2023 Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) No-Fluff Study Guide:

By Palmer Baldwin

Are you looking to ace your 2023–2024 Certified Emergency Nurse Exam in one sitting? Or are you looking for the perfect guide to learn all about CEN and practice questions to study? If that is the case with you, then look no further because this guide provides answers to your problems.

A certified emergency nurse has already been trained and given a license. She works in an emergency department as part of a team to help people who are very sick. In addition to assisting the doctors with the surgical process on patients, they also help administer drugs and take good care of critically ill patients and those experiencing severe trauma.

This unique study guide is packed with a whole lot of information, including what CEN is all about, what they do, their career options, their likely remuneration, educational requirements, advantages and disadvantages of being a certified emergency nurse, how to apply to take the CEN exam, and much more. You will also learn about several emergencies, such as cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, mental health, and so much more. 

This study guide also has more than 500 CEN questions and well-explained answers, which will help nurses who want to become certified emergency nurses better understand the questions. 

Here is a snippet of what you stand to learn from this guide: 

• Who is a Certified Emergency Nurse?
• What Duties Would I Have as a Certified Emergency Nurse?
• The Purpose of a Certified Emergency Nurse 
• Education Requirements
• Certification
• Career Options
• Medical Assistant
• Remuneration
• Pros and cons of a Certified Emergency Nurse
• Traits of a Successful Certified Emergency Nurse
• Different Emergencies in Nursing
• Cardiovascular Emergencies
• The heart
• Respiratory Emergencies 
• Neurological Emergencies
• Gastrointestinal Emergencies
• Obstetric and Gynecological Conditions
• Genitourinary Emergencies
• Maxillofacial Emergencies
• Wound Care
• Mental Health Emergencies 
• Orthopedic Emergencies
• Environmental/Toxicology Emergencies
• Professional Issues
• Questions and Answers

and lots more 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palmer Baldwin
• Release date: Nov 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215577844

Book preview

Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN)

No-Fluff Study Guide

2023 – 2024 Simplified CEN Guide with Test Questions and Well Explained Answers to Ace Your CEN Exam at a Sitting

––––––––

Palmer Baldwin

Copyright

Copyright © 2022 Palmer Baldwin  

We reserve all of our rights. No portion of this publication may be recreated, distributed, or conveyed in any form or medium, which includes photocopying, documenting, or other mechanical or electronic procedures, without the written consent of the owner, except for brief quotation marks imbedded in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses that are permitted by copyright law. 

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

Who is a Certified Emergency Nurse?

What Duties Would I Have as a Certified Emergency Nurse?

The Purpose of a Certified Emergency Nurse

Education Requirements

Certification

Career Options

Medical Assistant

Remuneration

Pros and cons of being a Certified Emergency Nurse

Traits of a Successful Certified Emergency Nurse

Eligibility Requirements

Test Contents

Taking the Test

Registering for the CEN Exam

Application Fees

Renewal of Certificate

Scheduling Your Exam

What to Expect on the Exam Day

How is the exam scored?

Tips on How to Pass the CEN Examination

CHAPTER TWO

Different Emergencies in Nursing

Cardiovascular Emergencies

The rate of heartbeat

The cardiovascular system

Cardiovascular Disease Patient

Evaluation of cardiovascular system

Involvement of nurses

ECG

Precordial or chest position

Rhythmic troubles

Tachycardia

Atrial fibrillation

Recurrent/Chronic AF

ECG diagnosis

Treatment

Narrow-complex and ventricular tachycardias

Diagnosing VT on an ECG

Involvement of nurses

Commonly Used medicines

Tachycardia with a narrow complex

Therapeutic Alternatives

Adenosine

Cardiac arrest

Cardiac arrest in unique situations

Nursing care after resuscitation

Chest Pain: Common Causes

Chest discomfort that indicates a Cardiovascular Emergency

Assessment and nursing treatments for chest pain

CHAPTER THREE

Respiratory Emergencies

Evaluate Adequate Oxygenation

Cardiac Arrest

Harsh Upper Airway Obstruction

Alteration in Mental Status Due to Shallow Respiration

Tension Pneumothorax

Massive Aspiration

Critical Pulmonary Edema

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Severe Asthma

CHAPTER FOUR

Neurological Emergencies

Stroke

Risk factors for stroke

Symptoms and signs of a stroke

Ischemic Stroke

Stabilize Ventilation

Hemorrhagic Stroke

CHAPTER FIVE

Gastrointestinal Emergencies

Low blood pressure and Shock

Acute Abdominal Emergencies

Toxic Exposures

CHAPTER SIX

Obstetric and Gynecological Conditions

Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding

Pelvic Pain Whether or Not There Is Bleeding

Ectopic Pregnancy

Burst Ovarian Cyst

Ovarian Torsion

Management of the Sexual Offender (Man or Woman)

