Anyone currently studying for the CEN exam??

JessicRN · Apr 8, 2008

Hi I have taken the CEN exam twice now and due to do it a third time. I believe it is only 175 questions now and 150 count (phew). It is a really tough exam you really have to know your stuff but unlike the nclex it is black and white the only thing is the answers are unbelievably picky. I used the Laura Gasparis DVD from years ago and attended her course the last time I wrote the exam and little has changed. The bad part is some of the things she says still contradict with the CEN review book so beware. I am not saying she is wrong only the questions still say trauma? give lactated ringers. (ie giving lactated ringers to a trauma patient with a liver Laceration is a bad thing according to her.) The great part is you don't have to write the test every 8 years once you have taken it , at a special location now you can do it on line.

JessicRN · Apr 8, 2008

not sure if anyone knows of this but see

pearlsreview.com the cen and nclex I used on this site and passed both first try now I have to rewrite the cen exam the great thing about this site is you can use it to study acls,pals etc not to mention get your prerequisites for places like florida and texas. It is up to date as they update it regularly. The other great thing about it is you can keep it for an entire year so when you are done with the exam if you complete all the CEU's they will get you the 75 credits you need to take after the four years are up (it is called CENRO)

Altra, BSN, RN · Apr 8, 2008

not sure if anyone knows of this but see
pearlsreview.com the cen and nclex I used on this site and passed both first try now I have to rewrite the cen exam the great thing about this site is you can use it to study acls,pals etc not to mention get your prerequisites for places like florida and texas. It is up to date as they update it regularly. The other great thing about it is you can keep it for an entire year so when you are done with the exam if you complete all the CEU's they will get you the 75 credits you need to take after the four years are up (it is called CENRO)

Just to clarify ...

Renewal for CENs can be accomplished 3 ways:

Internet-based testing

completion of 100 hours of relevant continuing ed

Retaking the exam

Here's the ENA link: http://www.ena.org/bcen/cen/CEN-RO_default.asp

vampireslayer · Apr 10, 2008

well, i started out trying to study a little every day, and i did that for a while. i have lots of study materials available, keep hearing about more and i guess i think if i throw enough money at this, i'll pass! so i keep buying more!

anyway, i did go ahead and buy that "CEN Secrets" thing too, haven't looked at it too close yet but got one good thing so far out of it for ME: don't overy study. if you are at a level that you can pass, then you've studied enough and just take the stupid test. i know there are people who'd taken it several times cuz they didn't pass, but for me, i tend to take tests well, always have, got great grades (straight A's) in nursing school (not bragging, it's just that i retain things, and don't get test anxiety).

so what i did was take the sample exam on the BCEN website. it cost $30 to have it graded, and once you grade it you can't go back and review it over and over, but it did have the reasons why each answer was right, after it was graded, whether you'd gotten it right or wrong. by the way, i scored an 84% so I figure that's good enough to pass the CEN. Now of course the sample was only 50 questions, NOT 175, but overall, i think i already have the basic knowledge and don't need months of study.

so i went ahead and sent in my card to request "permission" to sign up. if understand the process right, i'll get an email or card in the mail saying "you now have 90 days in which to take the test. sign up for your test date on this xyz website". so i haven't gotten that yet, but as soon as i do, i'll give myself something like 6 weeks, and then take the test.

so my game plan is to use all my study materials, sheehy's, mosby's, dr. laura's, and the "CEN secrets" clinical parts (that one has lots of test taking strategies too) and concentrate on cardio, resp and neuro. then i'll study the other stuff as my study time (6 weeks) runs out. and just hope for the best. its not a great, well thought out study plan, but i have the materials here, i have the basic knowledge and the experience, so i think at least this first time that's what i'm going to do. no sitting down with a calendar and figuring out # of hours to spend on each topic, # of review questions to take each day etc. NOT that those aren't great ways to study, just that i am hoping i can do this more casually.

we'll see! i'll let y'all know.

