Kentucky Nurse Informatics Certification - KY

By Jennifer Williams, allied health world Contributing Writer
Published: March, 7 2010

To begin working as a nursing informaticist in Kentucky, you will not actually need state licensure that is specific to the profession. You will, however, need to be licensed, registered nurse (RN) in the State of Kentucky.

The first step to getting certified is by taking the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). The testing fee for the NCLEX is $200. Upon successful passage of the test, you can then start to pursue the Kentucky nursing informatics certification.

These are some steps you must take before you can get Kentucky nursing informatics certification:

• Registered Nurse – It is a requirement to be a RN-BC, which is a designation given by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
• Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems (CPHIMS) certification from the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS). This is not a required credential, but it still important to your career.

To get your RN-BC title, you have to pass the ANCC examination, which costs $390 to take. When you have passed the test, you will be certified and will be held to the standard renewal requirements. You are required to renew this every 5 years, and the ANCC recommends you contact them periodically to find out about current renewal requirements, as these do change somewhat often.

The CPHIMS exam will cost you $375 to take. Again, this is not required, but if you do decide to pursue it, certification must be renewed every 3 years. The HIMSS mandates that you have 45 hours of continued education every 3 years or that you retake the entrance examination every 3 years.