CEN exam

First, good luck to you and congrats on taking this next step to be a professional ED nurse.

I thought the test was very easy, especially when compared to the CCRN. I had been a nurse in ED for one year when I took and passed first time, but I had also been a medic for 10 years which helped in my case.

Take your time, the testing site shouold allow you one sheet of paper for notes. My computer test allowed me to skip and go back so the sheet of paper helps to write down which question (although the computer also keeps track). Get a good nights sleep, no studying the night before, good breakfast and arrive a few minutes early to sign in, etc.

You will do fine.

Thank you so much for replying! That's the kind of response I was hoping for. I've been in the ER just over 2 years. Only a handful of our nurses have their CEN, mostly those in management, so a group of six of us are going to give it a shot.

>>congrats on taking this next step to be a professional ED nurse.

This mindset is exactly the reason why I have worked in the ER for 8 years and do not have a CEN. I AM a professional ED nurse, the CEN doesnt make anyone any more professional than anyone else.

Good luck on the test, do you get any perks if you are CEN? we dont.

No, don't get any perks, just want to challenge myself and see if I can do it. I agree veetach, that the CEN doesn't make you a better or more professional nurse-I work with so many awesome nurses and as I mentioned mostly only the higher ups have obtained the certification- some of which haven't bedside nursed in many years and may very well not be able to manage a highly acute pt except on paper. But I like to learn and studying for the exam has had me digging into the old memory bank and texts to relearn some things I've forgotten. I take it on Friday at 0900- everybody keep your fingers crossed for me!

I too am a bedside nurse and would not have it any other way. And yes, nurses can be "professional" without BCEN. But on paper, if everything else was equal, I would hire the BCEN nurse because they have pushed themselves to take the challenge. For me a professional career consists of continued challenges, not just doing the same thing every day. That is too boring, even if it is the ER!

WoW!

You guys are great, I have not read such positive interactions, and good opinions expressed in years. I personally love to learn and challange myself with certifications, this does not make me a better nurse, it is just my personality. Congrats on the expression of positive differing opinions

So.........drumroll..........I PASSED! That's the best feeling, thank you guys for your words of suppport!

veetach:

The reason for the CEN is to make sure those who pass are familiar with many aspects of emergency medicine that one does not generally see in their area of the country. Remember, this test is worldwide. Those who work in rural areas as professional emergency nurses see many different scenarios than those who work in urban centers. Some RN's work in areas that see many chest pain, cardiac arrest cases, some in areas of traumatic injuries, etc. Since the ER RN's area of practice and geographic area of practice is vastly different, this exam challenges those RN's who take it to be aware of any emergency medical problem that presents itself, from psychiatric emergencies to pediatrics to burn victims, etc. To pass, you must have a knowledge of neurosurgery, neurology, cardiology, etc. the list goes on....

It is a significant achievement to prepare for and to pass this exam. Although those of us who choose to be professional emergency nurses do so because of the diversity of situations we experience, preparing for and passing the CEN means that one is intellectually aware of and prepared for a vast majority of clinical presentations and thus able to have a knowledge base to best care for a wide variety of patients. By preparing for the exam every 4 years, I again am acquainted with scenarios that I maybe have not encountered. It is a wonderful, enriching learning experience, and a significant achievement to pass the exam.

Good luck to those who accept the challenge!

In the words of Florence Nightingale:

"A woman who thinks of herself, "Now I am a full nurse, a skilled nurse. I have learnt all there is to be learned", take my word for it, she does not know what a nurse is, and she will never know, she has gone back already".

In doing ER trauma for ten years in a large Level I urban center in the NY/NJ metro area, I have often thought I've seen it all, then one I haven't encountered rolls through the doors.....

the more knowledge and prep, the better!

ScisRNCEN

neneRN and all the rest.

This is encouraging. How was the test? I take mine on Friday and the test anxiety for this is worse than any other nursing test I've ever take. Any other tricks to this?

Advise welcome.

AFRESRN

Try to relax and go with your gut when you answer. As long as you did some practice tests to acqaint yourself with the format of the questions, you should do fine. Remember, the anxiety will get you before your lack of knowledge does! I found it actually easier the first time around than the state nursing boards because it was more related to what we do in practice in the ER, rather than obscure nursing theories, etc. Please try and get a good sleep the night before, eat something nutritious a couple of hours before the test, and relax and take it! Let us know how you did!

PattyRNCEN

P.S.

I'm preparing for taking it the 4th time around this November, and of course I'm nervous, but I'm doing some practice tests from the CEN prep manual and hoping for the best. If nothing else, the knowledge you gain from preparing is worth it!

Patty

Lots of questions about prioritizing care, esp disaster/mass casualty incidents vs regular ER triage. The exam really did cover the biggies, i.e. the most common or most critical processes/illnesses- not too many obscure questions. Also seemed like I had a lot of questions on mechanism of action for drugs, but again the more common ones. My old nursing instructor told me to make sure I reviewed organophosphate poisoning and antidote (Atropine) and sure enough there were 2 or 3 questions on that.

Out of the 175 questions, 25 of them did not count, as they are only asked to test questions out for future exams; however, these are randomly scattered throughout the exam. You need 109 correct to pass the test. So many of the questions, I could easily eliminate 2 answers and would have 2 correct answers left and had to try to figure out which was the most correct-so I just stuck with the very basics-ABCs, and I guess that worked out since I passed!! Good luck!