VS

deeDawntee, RN · Apr 11, 2008

well, i started out trying to study a little every day, and i did that for a while. i have lots of study materials available, keep hearing about more and i guess i think if i throw enough money at this, i'll pass! so i keep buying more!
anyway, i did go ahead and buy that "CEN Secrets" thing too, haven't looked at it too close yet but got one good thing so far out of it for ME: don't overy study. if you are at a level that you can pass, then you've studied enough and just take the stupid test. i know there are people who'd taken it several times cuz they didn't pass, but for me, i tend to take tests well, always have, got great grades (straight A's) in nursing school (not bragging, it's just that i retain things, and don't get test anxiety).
so what i did was take the sample exam on the BCEN website. it cost $30 to have it graded, and once you grade it you can't go back and review it over and over, but it did have the reasons why each answer was right, after it was graded, whether you'd gotten it right or wrong. by the way, i scored an 84% so I figure that's good enough to pass the CEN. Now of course the sample was only 50 questions, NOT 175, but overall, i think i already have the basic knowledge and don't need months of study.
so i went ahead and sent in my card to request "permission" to sign up. if understand the process right, i'll get an email or card in the mail saying "you now have 90 days in which to take the test. sign up for your test date on this xyz website". so i haven't gotten that yet, but as soon as i do, i'll give myself something like 6 weeks, and then take the test.
so my game plan is to use all my study materials, sheehy's, mosby's, dr. laura's, and the "CEN secrets" clinical parts (that one has lots of test taking strategies too) and concentrate on cardio, resp and neuro. then i'll study the other stuff as my study time (6 weeks) runs out. and just hope for the best. its not a great, well thought out study plan, but i have the materials here, i have the basic knowledge and the experience, so i think at least this first time that's what i'm going to do. no sitting down with a calendar and figuring out # of hours to spend on each topic, # of review questions to take each day etc. NOT that those aren't great ways to study, just that i am hoping i can do this more casually.
we'll see! i'll let y'all know.
VS

How great that you took the bull by the horns and committed yourself to the exam, I am in the same state as you, I have ordered materials and am waiting for some to arrive. Hopefully, by the time we are all through with this process, we will be able to tell others which references were the most helpful. I have a sense that there may not be any "definitive" resources for this test, that most have merit. I have just finished my peds orientation in my ED job and will start working there more and more. That is almost a completely different world! That is what I love so much about ED nursing, the variety and the depth and breadth of knowledge and skills that is required is so challenging.

vampireslayer · Jun 4, 2008

Ok everyone, it's time. I take the test this Friday. It took several weeks after I sent in my card saying I wanted to sign up, before getting the authorization letter in the mail that gave me the permission to sign up for the exam.

I took the week off work, and have been going through a set of CDs while driving to/from work in my car during the last 4 months or so. It's hard to do that when I hear something that I know I'll need to write down, but can't take notes while driving!

So this week my plan is to review, again, all the CDs (its the MED ED CEN Exam Review set of CDs), while taking notes only on the things that I didn't know or think I'll need to memorize, like the locations of STEMI and which areas (lateral, septal, inferior, etc) are infarcting if certain leads show ST elevation. Also things like the Parkland burn formula. I KNOW this info, but have taken notes just to review it before the exam.

Now I'm done with the CDs, have 4 pages of notes to review, and will review those today. Then I'll move on to the rest of my study materials that I've accumulated over the year that I've been planning on taking this test: Mosby's CEN Review, Sheehy's textbook, the ENA CEN Review book, and the CEN secrets. On all of those, I am going to concentrate on Neuro, Respiratory, Cardiac and Ortho, because those have the highest % of questions on the exam. I feel like I've got enough review and work experience in the other areas, and I only have today and tomorrow to review, so that fills my plate for these next 2 days.

I'm studying throughout the day, taking frequent breaks, and trying to wrap up by evening, 6 or 7pm, each day. No point in overloading my brain and not retaining it all.

So I will take the test Friday June 6, and will come back and let the rest of you know how I did.

Does anyone know the legalities of actually giving out any questions or topics that I remember from the test? Seems like somewhere on the NCLEX there was some statement that said you weren't allowed to discuss the questions afterward. Is that the case here? If i can't remember exact questions, I will at least try to remember topics that showed up on my exam, to help the rest of you.

VS

biker momma · Jun 4, 2008

Good luck VS!!! You have gotten farther than I have in the process. When you have time, after the test, would you tell me more about the CD's you got and CEN Secrets. Which you found better as a review material, etc. My plan is to seriously start the process this fall - am stocking up on study materials at this time. I would love to take the test early next year.....

