Marketing & Listing Your Credential
Congratulations on earning a PNCB credential! Now learn ways to share your certification achievement and how to list your credential after your name.
Easy ways to let others know the value of PNCB certification:
- Wear your certification pin.
- List your credentials when charting if allowed by your employer.
- Introduce yourself with your credential to patients, their families, and peers.
- Add your credential on your employer's staff bio webpage.
- Update your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- Write a short article to announce your certification achievement and submit to your hospital newsletter, alumni news or local newspapers.
Explaining certification to families, colleagues, or acquaintances:
Have pediatric patients or their families ever asked what the letters on your name badge stand for? Have you ever been asked what certification means by a friend or new colleague? Here are some ways to explain why this acronym means so much:
- I'm committed to staying up to date in the pediatric nursing field.
- I've received professional recognition for pediatric nursing expertise.
- I successfully put my skills and knowledge to the test and met the highest national standards for the care of pediatric patients.
And for your youngest patients:
- "I passed a special test for nurses who take care of children and earned these letters to wear by my name."
- "I took the extra time and effort to show I'm an expert in what I do... taking care of you!"
If you have other suggestions on how to increase recognition or know of other ways to answer the above questions, we'd love to hear them! Email us your thoughts.
Listing Your Credentials
We suggest to list your degree first, then licensure, then certification. Honorary acronyms come last.
Here are some examples:
Terri Moore, BS, RN, CPN
Joseph Garcia, ADN, RN, CPN
Maria O'Connor, MSN, RN, CPNP-PC, PMHS
Sara Smith, DNP, APRN, CPNP-AC/PC, CCRN
Patricia Johnson, PhD, RN, CPNP-AC, FAANP
Listing only your highest nursing degree earned is fairly standard. If you have an MBA, MPH, or other non-nursing degree, this would come next, then licensure. If you have multiple certifications, often people list the one earned first in the first position, and the one earned most recently in the final position, etc.
Please follow certification mark guidelines when using your credential acronym. Although the PNCB uses the registration mark (®) on its website and literature, you do not need to use this mark.
Listing a doctoral degree while also using "Dr." in the same line is considered redundant. For signature lines, use the degree after your name and omit the title "Dr". For third-person biographies, begin the text with Emma Jones, DNP, RN, CPNP-PC, and then use Dr. Jones thereafter.
If you want to use your credentials when charting, be sure to check your employer's policy on doing so. We hope you list your PNCB certification with pride whenever possible (on name badges, business cards, etc.) to let others know about your achievement!
