Eligibility Changes for NP Exams
About NCC Nurse Practitioner Certification Eligibility Criteria Changes
This announcement contains important information about changes to the NCC certification program for the Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner (WHNP) and the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) examinations that NCC sponsors. If you are currently certified by NCC, these changes will have no effect on your certification. However, if you let your certification lapse, you will be subject to these changes. All new applicants whether previously NCC certified or not will be subject to these new eligibility criteria beginning January 1, 2007.
• Beginning on January 1, 2007 NCC will no longer recognize certificate education as an eligibility criterion to take the NCC WHNP examination. To qualify to take NCC WHNP examination, graduation from a Master’s or post master’s WHNP program that meets NCC current requirements will be required. NNP certificate education has not been recognized by NCC for exam eligibility purposes since January 1, 2000.
• Beginning January 1, 2007, NCC will only consider applicants from programs that hold CCNE and NLNAC accreditation during the time the accreditation process incorporated the Criteria for Evaluation of Nurse Practitioner Programs, National Task Force On Quality Nurse Education (National Task Force Guidelines) into their accreditation review.
• The accreditation organizations began such standard incorporation into their accreditation review January 1, 2005. Therefore, graduates from programs prior to January 1, 2005will no longer be eligible to take or retake an NCC WHNP or NNP exam. The only way such individuals would qualify to take an NCC NP exam is to go back to a current NP program that meets NCC current requirements and earn a master’s or post master’s degree.
• Program reviews from defunct programs will no longer be undertaken. All individuals must be a graduate of WHNP or NNP program at the graduate level that meets NCC current requirements and are accredited by either CCNE or NLNAC.
Implication for Current NCC RNCs
WHNPs or NNPs who let their certification lapse will be subject to these new eligibility criteria for re-examination. Therefore, any NCC certified nurse practitioner who graduated from a certificate program or who graduated from a WHNP or NNP graduate program prior to January 1, 2005 would not be eligible to retake the examination to regain certification status.
Registration materials are available on the NCC website at www.nccwebsite.org. Click on Certification tab on the homepage.
If you have any questions about this information, feel free to contact NCC’s Executive Director, Betty Burns, CAE at bburns@nccnet.org