GilaRRT · Jun 4, 2008

Good luck on the exam. I would not discuss specific exam questions. This would be generally be considered unprofessional at best. You will Take your exam at a H&R test center just like the NCLEX. You will be on camera and will have to turn in all of your notes following the exam. The BCEN does not want the actual CEN questions getting out.

vampireslayer · Jun 6, 2008

I passed!! I just got home, and there is a big disclaimer at the beginning of the exam that says I can't reproduce in any way any of the questions from the exam. So I'll just give you what I learned about the studying materials. There were several people taking the exam at the same time, some CEN and others were resp. therapists, and some others.

First off, I like the MED ED CEN Exam Review CDs by Jeff Solheim the best, as far as study materials, and liked the CEN Secrets the least. The CEN Secrets seemed to me like just an outline. Like someone who'd attended a lecture, learned stuff, took brief notes, and copied those notes into an outline. Now, of course, if I'd actually attended the original lecture, those notes are what I would have ended up with, but for me, I need to hear or read the original material first, not just a brief terms or outline of s/s.

Now to the big shocker, I don't think you can really study for this thing. It's tough! I know I passed, so I must have studied ok, but still, I am shocked at how many questions I had to outright guess on, and how many I was convinced every single answer was the right one! And all the details I studied about specific disease processes, wouldn't you know those diseases were on the test, but not the stuff that I studied! Some altogether unrelated question!

I know that one thing I did, was just without question chose "put 100% oxygen on" no matter what!! I don't know which questions I got right and which were wrong, but I do know that was an option frequently and I always chose it!

You also have to keep an eye on what they are asking...like one question was asking about how you'd go about planning the patient's care, and all the answers were "implementation" answers except one assessment one. So even though all those implementations were things you'd really do, that's not what they're asking, they're asking about how to prepare the plan of care, which would involve assessment first.

There were honestly things I was digging back into my brain that came from nursing school, that hadn't been covered in ANY of my review materials, neither of the 2 CEN Review classes, nothing. And some were so obvious they were laughable! It just covered the spectrum from incredibly easy to incredibly difficult!

And finally, I think if I could give advice, I'd say get one good study material, a text book, a set of CDs, whatever, that covers systems, but honestly I do think sitting down and doing sample questions would probably have helped me more. Use Mosby or the one that ENA offers for practice questions. That may have highlighted things, not details on diseases, but thought processes to go through, that I could have used. I didn't do that cuz I HATE sitting down doing practice tests, even though every study reference I have ever seen advises you to do that!! I figured if I know the topic, I can answer the questions, but maybe??? I don't know, maybe it would have helped. But then again, I passed so maybe just studying the topics was enough.

And by the way, I started studying in earnest a couple months ago by taking the practice test from the ENA website. I didn't look up the answers in a text book and try to choose the best one, and I didn't let it grade me as I went, I just sat down and took it like it was a regular test and got my score at the end. I got 84%, and my score on the real thing today was 84.7% so I think maybe that practice test is a good indicator of how you'll really do.

Whew! I'm glad that's over with.

Good luck everyone.

VS

biker momma · Jun 6, 2008

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! :yeah:

samantha11 · Jun 7, 2008

I purchased mosby's review and laura's tapes in 2002. I studied off and on with intention to take the exam. I was concerned about 1. the money 2. passing. 3. my department doesn't care much about certification or continuing ed. so why bother. I got my manager to agree to reemburse me and told myself I was doing it for myself so who cares what anyone else would say. I finally just said to heck with it and took the test and PASSED! It was wonderful feeling of accomplishment. My Plan of attack was to schedule the exam. go through the mosby book, areas I was weak I did independent study with ER MD reference books. They put things into context better for me. I also destroyed my Nursing Core Curriculum with notes. The exam was challenging but I had a decent margin of passing so was pleased. I also took the enpc course which had a lot of the same info I needed to know. So good luck and just do it! By the way all those nurses who thought certification was dumb changed their opinion once I started signing my name CEN

samantha11 · Jun 7, 2008

I also did the review test on the ENA website for $30. It was helpful. I to doubted myself during the exam and even started making a mark when I guessed. I knew how many I could miss and still pass. Some of the questions were just out of left field. The wide range of info almost makes it impossible to study for. I would say a third was stuff I had to remember from nursing school. I've been an ER nurse for 9 years, nurse for 15. I guess the biggest help would be know your disease processes, key points of each. Good luck