Nursing Professional Development Certification: It's More Than Taking a Test.

Abstract

This article describes an example of nursing professional development (NPD) environmental scanning by gap analysis at the Aspire Convention to determine the learning needs related to NPD certification. The authors led an educational podium presentation that included soliciting feedback about NPD certification through formative assessment. Utilizing active learning strategies, participants were then guided through performing an NPD certification Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis. Results supported the existence of knowledge gaps on the significance, value, and impact of NPD certification.