The Founding Cohort

The first 200 nurses in the country to earn a credential built around how they think.

CRS-BC is the first board certification in clinical reasoning. The Founding Cohort opens now — before public enrollment, at Founding pricing — for nurses ready to establish the national standard for clinical reasoning in nursing.

You were sent here by nurses who see what the profession is missing — and believe clinical reasoning can be taught, measured, and standardized.

What CRS-BC measures

The first specialty nursing certification designed to measure how you think, not what you know.

Every existing credential tests knowledge within a specialty. CEN tests emergency nursing knowledge. CCRN tests critical care. NPD-BC tests professional development. All of them ask: what facts, protocols, and procedures do you know?

None of them ask: how do you reason?

CRS-BC measures the cognitive work nurses do hundreds of times a shift and rarely name out loud. The framework is called IIAR — Identify, Intervene, Assess, Reassess — and it is the loop experienced nurses run instinctively. The credential validates that you have mastered that loop deliberately, at the bedside, in a way that is measurable, defensible, and transferable across any clinical setting.

CRS-BC is governed by the American Board for Clinical Reasoning (ABCR), an independent specialty certification board. WildeCare Education develops the curriculum and delivers the training. ABCR sets the standards, reviews the portfolios, and issues the credential.

The Founding Cohort Offer

Founding Cohort — limited to 200 nurses. One price.

Public enrollment, when it opens, will be priced higher. Founding Cohort members retain their pricing permanently. The cohort closes at 200 nurses or on August 31, 2026 — whichever comes first.

Founding Cohort — Complete
$2,500
Held by a $250 refundable deposit. Balance of $2,250 due before portfolio submission. The $250 deposit is refundable up until Certification Summit, when coursework and the cohort experience begin.
Includes:the six-hour Certification Summit workshop in Spokane • the IIAR Critical Thinking course • Acuities 1 / 2 • Acuities 3 / 4 / 5 • weekly group coaching with Jennifer or Kalvin through portfolio submission • access to the WildeCare Portfolio app • the CRS-BC credential, issued by ABCR upon successful portfolio review.
Most nurses are eligible for employer or union reimbursement. Amounts vary by contract. It is your responsibility to find out what your employer offers and to pursue it.

The cohort profile

This cohort is built for a specific kind of nurse.

The nurse who has known, for a long time, that clinical reasoning is the thing separating the practitioners she admires from the ones she doesn’t — and has been looking for language that makes it teachable.

The nurse who has precepted new grads and watched them struggle not because they lack knowledge, but because they lack a framework for thinking through a shift.

The nurse who has sat through continuing-education modules that felt like compliance theater and is willing to pay a fair price for something that is actually rigorous.

For nurses ready to establish the standard — before the rest of the profession catches up.

This cohort is built for the nurse who does not wait for the standard to be set. She sets it.

Accreditation

This credential is in active accreditation.

ABCR accreditation is actively under review with American Board for Specialty Nursing Certification, with a decision anticipated soon.

Deposit and refund terms are set by ABCR on the eligibility page. Any questions before depositing: info@abcrnursing.org.

Timeline

From Deposit to Credential

A single decision becomes a permanent credential. Here’s how it unfolds.

  1. Deposit

    You complete eligibility and submit your $250 deposit through ABCR to secure your place in the Founding Cohort.

    You’ll receive confirmation from ABCR, along with a personal welcome from the WildeCare team.

  2. Certification Summit

    You attend a six-hour, in-person Certification Summit in Spokane. This is where the cohort begins—your introduction to the IIAR framework, the expectations for certification, and the work ahead.

    At the Summit, your coursework and portfolio platform unlock.

  3. Portfolio Development

    Following the Summit, you begin building your portfolio inside the WildeCare app. You’ll complete the IIAR Critical Thinking course and acuity-based training while documenting real clinical shifts.

    Weekly group coaching sessions support your progress, refine your thinking, and ensure your work meets certification standards.

  4. Balance & Submission

    Before submitting your portfolio, your remaining $2,250 balance is due. Once payment is complete, your portfolio is formally submitted to ABCR for review.

  5. Review

    ABCR conducts a structured review of your portfolio within 30–60 days. If clarification is needed, the review panel will contact you directly.

  6. Issuance

    Upon successful review, ABCR issues your CRS-BC credential. You’ll receive formal documentation and recognition as part of the Founding Cohort—the first nurses in the country certified in clinical reasoning.

Founder and governance

Built by a Nurse. Governed Independently. Researched Rigorously.

WildeCare Education was founded by Jennifer Wilde, RN, BSN, CEN, SANE.Twenty-plus years of emergency practice. The IIAR methodology is drawn from that practice and has been validated in IRB-approved research, with measurable gains in critical thinking, confidence, and proficiency (all p < 0.001). The methodology has been presented at six national nursing conferences in 2025, including Sigma 36th Congress, Sigma 48th Convention, SNRC, and WIN.

The credential itself is not issued by WildeCare. It is issued by the American Board for Clinical Reasoning (ABCR), an independent specialty certification board founded by Emily Calabro, PhD. ABCR is a Washington 501(c)(3) — a nonprofit, governed independently of WildeCare. It is the same structure BCEN uses for CEN, AACN Certification uses for CCRN, and ANCC uses for NPD-BC. WildeCare develops the curriculum, delivers the training, and operates the portfolio platform. ABCR sets the standards and issues the credential.

Kalvin, our Senior Coach, joins Jennifer in the weekly group coaching for every Founding Cohort nurse. Each Founding Fellow receives written notes from her group coaching sessions. This is unusual, and it is deliberate — your reasoning is being taken seriously enough to document.

How to enroll

One path. One deposit. One cohort.

Enrollment

Deposit through ABCR

Complete eligibility on ABCR’s site. A $250 refundable deposit holds your Founding Cohort seat.

Any questions before you enroll: jennifer@jwildecare.com or text (202) 420-7078. Jennifer answers every one.

Choose your Summit

Reserve your Certification Summit date.

Eight in-person Summits, June and July 2026, all 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. After completing your ABCR deposit, reserve your seat below.