HCA Florida Twin Cities Hospital and HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital will honor its certified nurses on March 19 for Certified Nurses Day, recognizing their commitment to excellence in patient care.

• Certified Nurses Day is celebrated globally on March 19, the birthday of Dr. Margretta “Gretta” Madden Styles, an early champion for nursing certification whose leadership helped shape certification standards worldwide.

“We want to promote growth and celebrate our certified nurses,” said Morgan Talley, DNP RN, AONL-NMF, Chief Nursing Officer at HCA Florida Twin Cities Hospital. “My goal would be to have all of our nurses certified once they’re able and ready to take the certification exam.”

Talley, who has been with HCA for 25 years and joined Twin Cities Hospital as CNO last April, holds certifications through the American Organization for Nursing Leadership and as a certified nurse manager leader.

• The hospital serves a significant number of patients in the community, with the emergency room alone seeing 20,000 patients from January 2023 to January 2024.

National specialty certification, also called board certification, represents the highest professional credential a nurse can earn. Unlike the basic licensing exam for entry-level registered nurses, specialty certification validates advanced knowledge in specific areas of nursing.

There are approximately 180 different nursing certifications available across specialties including critical care, emergency, surgical services, geriatrics and leadership, according to Talley.

Research indicates hospitals with more nationally certified nurses typically see improved patient outcomes.

• “Most literature will show you that any hospital that has a good number of nationally certified nurses, you’re going to have better outcomes because you’ve got that level of expertise in your hospital,” Talley said.

That expertise is increasingly important as healthcare grows more complex. “Patients are getting older and more complex,” Talley said, noting that hospitals now treat more patients in their 80s and 90s with multiple health conditions. Mental health and substance abuse issues also present growing challenges in the Panhandle region.

Across the bay at HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital, administrators share this commitment to certified nursing.

• “At HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital, we take immense pride in our certified nurses and the expertise they provide in patient care every day,” said Jessica Bailey, Assistant Chief Nursing Officer at HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital. “Certification demonstrates a strong commitment to professional growth, excellence, and lifelong learning—qualities that characterize our nurses.”

To earn certification, nurses must have substantial experience in their specialty and pass a national exam. Most certifications require renewal every five years along with continuing education.

Talley believes one of the biggest misconceptions about certification is that it’s unattainable.

“Some think that it is too hard and the fear factor kicks in too much for some people,” he said. “I’ve known several people that have not been successful, but they take it again, and then they’re successful.”

Both Twin Cities and Fort Walton-Destin hospitals maintain close partnerships with local nursing education programs. 

• “I work real closely with our two local schools, Okaloosa Technical College and Northwest Florida State College, to ensure that our students are getting good experiences here,” Talley added. “I want them to come work here, but I also want them to be on the path to success.”

This emphasis on education reflects HCA’s broader commitment to staff development. “HCA is a very good company to work for,” Talley said. “They’ve helped take care of my education. I went from a bachelor’s to a master’s degree, then I got my doctorate degree. It was all supported by HCA Healthcare.”

• Beyond recognizing achievement, Certified Nurses Day serves as an opportunity to encourage more nurses to pursue certification. Talley even completed a fellowship in 2013 with the American Organization for Nursing Leaders.

As healthcare evolves, technology plays an increasingly important role. “In October, we’re going live with a new EHR [Electronic Health Record] and a nurse will be able to do everything, scan their meds, document everything on their phone,” Talley said. He anticipates AI-generated technology will further assist nursing care in the coming years, potentially freeing up more time for direct patient care.

For patients and families, certified nurses bring validated expertise to the bedside.

“The value is just to know that you’ve got a good number of experienced nurses who have proven their knowledge base and have met the national standard,” Talley said. “My family’s going to be taken care of because of the knowledge and expertise that’s here.”