I have a BA in Health and Human Services and an AAS in Nursing. Do I qualify to take the exam?
The exam is open to anyone with a Bachelor degree, not necessarily a BSN. However, one must be working in school health services to sit for the exam.

Why must you have a bachelor degree?
Few criteria have generated as much discussion as the eligibility requirement of a baccalaureate degree for the certification exam.  For the first few years of the exam, from about 1986-91, all registered nurses, from every educational background, were allowed to take the certification exam.  In 1991, when NBCSN separated from NASN, the Board reviewed the Scope and Standards and position statements of both the NASN and the ANA, and established the criteria that the baccalaureate degree would be one of the eligibility requirements for the certification exam.

There was, and continues to be,  much thought and discussion about this requirement, as the Board does recognize that there are many great school nurses without degrees who promote the health of students everyday.  However, there are three primary reasons for the requirement:

 1.       Research based evidence demonstrating that the skills needed for broad-based knowledge, autonomous professional practice and leadership performance were more often obtained in bachelors programs and implemented by such graduates.

2.       Respect for the long-established community-nursing model that required bachelors-level preparation.

3.       Greater equity in negotiating for comparable pay compared to educators.  To do so, school nurses must be able to demonstrate equivalent academic preparation.  

I am interested in taking the examination to become a NCSN. Is there a class available to prepare for the exam?
There are no review classes for the exam. However, many  states have  supported success by starting study groups, in addition, some states have worked with colleges to offer a college level course to review school nursing as preparation for the exam.

Can you give me contact information for the NBCSN liaisons?
You can find your state liaison on the liaison page of this site.  Click here.

Do you accept home study course credits from Nursing Education of
America towards re-certification? 
Yes, home study course credits from Nursing Education of America are accepted, however, you may have no more than 40% of your contact hours (30 CEs) from home study.

What type of continuing education credits are acceptable for re-certification?
Continuing Education Programs may include workshops, seminars, professional development offerings, home-study courses, and state/national conferences, which are school health related.  The candidate may be requested to show proof of completed CE experience.  ALS and PALS may be counted when taken for the first time, however, taking the course for re-certification in ALS or PALS will not be counted.  Computer technology courses and CPR/FA are not acceptable, neither is the OSHA mandated Blood Borne Pathogens course acceptable.  Not more than 40% or 30 hours of CE's can come from home-study courses per a five-year recertification cycle.

Can you please tell me why NBCSN has limited home study programs to 30 hours? You can get a very good degree by online/home study programs, this is a real problem in trying to complete 75 hours within five years.
The NBCSN holds that the purpose of continuing education is to enhance and expand one’s practice—to gain information which can be integrated into one’s current knowledge and skills to improve the nursing care or health outcomes of the client. Continuing education for a professional is lifelong, and promotes a higher standard of care. “While basic nursing licensure indicates a minimal professional practice standard, certification denotes a high level of knowledge and practice, with the intent to protect the public”. (M. Byrne, et al. in “The Value of Certification” AORN J 2004; 79:825-35.) 

That said, all recertification applications are reviewed carefully by Board members to ensure that the quality of the continuing education is reflective of the expectations for the certified school nurse. The Board differentiates between home study courses and online courses provided by universities and other providers of continuing nursing education. The fact that the course is taken “at home” does not make it a “home study” course. Typically, the home study or correspondence course is a manual, text, or journal article that the individual reviews and takes a post exam after each chapter or at the end of the manual/article. In reviewing the courses submitted by school nurse certificants, the Board noted several problems with the home study/correspondence courses offered for continuing nursing education:
• For some, the limited number of questions asked in the post-tests were simplistic and did not cover the depth and extent of the material presented in the manual
• From our observations, the texts were not updated often, and did not reflect current practice or incorporate new research
• The majority of the home study courses reviewed by the Board were basic nursing information/technical skills, and not always appropriate to school nursing practice
• We also noted that some nurses waited until their recertification renewal date was almost “up” (one has five years to obtain the 75 hours), and seemed to seek the most units to beat the time crunch. (Some of the home study courses offered 30-45 units for each completion.)

In their discussions, the Board observed that there was an increase in high quality online courses, including online degree programs, and that there is an increased access to computers by school nurses. The range for acceptable continuing education is very flexible and broad—language courses, as Spanish are accepted, as are courses in other disciplines as sociology, psychology, education, management, medicine, etc. School nursing is an inclusive specialty, it has its roots in public health—thus a professional school nurse must assess her/his own learning needs to respond to the challenges of care in the school community.

The restriction of 30 hours does not prevent a school nurse from taking home study/correspondence courses, but does set limits to a category of programs that are observed to be typically geared to basic information and skills. Only journal articles were found to be consistently current and reflect research based practice—and all that the Board reviewed had a time limit for credit for the CNE, thus ensuring the credit was granted for the latest information. 

If a certificant has a question about a home study course, one may contact the NBCSN President to determine if it will be accepted for recertification. The President may grant an exception to the 30 hour limit if the program meets the learning needs of the professional school nurse.

Finally, it is important that online courses be accredited by an approved national or state accrediting agency. For universities, state education agencies for higher education set the standards for course credits. Nursing programs should be accredited by a provider approved by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation (ANCC), and the CNE provider should be noted on the certificate of completion.

The Board reviews operating guidelines annually and modifies them when clarification is needed or in response to current issues impacting our certificants.

I would like to know the answers from the test in order to
learn the missing content. How can I get that information to better
prepare for the next exam?
There is no provision for you to review the exam or the answers. Just as with your RN state-boards, the validity of the test can only be maintained if it is not released to the public. PTC will share with you the areas where you showed a weakness, so you may study in that area more.

I have recently retired, and am upset that my request for retirement status to enable me to keep my title of NCSN has been denied.  

In July 2004, the Board discussed retired and inactive status, and at that time voted to eliminate the inactive and retired lifetime status.  Certification is recognized as a mark of current and continuing competency, and implies an ongoing effort to maintain proficiency and expertise. The Board observed that economic times had allowed some school nurses to “retire” but to continue to work in school nursing on a part or full time basis—and maintain a retired or inactive NCSN status without requirements for continuing education and maintenance of expertise.  While the Board regretted that school nurses could not continue to use the NCSN credentials after retirement, there are no means are available to reliably track retired, inactive or non-renewing certificants.  The Fall 2004 Newsletter notified members of the elimination of the Retired/Inactive NCSN status.