About

The Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC), formerly the ABNS Accreditation Council, is the only accrediting body specifically for nursing certification. ABSNC accreditation is a peer-review mechanism that allows nursing certification organizations to obtain accreditation by demonstrating compliance with the highest quality standards available in the industry. Accreditation is available to both ABNS member and non-member organizations.

Since 1991, ABNS recognized and promoted the value of certification through the activities of its Accreditation Council. Because the accreditation standards require a certifying organization to be autonomous from a related member organization, ABNS also created a separate and autonomous accreditation board in 2009. ABSNC continues to promote its mission to seek and recognize high quality specialty nursing and associated certification programs through accreditation.

Learn more about ABSNC with our quick Fact Sheet.

For information on the accreditation application process, please email the ABSNC office at info@ABSNC.org.

For more information on the Value of Accreditation, read our white paper "The Benefits of Specialty Nursing Certification for Nurses, Healthcare Facilities and Patients." 

Organizations interested in verifying individual certification credentials should contact the appropriate certification board that awarded the certification. The ABSNC does not certify practitioners. It accredits certification boards that demonstrate adherence to ABSNC's rigorous standards. A listing of the programs that are accredited by ABSNC can be found at: https://absnc.org/certification/accredited-programs. The listings may help identify the program for which you are seeking credential verification.