BC-ADM

Board Certified – Advanced Diabetes Management

Board Certified-Advanced Diabetes Management is a credential available since 2001 and is the first advanced-practice certification offered to members of more than one discipline. Nurse Practitioners, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Registered Dietitians, and Registered Pharmacists may apply.  It is conferred by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.  While BC-ADM recognizes specialization and enhances professionalism and may indirectly influence financial reimbursement, this credential  is not currently directly related to third party payer reimbursement.

History: 

In 1993, the AADE and American Diabetes Association convened a task force to examine the role of advanced practice nurses in diabetes care and to develop a way to formally recognize diabetes care as an advanced practice nursing specialty.  Recognizing that non-nursing healthcare professionals participate in diabetes care, the task force acknowledged the need for an advanced diabetes manager credential that includes nutrition and pharmacy as well as nursing. 

The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)*,a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association, and the AADE conducted a role delineation study to determine the commonalities and differences among pharmacists, dietitians and nurses with advanced practice degrees.  This study identified differences in practice in the areas of comprehensive physical examination, drug information (interactions, adverse reactions, pharmacokinetic dosing, and drug profile assessment and refinement), health promotion and education, and medical nutrition therapy. 

*ANCC  is comprised of  six major accreditation programs. The Certification Program offers 40 examinations and certification renewals for nursing specialists, advanced practice nurses and diabet es educators who are dietitians and pharmacists. Currently, 135,000 individuals are certif ied through ANCC. The organization also accredits providers and approvers of nursing continuing edu cation as well as providing continuing education sessions and recognizes nursing service excellence (Magnet Recognition Program).

 The BC-ADM is a jointly sponsored effort between the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), in collaboration with the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the American Dietetic Association (ADtA), and the American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA). 

 

 

  

   

  American Nurses Credentialing Center

 



In Consultation with:

  • American Dietetic Association
  • Diabetes Care and Education Practice Group
  • American Pharmaceutical Association
  • American Diabetes Association

Differentiation from CDE: 

This certification differs from the Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) in that it is focused on advanced management of clinical diabetes problems and requires an advanced degree before sitting for the examination.  A diabetes care professional with a BC-ADM credential may or may not be a CDE (a certification in diabetes education is not a pre-requisite).  As diabetes education is an integral part of diabetes care and management, the professional with the BC-ADM credential necessarily incorporates aspects of diabetes self management training (DSMT) into his or her practice, either directly or through referral to another qualified diabetes educator.

Description of Practice:

The Advanced Practitioner in Diabetes Management has an advanced degree and is able to:

  • perform complete and/or focused assessments,
  • recognize and prioritize complex data in order to identify needs of patients with diabetes across the life span; and
  • provide therapeutic problem solving, counseling and regimen adjustments.

The scope of advanced clinical practice includes management skills such as medication adjustment, medical nutrition therapy, exercise planning, counseling for behavior management and psychosocial issues. Attaining optimal metabolic control may include treatment and monitoring of acute and chronic complications. The depth of knowledge and competence in advanced clinical practice and diabetes skills affords an increased complexity of decision-making, which expands the traditional discipline specific practice. Research, publications, mentoring and continuing professional development are expected skill sets.  
 

A seperate examination will be offered for each discipline.

Eligibility Criteria:

Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)/Nurse Practitioner (NP) Eligibility Criteria

  •  Hold a current, active RN license in a state or territory of the United States or the professional, legally recognized equivalent in another country.
  •  Hold licensure, registration and/or certification as a clinical nurse specialist or nurse practitioner
  •  Within 48 months prior to applying for this certification exam, complete a minimum of 500 clinical practice hours in advanced diabetes management after licensure and/or certification as a clinical nurse specialist or nurse practitioner. Complete the enclosed Advanced Diabetes Management Board Certification Examination Validation of Clinical Practice form.
    OR
  •  Hold a current, active RN license in a state or territory of the United States or the professional, legally recognized equivalent in another country.
  •  Hold a master’s, post-master’s, or doctoral degree from a clinical nurse specialist or nurse practitioner advanced diabetes management program accredited by the Commission on the Collegiate of Nursing Education (CCNE) or the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC). A minimum of 500 faculty supervised clinical hours in the CNS or NP Advanced Diabetes Management role and specialty must be included in the educational program. The Advanced Diabetes CNS and NP graduate program must include course work in: 
    •  advanced health assessment 
    •  advanced pharmacology 
    •  advanced pathophysiology 
    •  NPs must also have health promotion and disease prevention, and differential diagnosis and disease management

*Important Note: Check with your state board of nursing to determine if this certification meets state licensure requirement as a clinical nurse specialist or nurse practitioner.

