Cardiac nursing certifications, unit by unit

• Coronary care unit, cardiac step-down, heart failure unit, cath lab recovery: CMC, Cardiac Medicine Certification. It covers medical cardiology in acutely ill adults: ACS, heart failure, dysrhythmias and devices, and the drugs and procedures around them.
• Cardiovascular ICU in the first 48 hours after open-heart surgery: CSC, Cardiac Surgery Certification, from the same board. Study pages for it are planned.
• Cardiac or vascular nursing outside the ICU, inpatient or outpatient: CV-BC, awarded by ANCC.
• Progressive care in general: PCCN, AACN's specialty exam for step-down units, which also counts as the specialty credential CMC requires.
• Heart failure clinics: the certified heart failure nurse credential (CHFN) also exists; we have not reviewed its rules.

The two AACN subspecialties share a format (90 questions in 2 h, the same fees and the same renewal) and split cardiac care at the operating room door. CMC follows the cardiac patient treated medically or in the cath lab; CSC follows the patient who leaves the OR after CABG, valve or other open-heart surgery, through the first two days.

Both exams move to revised test plans for exams taken on or after November 19, 2026, drawn from a 2025 study of practice. On the new CMC plan, therapeutic interventions carry 44% of the exam; on the new CSC plan, complications and therapeutic interventions together carry four-fifths of it. CSC has been the harder exam to pass: AACN's first-time pass rates are 52.2% (2025) for CSC and 71.3% (2025) for CMC.

If your unit takes both kinds of patient, pick by where most of your hours are: the eligibility rules count cardiac hours for CMC and post-surgical hours within 48 hours for CSC, so the hours decide for you. Section weights for CMC and practice questions are on the CMC pages.

Neither subspecialty can be your first credential. AACN requires a current accredited clinical specialty certification in direct adult care, held at the time you apply and for as long as you want to keep the subspecialty. Its own examples include CCRN, PCCN, CEN, CMSRN, CNOR, CPAN and ACNPC-AG, so the specialty need not be an AACN one.

Three consequences follow:

• The credential is written with a dash. The board displays a subspecialty attached to the specialty, as in PCCN-CMC or CCRN-CSC, never on its own.
• The specialty has to stay current. If it lapses, the subspecialty cannot be displayed or renewed until you hold a current eligible specialty again, the same one or another.
• You renew two things. The subspecialty needs cardiac practice hours plus Category A CERPs (432 h + 25 CERPs) every three years, alongside whatever the specialty requires. Both sets of rules are on AACN certifications.

CV-BC has no such prerequisite; it requires RN experience, cardiac-vascular hours and continuing education instead.

AACN runs a free public lookup that counts as primary source verification (AACN verify certification). ABCM names no third-party accreditation on its pages, so check with your employer or Magnet program whether a CVRN counts toward its certification goals before paying for it.