Professional Organization

July-August 2018 • Vol. 27/No. 4 209

O ne of great things about being President ofAMSN is that I have the opportunity to share mythoughts and concerns with you about current issues in health care, nursing, and specifically, medical- surgical nursing. As you know, we are challenged consis- tently to be recognized as a specialty although medical- surgical nursing became a recognized specialty by the American Nurses Association in 1991. This recognition begins in the educational process; it is important that nursing faculty view medical-surgical nursing as a spe- cialty rather than a mere stepping stone to something else more easily perceived to be a specialty, such as intensive care. However, one of the hurdles medical-sur- gical nurses face first is that some of our medical-surgi- cal colleagues don’t view medical-surgical nursing as a specialty. If we don’t believe it, then how can we get oth- ers to believe it?

Certification Is an Important Indicator of Expertise

I don’t need to tell you the healthcare environment is becoming increasingly complex and the medical-sur- gical nurse needs to have command of a broad range of knowledge as well as a depth within certain subspecial- ties. As registered nurses (RNs) progress from novices to experts, they often seek recognition of their competence and expertise in a practice specialty. Specialization and certification are especially important in light of the responsibilities assumed by the RN. Certification is the formal recognition of the specialized knowledge, skills, and experience demonstrated by the achievement of standards identified by a nursing specialty to promote optimal health outcomes. Individuals earn certification after meeting defined criteria (American Board of Nursing Specialties, 2005). The Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board (MSNCB) is a specialty cer- tifying body responsible for development and adminis- tration of the certified medical-surgical registered nurse

(CMSRN®) certification program. As the accumulation of knowledge and pace of technological development accelerate, all nurses are challenged to maintain profes- sional competence. The breadth of knowledge for the medical-surgical nurse is extensive. Therefore, medical- surgical certification is the recognition of competence and expertise of individual nurses in medical-surgical nursing specialty practice. This is important because cer- tification also demonstrates a level of professional com- mitment by the nurse. Many of you who are certified do not get paid more and do not have your certification and recertification costs reimbursed. However, being a certified nurse is a matter of professional pride! More needs to be done to increase awareness of certification among our healthcare peers and consumers. We need to speak up and be proud of the fact that we are medical- surgical nurses and we are certified nurses.

Shining a Light on Medical-Surgical Nursing

A recent Nurse.com digital issue focused on medical- surgical nursing (OnCourse Learning Corp., 2018). This is a terrific issue and many AMSN and MSNCB leaders contributed to the discussion. Not only will you see some familiar names and faces, but you’ll also feel proud of your practice and gain an even deeper appreci- ation of the role nurses have had in improving patient care and transforming today’s healthcare system. Here is a list of what is covered in the issue: • Med-Surg Nurses Never Live the Same Day Twice: An

introduction and overview of the medical-surgical nursing specialty (Hess, 2018).

• Med-Surg Nursing Carries a Unique Appeal: AMSN Past President Kathy Lattavo and President-Elect Robin Hertel discuss the specialty and why they chose med- ical-surgical nursing (Hilton, 2018a).

• Discharge Planning Starts at Admission: AMSN Secretary Andie Melendez, Treasurer Marisa Streelman, and Director Michele George discuss safe transitions, patient education, and hospital readmis- sion penalties (Jakucs, 2018a).

Medical-Surgical Nursing Is a Specialty

AMSN President’s MessageAMSN President’s Message

Linda Yoder, PhD, MBA, RN, AOCN, FAAN President, AMSN

Acknowledgment: Thanks to Janet D’Alesandro, Media & Communications Director, Anthony J. Jannetti, Inc., for coordinating the AMSN and MSNCB interviews for the Nurse.com med-surg issue. continued on page 212

July-August 2018 • Vol. 27/No. 4212

President’s Message continued from page 209

• You Have to Be Flexible to Be in Med-Surg Nursing: AMSN President Linda Yoder explores the rewards and challenges of the specialty and AMSN initiatives in a Q & A (Petrella Lynch, 2018).

• Care Coordinators Go By Many Names and Wear Many Hats: MSNCB Director Cathryn Kelly discusses the care coordination and transition management (CCTM®) role and patient advocacy (Jakucs, 2018b).

• Careers for Med-Surg Nurses Stretch Beyond Hospital Walls: AMSN President-Elect Robin Hertel describes the many – and vital – roles of medical-surgical nurs- es who practice in a wide variety of settings (Hilton, 2018b). In her article, Language Remains a Barrier for Some,

Nancy Brent (2018) described challenges that language can present to healthcare providers, and cites AMSN’s Health Literacy Position Statement (2012).

In another article, Expertise Helps Nurses Stand Out – Nursing Shortage or Not (Frellick, 2018), nurse researcher and workforce expert Peter Buerhaus advises medical- surgical nurses to educate themselves about value-based medicine and also let their employers know their own value, something that is often not taught in nursing school.

Be a Voice for Your Practice: Share the Issue!

Be sure to bookmark the issue (https://resources. nurse.com/med-surg-nursing), email it to your col- leagues, and share on social media because it gives your CMSRN® or CCCTM® certification, AMSN, and MSNCB some well-deserved attention. I have shared this issue

many times already with colleagues. In closing, I want to emphasize that I am continually proud of the work medical-surgical nurses do each day. Your work is hard and complex, and I often speak to patients and families who talk about the wonderful care they received from their nurses. Please know you are appreciated!

REFERENCES Academy of Medical-Surgical Nursing (AMSN). (2012). Health literacy.

Retreived from https://www.amsn.org/practice-resources/position- statements/archive/health-literacy#utm_source=digital%20edition &utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=healthcare-med-surg &utm_content=2018

American Board of Nursing Specialties. (2005). A position statement on the value of nursing certification. Birmingham, AL: Author.

Brent, N. (2018). Language remains a barrier for some. Retrieved from https://resources.nurse.com/med-surg-nursing-language-remains- barrier

Frellick, M. (2018). Expertise helps nurses stand out – nursing shortage or not. Retrieved from https://resources.nurse.com/expertise- helps-med-surg-nurses-stand-out

Hess, R.G. (2018). Med-surg nurses never live the same day twice. Retrieved from https://resources.nurse.com/med-surg-nurses- never-live-sa

Hilton, L. (2018a). Med-surg nursing carries a unique appeal. Retrieved from https://resources.nurse.com/med-surg-nursing-carries- unique-appeal

Hilton, L. (2018b). Careers for med-surg nurses stretch beyond hospital walls. Retrieved from https://resources.nurse.com/med-surg-nurses- careers-stretch-beyond-hospitals

Jakucs, C. (2018a). Discharge planning starts at admission. Retrieved from https://resources.nurse.com/discharge-planning-starts- admission

Jakucs, C. (2018b). Care coordinators go by many names and wear many hats. Retrieved from https://resources.nurse.com/med-surg- nursing-care-coordinators-wear-many-hats

OnCourse Learning Corp, (2018). Grow with us! Explore if med-surg nursing is the right fit. Retrieved from https://resources.nurse.com/ med-surg-nursing

Petrella Lynch, J. (2018). You have to be flexible to be in med-surg nurs- ing. Retrieved from https://resources.nurse.com/you-have-to-be- flexible-to-practice-med-surg-nursi

AMSN President’s Message

Copyright of MEDSURG Nursing is the property of Jannetti Publications, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.