NBNSC Fact Sheet
What is the NBNSC?
NBNSC administers the Certified Nutrition Support Clinician (CNSC) certification program to nutrition support providers. Nutrition support is a sophisticated and specialized practice that requires the expertise and knowledge of multiple healthcare professionals including physicians, dietitians, pharmacists, physician assistants, and nurses.
Through its credentialing program, NBNSC determines the body of knowledge needed to have a basic understanding of nutrition support, develops a fair and valid means to test applicants, and promotes the credential to other healthcare professions and organizations. The CNSC certification enables all healthcare practitioners involved in nutrition support to identify themselves as qualified caregivers. NBNSC has certified more than 2,500 nutrition support professionals.
What is Nutrition Support Certification?
Certification is the process, often voluntary, by which individuals who have demonstrated the level of knowledge and skill required in the profession, occupation, role, or skill are identified to the public and other stakeholders. (Source: The National Organization for Competency Assurance 2004 Standards Glossary).
The CNSC Certification Program:
Establishes the body of knowledge necessary for certification;
Tests, through written examination, the common body of knowledge necessary to deliver parenteral or enteral nutrition support;
Recognizes specialty knowledge by granting certification to successful candidates; and
Promotes continual professional development of individuals delivering nutrition support services.
NBNSC currently certifies nurses, physicians, pharmacists, physician assistants, and dietitians who demonstrate they have attained the skills necessary to deliver quality nutrition support care.
Why Certify?
NBNSC certification provides an avenue to demonstrate that you have attained the skills and knowledge necessary to provide quality nutrition support care. We have determined the body of knowledge needed to have a basic understanding of nutrition support and developed a fair and valid means to test care providers including nurses, physicians, pharmacists, physician assistants, and dietitians.
Certified professionals are recognized as quality providers of nutrition support by the public, their colleagues, other members of the healthcare team, and administrators. The CNSC certification can provide job mobility, open up job opportunities, and, in some cases, lead to promotion and monetary gain.
Important Updates to NBNSC's Credentialing Program Effective 2008
Nutrition support is an inter-disciplinary field. After conducting extensive research, NBNSC developed a new credential, the Certified Nutrition Support Clinician (CNSC) that is fair and valid for all professional disciplines involved in nutrition support. The dietitians, nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, and physicians who provide care share a common body of knowledge and expertise that NBNSC has captured in the new exam format. The content of the exam reflects the tasks that healthcare professionals provide on a daily basis. You will find that the content is familiar and no more difficult than the previous exam.
Contact Information
National Board of Nutrition Support Certification, Inc.
8630 Fenton Street, Suite 412
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: (301) 587-6315 or (800) 727-4567
Fax: (301) 587-2365
Email: nbnsc@nutr.org
www.nutritioncertify.org