Local pediatric nurses will now be able to take the exam for Certified Pediatric Nurse designation right here in Augusta, with a discounted fee and rapid turnaround on test scores.

The MCG Children’s Medical Center has been named an exam site for the designation, given by the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.  “We are proud to offer this as a resource to our own registered nursing staff as well as registered nurses working in community practices,” said Barbara Meeks, Vice President of Pediatric Patient Services at the MCG Children’s Medical Center. By completing the exam locally, the exam fee will be discounted to $250 and nurses will receive scores within three weeks of testing.

Interested pediatric nurses must complete an application online at http://www.pncb.org/ and show documentation of 3,600 hours of pediatric nursing practice. The test date for the 75-question written exam, proctored by nursing leaders at the MCG Children’s Medical Center, is October 28, 2006.
 
Established in 1975, the PNCB is the leading certification organization for pediatric nursing.  The CPN exam is recognized and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society of Pediatric Nurses, the Association of Faculties of Pediatric Nurse Practitioner programs and the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.

MCG Health System is composed of three separate organizations -- MCG Health, Inc. and the clinical services offered by the faculty employees of the Medical College of Georgia and the members of the MCG Physicians Practice Group Foundation. The physicians of MCG Health System are community physicians, faculty employees of the Medical College of Georgia, or employees of the MCG Physicians Practice Group Foundation, not employees of MCG Health, Inc.  MCG Health, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation operating the MCG Medical Center, MCG Children’s Medical Center, the MCG Sports Medicine Center, MCG Ambulatory Care Center, the Georgia Radiation Therapy Center and related clinical facilities and services. MCG Health, Inc. was formed to support the research and education mission of the Medical College of Georgia and to build the economic growth of the CSRA, the state of Georgia and the Southeast by providing an environment for faculty employees of the Medical College of Georgia and the MCG Physicians Practice Group Foundation and community physicians to deliver the highest level of primary and specialty health care.  For more information, please visit www.MCGHealth.org.