship that is a hospital system.

There are the CNE. This means you are a certified nurse educator. I have to look at getting one of these. Especially if I want to teach at a collegiate level.

CNS means clinical nurse specialist. That you know everything there is to know about the specialty. I admit I did explore this one. But my system already has several. I did not want to crowd the market. And this would not lead to my ultimate retirement goal which is to write textbooks.

Certification is important. It means that you took the time to learn more about the topic you are certified in. I will tout this importance until I can’t any more.

I know, I know. I have a bit of an alphabet after my own name. MSN, RN, CNOR. The most important one is RN.

Because all the letters mean nothing if you do not keep up your RN. This means that we are able and licensed to take care of patients. And they are at the heart of it all.