Nebraska Spine Hospital is proud to recognize the unique contributions of Heidi Hiltbrunner and Page Nevins as certified nurses in observance of Certified Nurses Day on Tuesday, March 19.

Certification validates a nurse’s specialty knowledge for practice in a defined functional or clinical area of nursing. According to data collected by the American Board of Nursing Specialties in 2010, nurses in the U.S. and Canada held more than 588,407 certifications, an increase of more than 100,000 certificants compared to 2009 survey data. These certifications were granted by 29 different certifying organizations, and 120 different credentials designate these certifications.

In addition, certification benefits patients and their families, validating that the nurse caring for them has demonstrated experience, knowledge and skills in the complex specialties of acute and critical care.

Certified Nurses Day is an annual worldwide event dedicated to celebrating certification as a means to ensure high standards of patient care and to promote continuing excellence in the nursing profession. Initially proposed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the day honors the birthday of the late Margretta “Gretta” Madden Styles, an international pioneer of nursing certification who designed the first comprehensive study of nurse credentialing.