Carson Valley Medical Center’s Surgical Services department has earned the CNOR Strong designation from the Competency & Credentialing Institute.

The honor, which is designated on an annual basis, is issued to medical facilities in which at least 50 percent of the full-time nursing staff has achieved CNOR certification and facilities that consistently recognize and reward nurses who earn CNOR certification.

CNOR is the only accredited credentialing program for peri-operative registered nurses. Earning the CNOR credential is a mark of distinction, recognizing peri-operative nurses for validating their specialized knowledge and skills. More than 34,250 peri-operative nurses currently hold the CNOR credential.

CVMC’s Surgical Services department is on track to attain 100 percent certification of its full-time nursing staff by the end of the year. Currently, seven peri-operative registered nurses within the department have the CNOR credential.

“It’s something we take a lot of pride in,” said CVMC Surgical Services Nurse Manager Jen Matus. “We’re a small-town facility, but we provide a very high level of care.”

“As an organization, we strongly support the continued education of our employees. Anything that has to do with making you better at your job and continuing to improve the level of healthcare available to the community, we are on board with.”

CVMC reimburses employees for completing the certification.

“It’s something we plan to continue with as we continue to bring new staff on,” Matus said. “We recognize the importance of and are excited about continued education for our staff.”

According to the Competency & Credentialing Institute, nurses who earn the CNOR credential have greater confidence in their clinical practice and a team of CNOR certified nurses who have mastered the standards of peri-operative practice has been correlated to improved outcomes in surgical patients.