A specialty certification incentive program. Costs versus benefits.

Certification benefits nurses and their institution of employment. Although certification seems costly initially, it can be used to help reduce hospital expenditures in the areas of staff retention and recruitment, liability, and quality of patient care. The financial implications of certification and the development of a successful hospital incentive program to assist nurses to obtain certification is reported. Staff development educators can use this information to evaluate the cost-to-benefits ratio of specialty certification and to determine if a similar program could work in their institution.