Pregnancy

Hyperemesis Gravidarum

CHAPTER SEVEN

Genitourinary Emergencies

Oliguria or Anuria

Scrotal Pain

CHAPTER EIGHT

Maxillofacial Emergencies

Airway

Laryngeal Airway Damage

Tracheal Airway Injury

Intubation through a Traumatic Incision

Maxillofacial Trauma

CHAPTER NINE

Wound Care

Hemostasis

Types of Wounds or Injuries

CHAPTER TEN

Mental Health Emergencies

Deliberate self-harm

General principles

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Post-trauma-related stress disorder

Anxiety and panic attacks

Phobias and phobic conditions

Acute Psychosis

Symptoms of psychosis

Depression

Bipolar Disorder

Admission of a patient with a mental condition to the hospital

Admission following the Mental Health Act of 1983

Administration of Obligatory Admission

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Orthopedic Emergencies

Traumatic Amputations

Compartment Disorder

CHAPTER TWELVE

Environmental/Toxicology Emergencies

Control of Specific Toxins

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Professional Issues

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Practice Test Questions

Answers to Test Practice Questions

About the Author

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

Who is a Certified Emergency Nurse?

Emergency nurses, also known as trauma nurses, are trained registered nurses (RNs) or nurse practitioners (NPs) who work as members of the healthcare team for patients suffering from serious illness or trauma. They frequently work in hospitals and medical facilities’ emergency rooms. Registered nurses are typically involved in the initial patient evaluation, performing tasks such as taking vital signs, documenting the patient's medical history, determining whether the patient has allergies, drawing blood samples, and bandaging wounds.

Working closely with doctors to diagnose the patient, analyze clinical tests, and devise a treatment plan, which may involve prescription medicine, more testing, or surgery; NPs in emergency rooms have increased duties.

The Emergency Nurses Association's Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing issues the Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) certificate. In this vein, the American Nurses Credentialing Center offers certification for Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENP-BC) for advanced practice nurses seeking to demonstrate competence in this specialty.

What Duties Would I Have as a Certified Emergency Nurse?

As a certified emergency nurse, you must be well-versed in a variety of topics in order to treat a wide range of patients with varying conditions. You must also be able to make sound decisions while remaining calm under pressure. When a patient arrives, you will not only deal with the medical emergency but also assess the patient's overall health. Because of the nature of acute and trauma care, you may find jobs in various settings, such as emergency rooms, ambulances, helicopters, poison control centers, etc.

Registered nurses are qualified to give prescriptions and handle monitoring devices. In general, you will provide support to the physician or nurse practitioner and monitor the patient's condition. Nurse practitioners are advanced practice nurses with often, increased responsibilities. As a nurse practitioner, you would collaborate with emergency department doctors as well as operate independently to diagnose and treat emergency room patients.

The Purpose of a Certified Emergency Nurse

Emergency nurses care for patients who require immediate, life-saving treatment in emergency rooms. You could work in a stroke, cardiac, burn unit or emergency department. There are varieties of settings available, ranging from critical access hospitals to rural and community institutions.

Education Requirements

Certified emergency room nurses are registered nurses who specialize in delivering rapid treatment to patients with life-threatening injuries, diseases, and other disorders. These nurses must react effectively to a range of medical crises, including respiratory, cardiovascular, and trauma scenarios. They must have a diploma or degree in nursing and state licensure. In addition, they may gain optional professional certification as emergency department nurses.

Furthermore, a certified emergency room nurse must possess a registered nurse certification, which involves completion of a 2- to 4-year nursing school. A registered nursing program may be completed by gaining an associate's degree, a bachelor's degree, or a certificate from an accredited nursing school. Although bachelor's degree programs often provide students with more significant clinical experience. All registered nursing programs include classroom training on essential nursing components, such as anatomy, physiology, nutrition, statistics, microbiology, ethics, and client evaluation. Through clinical experience, aspiring nurses learn to care for newborns, adults, and medically ill patients.

Certification

Students are eligible to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) upon completing a registered nurse degree program. Those nurses interested in specializing in emergency department care may get an extra certification by completing the Emergency Nurses Association's test (ENA).

This exam assesses nurses' knowledge of a variety of emergency department scenarios, such as gastrointestinal crises, neurological emergencies, respiratory emergencies, drug addiction emergencies, and wound care. Furthermore, the ENA offers advanced trauma nursing training as well as certification as a Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse (CPEN).

Nurses must complete their nursing education before specializing as emergency department nurses. After this, nurses may become qualified emergency department nurses by obtaining certification from the Emergency Nurses Association.

Career Options

If you believe that a job as an emergency nurse is too passive for you and would prefer a career that allows for more mobility outside of a hospital setting, consider becoming an EMT or paramedic. Before commencing training as an EMT, you must have a high school diploma or an equivalent degree, as well as CPR certification. On the other hand, paramedics must have advanced EMT and medical proficiency.

