Question for those ED nurses that were or still are paramedics

I felt like the majority of the CEN material was review. I've been a medic since 2003 (still active), and an EMT-B since 2001. I took the CEN when I'd been an ED RN for about 10 months. In short, the EMS background was a huge help, and I probably could have tested and passed sooner. Go test, seriously. Good luck!!

Good question.
So you know where I'm coming from and my ability to answer let me give you a bit about my background, this way you'll know I'm credible.

I have been a staff RN in ED setting for 8years
Now as a NP in the ED for 8 years.
Have been and continue to be a paramedic working EMS part-time for 10+years
I'm CEN certified.
I have even researched, authored, published a CEN review manual and travel the country teaching CEN review classes.
As well, until just recently, I was currently involved in EMS education for paramedics.

All that being said...
The "short" answer; "NO"
I don't believe that the cognitive knowledge base of EMS/paramedic enhances the chances of success on the CEN "overall".
...BUT
Some areas, the prehospital experience may help.
One example is trauma care. The CEN exam uses questions taken from similar TNCC content. For prehospital pepople the ITLS and PHTLS courses are similar so there is some overlap.
The other area is your core ACLS knowledge base is similar between both.

Now on the surface it would appear that this would give you a leg up, but that is only because there is a fair amount of "trauma" questions and likewise a fair amount of ACLS-like questions.

However....
I don't believe the EMS background helps with various Emergency Nursing topics like:
UTI's
STD's
Pediatric illnesses (otitis media, nursemaid's elbow, measels etc)
Spinal cord injuries (Brown sequard, cord compression etc)
Respiratory (Pneumonia, Empyema etc)
General (Hemophillia, spider bites, iron toxicity etc)
Eye (ruptured globe, corneal abrasion etc)
and MANY others.

So my "modified" answer would be....(wait for it)
"MAYBE" your prehospital background "helps" some or gives a head start, but I don't believe it provides the wherewithall and endall to fully prepare someone.

I hope this helps.
And good luck!
PS: you can private email me here and we can discuss more off this webboard and I can give you some more resources!

-Mark Boswell

Lunah, I am a "old medic" new rn, I also want to take CEN, I work in a free-standing ER, I have the Gasparis DVD's, anything else to study with????

Mark, I would like to PM but do not have enough posts yet, can you PM me??? Would like to have more info on resources, I really want to pass this. Thanks

LOL ... that was a long way to "maybe." Hee! But you're right. And I'm not a typical paramedic because I've also been working in-hospital (in an ED) since 2005, so I also had that knowledge base to draw on. Because I have such a mix of experience, it's hard to say what I learned where, I guess. But there are some things on your list that I did learn in paramedic school, like the respiratory illnesses and eye injuries. I also did an ED fellowship in the last year that had a lot of online learning modules using the Sheehy book, and that also covered a lot of CEN stuff. But I still feel that medics who are fresh out of nursing school and get some ED time under their belts will probably do very well on the CEN.

Lisa,
I'm glad you picked up on that I wasn't implying that it was a "maybe" for everyone!
Yes, there definitely are exceptions (your experiences sound like one of the exceptions).

I think your last sentence was the best one, to build on the pre-hospital experiences by getting some real hands on ER experience too, probably the best advice.

Parablue,

Their terms of service don't allow us to publicly post our regular email addresses or other contact info...so I would say, just put up a few more posts until you qualify for PM's.

Sorry about that.
-Mark

Mark, excellent post and I will be picking up your study guide soon also. I am a new grad (June) working in a busy ED, after being in EMS since 1990. I will have to disagree with one point though, I have had numerous partners (work partners that is) that were quite familiar with STD's...damn uniform groupies...