Evaluation of the Credentialing for Nurses – The Australian College of Mental Health Nurses

The Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (ACMHN) engaged HMA to undertake an evaluation of the Credentialing for Nurses (C4N) Program. The C4N Program aimed to set the standards by which a nurse can be identified and recognised as a specialist nurse, achieve a common standard across all nursing specialities, build a credentialing system that is accessible to nurses across Australia and is based on transparent and equitable decision making. The C4N Program introduced credentialing to four specialty areas that have not used credentialing previously: The Australian College of Children and Young People’s Nurses, Cancer Nurses Society of Australia, College of Emergency Nursing Australasia, and Palliative Care Nurses Australia. It also includes the ACMHN, which has been using a professional credentialing system since 2004.

Key tasks included:

• identifying key documentation and stakeholders
• preparing a draft project plan to guide implementation of the evaluation, and monitoring progress
• preparing a final project plan in collaboration with the project manager and Steering Committee
• development of an evaluation framework
• data collection – developing, undertaking and analysing surveys of nurses and employers
• data analysis and synthesis, and
• preparation of a final evaluation report.

The project commenced in July 2015 and was completed in April 2016.