After completing their training, EMTs and paramedics must pass the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) exams. Their professional responsibilities includes but are not limited to delivering first aid, transporting patients to trauma centers, and sanitizing equipment.

Medical Assistant

Perhaps an emergency nurse's pay falls short of your expectations. If so, you might want to think about becoming a medical assistant. Although these jobs require a master's degree or higher, the investment you make in your education may be well worth it.

In 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projected that the national mean annual pay for physician assistants was around $89,000. In addition, the employment rate for physician assistants was predicted to increase by approximately 30 percent from 2015 to 2025, which was much faster than the average growth rate for all professions.

To obtain a license, physician assistants are required to pass the National Certifying Examination. Their tasks include performing health examinations, reviewing medical histories, and administering diagnostic examinations, among other official duties.

Furthermore, RNs and NPs may seek employment in non-emergency situations. RNs may choose to specialize as cardiovascular nurses, genetics nurses, neonatology nurses, or addiction nurses, among others. They can also find employment in public health promotion, providing medical screenings and vaccines in community clinics.

Other job opportunities for advanced practice nurses include certified nurse midwives, who specialize in reproductive care, and certified nurse anesthetists, who are trained to deliver anesthesia during surgery and provide pre-and post-operative care. They, like emergency NPs, must have a master's degree and certification in their field.

Remuneration

The projected total compensation for a Certified Emergency Nurse in the United States is $98,868 per year, with an average salary of $81,049 per year. These figures represent the median or the middle of the salary ranges derived from our proprietary Total Pay Estimate model and user-supplied salary data. The projected increase in pay is $17,819 per year. Additional compensation may include bonuses, commissions, tips, and profit-sharing arrangements. The Most Likely Range represents salary figures that fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles of all available salary data for this position. In addition, the annual salary for a Certified Emergency Nurse in the United States is $105,378.

Pros and cons of being a Certified Emergency Nurse

Pros

You will have experience treating patients

People with a wide range of diseases and disorders enter the emergency department daily. As an emergency room nurse, it will be your responsibility to determine which patients have the most life-threatening injuries or conditions. On the bright side, this will provide you with a wealth of knowledge and expertise in dealing with various illnesses.

On a typical shift, an emergency room nurse may treat patients suffering from alcohol poisoning, severe burns, seizures, and heart attacks, among other conditions. This variety of illnesses and conditions makes each day a chance for education. Emergency department nurses have the necessary training and abilities to fulfill their duties, but practical experience is essential.

It is super rewarding

Most nurses would agree that their work is fulfilling, but emergency room nursing takes this satisfaction to a higher level. It is true that nurses are among the bravest and most selfless individuals and that their profession is both psychologically and physically demanding, but they return for every shift. They do it because it provides them with a profound sense of fulfillment. Even though the days are long and the patients might be angry or challenging to deal with, emergency room nurses know that they are enhancing the quality of someone's life and perhaps saving their lives.

You'll be a member of a team

One of the benefits of working in the healthcare industry is that you are hardly ever alone. Cooperation and collaboration are essential to offer the most effective treatment for patients.

You will never feel alone in managing problems as an emergency room nurse. You will instead have the support of your colleagues, including other nurses, doctors, technicians, ambulance drivers, and surgeons.

It is a collaborative effort to provide excellent treatment and prompt patient service. This sense of contributing to something greater than oneself is a factor in the job's satisfaction.

There is less paperwork and more independence

If you despise paperwork and drafting patient reports, emergency room nursing will be a breath of fresh air for you. Although you will be expected to record each patient's health and status, there simply isn't enough time to do such tasks.

Nevertheless, nurses in other areas often manage a great deal of paperwork, which can be a tiresome aspect of the job. Working in the emergency department entails spending less time at a desk and more time on one's feet providing treatment for patients.

Cons

You are always working

Certain people flourish in fast-paced environments and when dealing with numerous people at once. However, this might get tiring even for the most outgoing and enthusiastic individuals.

In general, nurses who work in more tranquil areas, like pediatrics or oncology, have more leisure than emergency room nurses do. The emergency department never slows down, and there is no daily timetable or list of patients expected to arrive.

Instead, each transition brings something new and unfamiliar. It might initially be exhilarating, but it can lead to nursing burnout after some time.

It requires further certification

Even though being a certified emergency nurse is incredibly gratifying, it is not easy. To become an emergency department nurse, you must first have a nursing degree.

The process of becoming one, is challenging and requires further on-the-job training. You could also consider acquiring additional credentials, such as CPEN (Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse) or CTRN (Certified Transport Registered Nurse).

Many certified emergency nurses choose to get a couple of these certifications to better prepare for the job and increase their marketability to employers.

