Properly Display Nursing Credentials to signify your expertise and authority

It’s beneficial to Properly Display Nursing Credentials to establish your expertise and authority. Credentials indicate an individual’s level of education, areas of formal clinical and leadership knowledge, and skill. Displaying credentials clearly and concisely communicates an individual’s specialization and expertise. Credentials also represent an individual’s commitment to the nursing profession through study and hard work.

Credentials may appear in many locations for review by peers, patients, family members, and the administrative team, including:

Employee badge,
Articles published,
Presentations,

Letters and emails,
Prescriptions, and
Medical record and patient chart entries.

A uniform method of listing credentials ensures that everyone is accurately informed of an individual’s educational level, license to practice, certification of skill and knowledge, and any special recognition received.

Bringing order to what can be a confusing situation, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) has published a guide establishing a consistent manner for displaying credentials. Here is a summary of some key points with examples.

Note: Employers and State Boards of Nursing may apply their standards for displaying credentials.

Properly Display Nursing Credentials

Here is the preferred order to display nursing credentials as suggested by the ANCC, from left to right:

Name – For example: “Jane Doe” or “Doe, Jane”,
Highest Degree – List the higher nursing degree received. For example, “MSN”. Do not list “BSN, MSN”. In the case of nursing and non-nursing degrees, display the highest non-nursing degree first: “MBA, MSN” or “MPH, DNP”. Include an undergraduate nursing degree if the highest degree is non-nursing: “MPH, BSN”,
State License – Use the acronym for the state nursing license currently held. For example, “RN” or “LPN”,
State Designations – Include the state authorization to practice at an advanced level. For example, “APRN”, “NP”, or “CNS”,
Nursing Certifications – List the acronym for each certification earned. For example, “CNS, FNP-BC”. List multiple certifications in the order received, most recent first, or in order of decreasing relevance to current practice,
Awards and Honors – These are credentials awarded in recognition of outstanding achievements in nursing. An example is “FAAN” for Fellow, American Academy of Nursing, and
Non-Nursing Certifications – List the acronyms for any non-nursing certifications. For example, “RRT” or “CRT”.

Use acronyms as specified by the issuing organization, including the use of upper and lower case characters and punctuation. For example, the “Family Nurse Practitioner, Board Certified” credential should be shown as “FNP-BC” and not “FNP,BC”, “FNPBC” or “FNP-bc”.

Credential Display Order Examples

Here are some examples in order from simplest to most complex:

Example 1

Undergraduate nursing degree with a state license and nursing certification:

Degrees Earned – BSN
State Licensure – RN
State Designation – none
Nursing Certification – CPN
Awards and Honors – none
Non-Nursing Certifications – none

Jane Doe, BSN, RN, CPN

Example 2

Undergraduate and graduate nursing degrees with a state license and nursing certification:

Degrees Earned – BSN, MSN
State Licensure – RN
State Designation – none
Nursing Certification – FNP-BC
Awards and Honors – none
Non-Nursing Certifications – none

Jane Doe, MSN, RN, FNP-BC

Example 3

Undergraduate nursing and non-nursing graduate degrees with a state license and nursing certification:

Degrees Earned – BSN, MEd
State Licensure – RN
State Designation – none
Nursing Certification – CPN
Awards and Honors – none
Non-Nursing Certifications – none

Jane Doe, MEd, BSN, RN, CPN

Example 4

An undergraduate nursing and two graduate degrees (nursing and non-nursing), a state license, multiple nursing certifications, an honor, and a non-nursing certification:

Degrees Earned – BSN, MSN, MBA
State Licensure – RN
State Designation – APRN
Nursing Certification – FNP-BC, CPN
Awards and Honors – FAAN
Non-Nursing Certifications – CRT

Jane Doe, MBA, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, CPN, FAAN, CRT