Registered Dietitian Eligibility Criteria

  •  Hold a current, active Dietitian registration in a state or territory of the United States or the professional, legally recognized equivalent in another country. 
  •  Hold a Master’s or higher degree in a clinically relevant area, such as Nutrition, Public Health, Education (Med), Exercise, Sports Nutrition, Counseling, or Gerontology. 
  •  Within 48 months prior to applying this certification exam, complete a minimum of 500 hours of clinical practice in advanced clinical diabetes management after obtaining registration as a Dietitian. Complete the enclosed Advanced Diabetes Management Board Certification Examination Validation of Clinical Practice form.

Registered Pharmacist-Eligibility Criteria

  •  Hold a current, active Pharmacist registration in a state or territory of the United States or the professional, legally recognized equivalent in another country. 
  •  Hold a Master’s or higher degree in Pharmacy or currently practicing in a state that recognizes collaborative diabetes clinical practice. 
  •  Within 48 months prior to applying this certification exam, complete a minimum of 500 hours of clinical practice in advanced clinical diabetes management after obtaining registration as a Pharmacist. Complete the enclosed Advanced Diabetes Management Board Certification Examination Validation of Clinical Practice form.

*All requirements must be completed prior to application for the examination.


Credentials awarded:

  •  Nurse Practitioner & Clinical Nurse Specialist: APRN-BC-ADM (Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, Board Certified—Advanced Diabetes Management) 
  •  Dietitian: RD,BC-ADM (Registered Dietitian, Board Certified—Advanced Diabetes Management) 
  •  Pharmacist: RPh,BC-ADM (Registered Pharmacist, Board Certified—Advanced Diabetes Management)

Appeal:

Applicants may petition eligibility concerns other than those listed above. Items helpful for review would include: job description, description of current tasks, physician/ supervisor verification of advanced clinical skills and standards utilized in current practice, currently utilized protocols, transcripts and course syllabi highlighting advanced preparation (masters level or above) in areas of domains of this examination and/or diabetes. The petitions will be blind reviewed in accordance with American Nurses Credentialing Center policies.

* Note: While a favorable petition review will allow an RN with non-nursing masters to take the examination, local state board of nursing criteria prevail in relation to prescriptive authority.  

Exam Description:

This is a computer-based test and includes the following domains:  Clinical Practice; Collaboration; Public and Community Health; Research; and Leadership and Professional Practice.  (visit www.nursecredentialing.org for an in-depth test content outline, references, and sample test questions.).  The test can be scheduled throughout the year at a time and location convenient to you and applications for this certification will be accepted at any time.  For general information about the application and testing process see the General Testing Handbook available at http://www.nursecredentialing.org/cert/catalogs.html.  Test questions are developed using representatives from each of the disciplines eligible for this credential. 


Fees and Exam Preparation: 

Call the ANCC Customer Care Center at 800-284-2378 or visit www.nursecredentialing.org for exam fees and for information to prepare for the exam, including review courses, detailed test blueprint, references and sample questions.  A “ADM Home Study Group” method to prepare for the BC-ADM for advanced practice nurses has recently been developed.  This method includes a program content manual with weekly 90 minute conference call lectures.  Go to http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=8b0cc2c8-f302-4336-ad43-3a5c57836055 for more information about this exam preparation opportunity.

Domains: 

  1. Clinical practice 
  2. Health promotion/health education 
  3. Collaboration 
  4. Research 
  5. Leadership and professional practice

Applications are accepted and processed continuously.

After acceptance and receipt of admission ticket, an exam time may be scheduled any time within 90 days of receiving the admission ticket at any of the designated testing centers nationwide.

Application: 

Applications are available at: http://www.nursecredentialing.org/cert/PDFs/ADMcat.pdf.