NC-BC study guide
NC-BC · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Nurse Coach Board Certified (NC-BC) credential is issued by the American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation (AHNCC), which describes itself as providing the only nationally accredited holistic nurse and nurse coach certification credentials in the USA, with examinations accredited by the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC) and recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet Program. AHNCC states that it developed the Nurse Coach certification in 2012 to support nursing practice's focus on health and wellness. The NC-BC study guide has 5 sections and about 1,498 words.
01Foundations and Professional Role of the Nurse Coach
Nurse coaching is a client-centered, relationship-based process that uses communication and behavior-change skills to help clients clarify goals and mobilize their own strengths. Candidates should understand the distinction between coaching and psychotherapy, counseling, consulting, mentoring, and clinical care.
311 words, about 2 min02Therapeutic Communication and Relationship-Centered Coaching
Relationship-centered coaching depends on presence, trust, empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence. Therapeutic communication skills include active listening, open-ended questions, reflective listening, summarizing, affirmations, silence, and attention to nonverbal cues.
294 words, about 1 min03Coaching Process and Behavior Change Facilitation
The coaching process typically moves through agreement, assessment of readiness, agenda setting, goal clarification, action planning, accountability, and closure. Candidates should understand behavior-change frameworks such as the stages of change, motivational interviewing, self-determination theory, self-efficacy, relapse prevention, and well-formed goal criteria.
306 words, about 2 min04Health, Wellness, and Holistic Nursing Principles
Holistic nursing considers the whole person-physical, emotional, social, spiritual, cultural, and environmental dimensions-within a health-illness continuum. Wellness is broader than the absence of disease and includes functioning, meaning, resilience, and quality of life.
312 words, about 2 min05Professional Practice, Ethics, and Business of Nurse Coaching
Ethical nurse coaching rests on autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, fidelity, and veracity. Professional practice requires informed consent, clear coaching agreements, confidentiality and its limits, accurate documentation, safe telehealth practice, cultural safety, and appropriate referral.
275 words, about 1 min