Nurse Patient Education Certification


Nurse-Patient Educator Certification

“Dedicated to Continued Learning, Growth, and Achievement in Health Care Practice”

 

Receive your Nurse Patient Educator Certification, offered by the American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc.

The American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc. offers a comprehensive, quality, Certification program for Registered Nurses in Patient Education. This certification focuses on the validation of the attainment of advanced continuing education related to all facets of patient teaching including learning principles, program developments, implementation and evaluation. This program is open only to Registered Nurses, Advance Practice Nurses and Practical Nurses who are currently licensed to practice in their state or country.

This program is designed for nurses who are patient teachers or aspire to become specialists in patient teaching/education. Health care reform, with its emphasis on patient outcomes, wellness, disease prevention and health promotion has and will require more time for nurses in patient teaching and educating communities on preventative health and wellness. While professional nurses have always been involved in patient teaching, this program provides them an opportunity to significantly expand their knowledge of patient teaching principles and establish patient teaching/education as a specialty practice. This program also focuses on issues of health promotion, so that nurse-patient educators can incorporate promotion interventions in their teaching programs.

Nurse-Patient Educator Blog: Please visit our Nurse Patient Education interactive web blog. Our blog contains articles, news, events and information related the Nurse Patient Educator field.

OBJECTIVES OF THE NURSE-PATIENT EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION PROGRAM ARE:

  • Provide a high quality program of Certification for registered nurses, advance practice nurses and practical nurses, practicing in the specialty or adding to their specialty practice as a nurse-patient educator.
  • Develop and support high standards of education and practice requirements for the attainment of certification.
  • Provide a mechanism for the ongoing involvement of a peer advisory board of qualified professionals to oversee program development and requirements for certification.
  • Provide society with a mechanism to ascertain the appropriate education, skills, knowledge and experience required by professionals who offer such services.
  • Establish quality standards and requirements for the recertification of its credentialed members, attesting to ongoing education and skill attainment in the practice specialty of patient education/teaching.
  • Provide a comprehensive program of approvals for continuing education, seminars, offerings, independent study, and other related educational activities, to ensure high quality standards are met and that such programs are of value to professionals practicing patient teaching as a specialty.

Pre-requisite to enrolling in the continuing education program and qualifying for Nurse Patient Educator Certification:

Registrants must meet at least one of the following:

  • A registered nurse currently licensed to practice nursing
  • A licensed practical nurse
  • A licensed vocational nurse

If you would like to find out if you meet the qualifications for this fellowship program. Please submit an Inquiry Form at the following link: Access Inquiry Form Here.

CERTIFICATION

Nurse Patient Educators also understand the individual needs of their patients

Certified Nurse-Patient Educator- requires attainment of the following certification criteria:

  • Completion of an official, established education program to prepare Nurses for the practice of Patient Teaching/Education. Candidates for the Nurse-Patient Educator Certification must successfully complete the continuing education program endorsed by The American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc. Completion of the required education courses qualifies the educational component necessary to apply for Certification. This program consists of 150 contact hours of continuing education. See Full Program: Access here

CERTIFICATION- IDENTIFICATION & CREDENTIALS

Those applicants who become certified by the AIHCP in Nurse-Patient Education may use the initials/credential “NPE-C”, after their names: “Certified Nurse-Patient Educator”

Timeline

All certifications shall be for a period of 4 years from the date of the initial certification.

KEY FAQSphoto a man in a suite with his hand on a touch screen touching a large icon with the word FAQ on it

What are the key benefits of achieving a Certification in this health care specialty practice?

Response: Some of the key benefits of receiving a Certification in Nurse Patient Educator includes increasing your marketability in the work place, enhancing your knowledge and skills base in this specialty practice, increasing your earnings potential, commitment to ongoing professional development and continuing education, achieving recognition for accomplishments attained, networking with peers in the same practice specialty, and much more.

Must I take the continuing education courses/program to achieve my certification?

Response: Yes, our model for certification is designed so that our certified members have accomplished the same educational achievements and have consistency in knowledge and skills attainment. Many have experiences in many types of specialties practices, but are varied. Our model focuses on core and solid, comprehensive knowledge and skills that have been determined to practice the specialty at a higher level of quality practice. There are instances where past education may be used to waive some of the courses required. This is evaluated on an individual basis and more information may be found in our more comprehensive FAQS section: Access here

Do you offer a curriculum of continuing education courses that meet the requirements for your Certification standards?

