ANA Just Made This a New Nurse Specialty, and a Certification Is Coming

The American Nurses Association (ANA) has a new specialty on its list, and nurses who have been doing the work for years finally have a title that matches it. On June 17th, the ANA Board of Directors recognized patient blood management nursing as a nursing specialty, approved the submitted Patient Blood Management (PBM) nursing scope of practice statement, and acknowledged the specialty standards and accompanying competencies, according to an announcement from the Society for the Advancement of Patient Blood Management (SABM).

In practical terms, that means PBM nursing is now an officially recognized specialty with a scope and standards document defining practice. SABM will serve as the overarching association for the specialty, setting standards for continuing education and professional development and building a formal certification credential for PBM nurses.

It is a bigger deal than the quiet announcement suggests. PBM nursing is the fifth specialty the ANA has recognized since 2020 and the second in 2026 alone, joining travel health nursing, burn nursing, cannabis nursing, and men’s health nursing.

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The ANA runs a formal review program covering recognition of a nursing specialty, approval of a scope of practice statement, and acknowledgment of specialty practice standards, and all three boxes were checked here.

The ANA is the largest professional nursing organization in the United States, representing the interests of the nation’s 5 million registered nurses. When it recognizes a specialty, SABM said in its release, it signals to the entire healthcare community that the area of practice has “a defined body of knowledge, a clear professional identity, and standards that elevate care for patients.”

At the center of the decision is the PBM Nursing Scope and Standards of Practice, a document written by a volunteer workgroup of SABM nurses that defines the “knowledge, skills, responsibilities, and professional expectations” of the specialty.

If the role is unfamiliar, the work probably is not. They work in hospitals, clinics, and outpatient care centers. Patient blood management nurses, according to Johnson & Johnson Nursing’s role profile:

• Screen and treat anemia
• Coordinate care across surgical and hematology teams, serving as the liaison between patients, families, and providers
• Contribute to transfusion policies and guidelines
• Teach patients and staff how to protect blood health, and work to minimize blood loss

The clinical case behind the specialty is well documented. The International Surgical Outcomes Study found that 30.1% of adult elective inpatient surgery patients across 27 countries had preoperative anemia, a condition linked to more transfusions, more complications, and longer hospital stays. hc1, a health data company that sells blood-management analytics to hospitals, estimates that 30% to 40% of transfusions remain unnecessary or avoidable and that fewer than 100 U.S. hospitals run formal anemia management programs.

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18 Years in the Making, and a Certification Exam Is Next

The recognition was not fast. A workgroup of SABM nurses entered a partnership with the ANA in 2021 to articulate what makes the specialty distinct, and SABM credits founder Sherri Ozawa with inspiring the effort almost 18 years ago and championing it since.

SABM named the workgroup members publicly: Christine Cahill, Elora Thorpe, Heather Mingo, Joshua Ozawa Moriello, Kelly Martin, Mary Ann Sromoski, Sarah Walbolt, and Becky Rock, with additional contributions from Deb Tolich and others.

“SABM is proud to celebrate this success, which reflects the collective commitment of our society,” the organization said in its release. “Led by our nursing members and championed by the Board of Directors and colleagues from across all disciplines, this achievement highlights the power of collaboration in advancing our shared goals.”

Several things happen next, per SABM: the scope and standards will be published in an official ANA journal, virtual town hall events are being scheduled for the fall, more details will be shared at the SABM 2026 Annual Meeting, and the society will begin outreach to nursing associations globally.

SABM also said flatly that “certification is coming,” describing a qualifying exam that will let PBM nurses demonstrate expertise and advance their careers. The society has not announced a launch date, exam format, or cost.

The timing puts PBM nursing in a busy stretch for the ANA. The association recognized men’s health nursing on February 26, 2026, a decision Nurse.org covered earlier this year, and cannabis nursing in September 2023.

Nothing about your RN license changes because of this. Specialty recognition is not licensure, and no state board is adding a requirement. What changes is the paperwork that shapes your career.

A published scope and standards document is the raw material hospitals use to write job descriptions, build competency checklists, justify dedicated PBM positions, and defend staffing for anemia clinics and transfusion safety programs. Nurses already doing this work inside perioperative services, hematology, or blood bank liaison roles can now point to a national standard instead of explaining their job from scratch every time leadership reshuffles the budget.

The certification piece is the one worth tracking. Specialty credentials frequently plug into clinical ladders and certification differentials, which is where recognition can eventually show up in a paycheck. That payoff is not guaranteed and it is not here yet, since SABM is still building the exam. Nurses interested in the specialty can watch for the fall town halls, the ANA journal publication, and SABM’s certification updates.

🤔 Have you worked in patient blood management, or watched anemia and transfusion decisions get made without a nurse in the room? Tell us in the comments whether this recognition changes anything on your unit.