Passed CEN!

Published Sep 19, 2020

43 Posts

Specializes in ER.

I passed my CEN this past July!

When I was studying for it, I found very little resources online about how to prepare the best, what was the best study tool, and how to be sure I passed on my first try. It was not like NCLEX where there was a 1100000 resources out there, so I wanted to share my experience and what helped me succeed.

I started with the ENA online course, and bought that. I went through all the modules, printed out all the pdfs and took notes and made flash cards of stuff I needed to memorize (cranial nerves, anyone?)

I initially was only going to do that, but read some places that it was not enough for people who had taken their CEN, and that the ENA modules didn't cover anything, which seemed odd to me since they are the governing organization.

So, in a panic, I bought an app ($50!) called Nurse Study Prep. I bough the lifetime access version which has 900 practice questions.

I did every single question, all 900.

Now, looking back, I do NOT think it was necessary to buy this app; some of the things on there are not even mentioned in the ENA study guides, and that freaked me out. while I passed the ENA practice test with a 90%, I was getting 50-60% on the app practice tests. Yikes! I was a nervous wreck.

I took my CEN, and passed. And it was MUCH easier than the app's questions and there was soooo much on the app that was not even remotely on the CEN exam.

The one good thing about the app is that many of their questions had references to Sheehy's Emergency Nursing manual. Not all quesitons did, so I only paid attention to the things that did (I have heard that some apps get info wrong).

So, for anyone looking at preparing for their CEN, this is what I would recommend:

-ENA modules, going through all of them and studying from those and then cross-referencing all topics in Sheehy's Emergency Manual. Sheehy's is very thorough, and if there is a subject or something that doesn't make a lot of sense or you want more info on, it's a great tool. I think if I had just done the ENA modules and then read the manual, I would've been fine. I don't think the app helped me all that much.

Anyways, I hope this helps someone!