AlSadah Alawiah T, Aboshaiqah Ahmad E, Alanazi Naif H
Nursing Department, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
College of Nursing, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2025 Feb 25;12:1528856. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1528856. eCollection 2025.
Specialty nursing certifications reflect nurse's knowledge and competence in certain areas. Obtaining certification allows them to advance their careers and enhance patient care standards as their role and scope of responsibility expands. This study aimed to understand how nurses view specialty certification and related challenges in three university hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
A cross-sectional, correlational design was used. A survey questionnaire (Perceived Value of Certification-12 Tool) was sent through email, and it had one question for each barrier.
The majority of participants valued certification to verify specialist knowledge (93.9%), enhance achievement (82.8%), and increase competence (79.1%). Certification was associated extrinsically with hiring preference (54.7%), recognition from colleagues (52.3%), and professional autonomy (51.7%). The primary barriers were lack of institutional reward (72.7%) and examination cost (64.8%), with not passing earlier being the least mentioned barrier (2%). The biggest obstacles faced by clinical nurses in obtaining certification include limited institutional rewards because their organization did offer incentives, such as promotions or salary bumps. Age and hospital significantly predicted clinical nurses' intrinsic value of certification, while age, gender, nationality, and hospital significantly predicted their extrinsic value. Age and gender significantly influenced their overall perceived value of certification.
Overall, nurses in Riyadh recognize the value of certification. However, focused interventions must be implemented to overcome identified challenges and amplify the professional benefits of certification. Recommended measures include implementing tailored support initiatives and financial aid programs to address these barriers. A collaborative approach should be developed to provide support and actively promote the pursuit of nursing certification. Future studies should adopt longitudinal and qualitative designs to evaluate the impact of focused strategies.
专科护理认证反映了护士在特定领域的知识和能力。获得认证可使他们在职业发展中更进一步，并随着其角色和责任范围的扩大提高患者护理标准。本研究旨在了解沙特阿拉伯利雅得三家大学医院的护士如何看待专科认证及相关挑战。
采用横断面相关设计。通过电子邮件发送一份调查问卷（认证感知价值 - 12工具），每个障碍设置一个问题。
大多数参与者重视认证以验证专业知识（93.9%）、提升成就（82.8%）和提高能力（79.1%）。认证在外部与招聘偏好（54.7%）、同事认可（52.3%）和职业自主性（51.7%）相关。主要障碍是缺乏机构奖励（72.7%）和考试费用（64.8%），未较早通过是提及最少的障碍（2%）。临床护士在获得认证方面面临的最大障碍包括机构奖励有限，因为其所在组织未提供诸如晋升或加薪等激励措施。年龄和医院显著预测了临床护士对认证的内在价值，而年龄、性别、国籍和医院显著预测了他们的外在价值。年龄和性别显著影响了他们对认证的总体感知价值。
总体而言，利雅得的护士认识到认证的价值。然而，必须实施针对性的干预措施来克服已确定的挑战，并扩大认证的职业益处。建议的措施包括实施量身定制的支持举措和财政援助计划以解决这些障碍。应制定协作方法来提供支持并积极促进对护理认证的追求。未来的研究应采用纵向和定性设计来评估针对性策略的影响。