Response: Yes, for each of our certification programs we offer full continuing education curriculums that are designed to meet full requirements for certification. Click on the link above (Ce courses and prices) for this program. All of our CE courses are authored and mentored by highly qualified faculty with graduate degrees.

Do your continuing education courses have any Board approvals?

Response: Yes, most all of our continuing education courses do have some or many Board approvals, depending on types of professional boards.  Please access more information: Access here

Does Society Expect Health Care Professionals to be “Certified” in specialty practices?

Response: It is safe to say that today our society expects health care professionals to be highly knowledgeable and to practice their professions as well as their specialty practices at high levels of safe care, quality standards, and to maintain a high level of ethical practice. One way in which our health care professionals may demonstrate this level of achievement is by attaining a recognized professional certification from an organization that has developed and upholds all of these important indicators of high- quality professional specialty practices. Certification in a specialty practice demonstrates the professionals commit to achievements in core defined domains of practice allowing more confidence by society as a whole.

Once I am certified by your organization, am I certified “for life?”

Response: You can be if you chose to be. We have a program of Recertification for all of our specialty practices. Initial certifications are for a four-year period. All those obtaining certification may re-certify upon meeting the specific requirements for recertification every four years. Certified members may recertify every four years indefinitely as long as they meet the recertification requirements for their practice specialty. We hold strongly to the belief that professional Certification requires that one commits to and maintains ongoing education, skills attainment and practice in their specialty practice. Our recertification process allows for the verification of these verifications of our members. We offer a large curriculum of continuing education courses for our certified members if they would like to meet continuing education hours of recertification. You may learn more about our recertification requirements: Access here

After reviewing all of the information on this page, I may have more questions, who may I contact?

Response: We are here to help and assist you in all ways possible. We have Live Chat online during normal business hours and you may access the Live Chat link above on this page. Also, please access our Contact Us Page

Please view more FAQS for this Practice Specialty. 

THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS:

We have a dedicated page that provides a quick over-view of our certification process. It will provide you with good information about the process/phases of both the education courses and application for Nurse-Patient Educator certification. To access: click here

RECERTIFICATION

Certified members may receive recertification at the expiration of their three year term by:

  • Obtaining 50 or more hours of continuing education within the four year period of certification. Click here to view all Criteria for Recertification

Nurse -Patient Educator CERTIFICATE

Those applicants who have successfully achieved certification, or recertification receive a large size official Certificate attesting to certification, as well as an official letter of notification. The Nurse-Patient Educator Certificate is suitable for framing and details the official professional certification title, initials that may be used, and time frames for certification. Those recertifying receive a new, updated certificate. Wallet size identification cards of certification are also presented.

FEE SCHEDULE

    • The certification fee for the Nurse-Patient Educator is $220.00, plus shipping and handling, for the four year term of certification. All Certification packets, which include the official certificate, wallet ID card, and other related documents are shipped with tracking. Payment in full is due at the time of application. If an applicant does not meet certification criteria, the application fee is refunded. A completed application must be submitted with full payment to be considered for certification. The application form is available Here.
    • Application for Recertification is $ 220.00, plus shipping and handling, for the next four-year period. This is a one-time payment and is required in full at the time of application for recertification. A completed application must accompany the payment.
    • Major credit cards are accepted. Check and money orders are to be payable to: The American Institute of Healthcare Professionals.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR RECERTIFICATION

Applicants may obtain education hours by completion of any type of formal program in specifically related to education/patient teaching. Such programs include:

    • University/College Programs and Courses
    • Continuing Education Courses
    • Seminars
    • Distance Learning Programs
    • Self-Study Programs
    • Courses offered by Professional Associations

The AIHCP reserves the right to approve all such courses for consideration toward re-certification. For any courses to be considered, applicants must submit copies of all certificates of completion or transcripts verifying completion. Applicants who are using their degrees to meet partial fulfillment of the education requirements for certification must have official transcripts submitted from their University or College, directly to the AIHCP.

FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

The American Institute of Health Care Professionals, provides a “Fellowship Program” for its certified Nurse-Patient Educators.   Access Information

ONLINE APPLICATION

Click here for the online Nurse-Patient Educator Certification application.