CENTER FOR
NURSING EDUCATION AND TESTING
ANALYSIS | DEVELOPMENT | IMPLEMENTATION

Effective July 1, 2018

 

 

To be determined eligible to participate in the certification examination for advanced practice, candidates must meet the following requirements:  

 

RN LICENSE:

You must hold a current license as a registered nurse (RN) by passing the NCLEX or must demonstrate the license has been verified for equivalency by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS), World Education Services (WES), or Educational Records Evaluation Services (ERES). If licensed in more than one jurisdiction, the candidate must hold full and unrestricted licenses in all jurisdictions where they practice.  

​

*ALTERNATIVE TO DISCIPLINE POLICY: ANCB recognizes the positive impact nurses in recovery bring to the specialty of addiction nursing. Alternative to Treatment Program Involvement:

​

1. If a license is surrendered or if the nurse has violated the agreement, the applicant will be found ineligible to sit for the exam.

2. If the nurse has a license with restrictions and is currently in a monitoring program, a letter from the monitoring program will be required before the applicant may sit for the exam. The monitoring program letter will need to support that the license is active, the applicant is complying with his/her agreement and that the monitoring program supports the applicant sitting for the exam.

3. Each applicant will be expected to abide by their state nurse practice act and the laws of their state regarding the alternative to discipline programs.

​

 

SCHOLASTIC DOCUMENTATION:

You must provide evidence that you hold a master’s degree (or higher) in nursing.

 

VERIFICATION OF CLINICAL HOURS (500):

The applicant must complete documentation (enclosed) verifying a minimum of 500 hours in advanced clinical practice. These hours must be supervised and must be direct client contact hours, working with individuals and families impacted by addictions/dual diagnoses. Be advised that only hours obtained within the last four (4) years will be considered and may be from your master’s program or post-master experience [See below].

 

DURING MASTERS:

If part or all of the required hours were obtained during a master’s program, the applicant must attach a transcript and highlight all the itemized experience hours they wish to submit for consideration. All experience hours must be in addictions/dual diagnosis and obtained within the last 4 years.

 

AND/OR

 

POST-MASTERS:

If part or all of the required hours were obtained post-masters, then the candidate must have the enclosed Verification Form completed by a direct supervisor. The Verification Form may be photocopied for distribution to multiple supervisors if needed. All experience hours must meet the above criteria under “Verification of Clinical Hours”.

 

VERIFICATION OF 1,500 ADDITIONAL HOURS:

In addition to the 500 directly supervised clinical hours listed, the applicant must have a minimum of 1,500 hours of nursing experience in addiction as an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) within the last three (3) years prior to submitting the examination application. The hours may be in an administrative, teaching, private practice, consultation, counseling, or research capacity.

 

CONTACT HOURS

CARN-AP candidates must have a minimum of forty-five (45) contact hours in addiction nursing. At least 51% of those hours must be specific to addictions. Any remaining hours may be related to addictions, such as HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, pain management, pharmacology, symptom management, therapies used in addictions, motivational interviewing, etc. These educational units must have occurred within the last three (3) years.  To reduce paper, you need not submit contact hour certificates with your application submission. However, contact hour certificates must be made available if requested by the testing agency or certification board.