Stressful and may be overwhelming

Emergency room nursing entails maintaining composure for the benefit of patients and their families, no matter how tense the situation is. Observing patients and events in the emergency department may be emotionally taxing, and this might be too much for some individuals to bear. It is not uncommon for emergency room nurses to see patients who have attempted suicide or who have gunshot injuries. Sometimes, there are cases of bomb explosion victims or victims of natural disasters brought in, in large numbers.

Increased responsibility 

Obviously, with autonomy comes more responsibility, and as a certified emergency nurse, it will be your job to complete any unfinished work. You will need to do routine patient checks, replenish supplies and prescriptions, and ensure that you catch up with any patients who have to leave for scans or testing. It's a lot to handle, so the ability to think on your feet and adjust to the present circumstance is essential. Nurses cannot lose time pondering alternative options or searching for another nurse to consult. Under time constraints, an emergency room nurse uses their knowledge, skills, and training to discover appropriate solutions. Is it difficult? Do some nurses experience burnout? Yes.

Others, on the other hand, enjoy working under duress and making a genuine difference in the lives of patients. Be aware that if you want to work in an emergency room, you must be willing to stretch your wings and fly because you will be on your own more often than a regular RN.

Traits of a Successful Certified Emergency Nurse

Every successfully certified emergency nurse must possess some traits that will certify them as a successful emergency nurse. These traits include the following:

Effective Stress Management

According to several studies, at least 65 percent of emergency nursing personnel had moderate stress levels, and more than 20 percent experienced severe stress levels.

The nurses in the emergency department are at the forefront of a patient's route to recovery. They are there when patients suffer from severe medical conditions or catastrophic damage.

In the emergency room, it is the responsibility of nurses and other medical personnel to stabilize patients and preserve their lives. As an emergency room nurse, you must be able to cope with the stress of dealing with worst-case circumstances.

You will be more equipped to operate in an emergency room environment if you maintain a calm disposition, a level mind, and the expertise to relax and deal with emergency circumstances.

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Multitasking Abilities

Depending on the size of the hospital, emergency rooms may see between one and three patients every hour. This is a significant amount, given that every one of these individuals will need adequate care and treatment.

As an emergency room nurse, you must be able to juggle many tasks at once. Although triage may be helpful during the first examination, you should concentrate on improving your ability to multitask by developing skills such as:

Working efficiently

Setting targets

Setting yourself a schedule

Avoid distractions

Comprehensive Knowledge

As an emergency room nurse, you will require expertise in practically every medical specialty. Patients are brought to the emergency ward for various reasons, including but not limited to trauma, shattered bones, internal ailments, and child delivery.

Conduct as much research as possible on various emergency health conditions. Take notes and examine them when you are introduced to a new medical situation, and maintain enrollment in further nursing education classes. All of these may help you handle a range of patients in the emergency room.

Communicative Abilities

As a certified emergency nurse, you must be able to listen to your patient's concerns, appropriately document their health information, and communicate this to the on-call physician.

You must also do all that is necessary to ensure efficient communication with your patient and their relatives. If there is a language barrier, you should always seek translation assistance.

Maintain a level head and do your best to interact with patients who are upset, furious, or hostile. There will be several patients in the emergency room, each with a unique communication style.

Critical Thinking Skills

In the emergency room, everything is possible. Your patients may go from stable to catastrophic conditions within a very short period. It is essential to apply critical thinking abilities to make an educated and informed decision on your patient’s treatment. Possessing critical thinking abilities may assist you and your healthcare team make an appropriate and informed decision.

Capable of Taking Criticism

As a nurse, errors are a question of if, not when. Immediately after making a mistake, you should contact your immediate supervisors to inform them.

Whether it was a prescription mix-up, a failure to provide the correct dosage, or a mistake in the patient's documentation, these are all crucial errors that may put a patient's safety in danger. If you want to work as an emergency room nurse, you must be ready to report and learn from your errors.

If your team provides you with advice on how to enhance your nursing abilities, keep in mind that being an outstanding nurse is a process that lasts a lifetime. Be receptive to criticism to improve your patient care.

Assertiveness

Did you know that one in eight hospitalizations is related to mental illness or drug abuse? Many of these consultations include people with suicidal thoughts. In other instances, individuals may attend an emergency department to be assessed for violent conduct, psychosis, or other conditions that pose a threat to their safety.

Whether working with challenging patients, agitated patients, or upset family members, you must have a commanding presence to offer treatment and also watch out for your safety. An assertive nurse will be able to de-escalate hostile situations and provide leadership for their team in the emergency room.

Endurance and Strength

Emergency room tasks requires physical endurance and stamina. You will be required to stand for at least 12 hours daily, offer care to several patients, sometimes on the floor, and respond to medical emergencies.

In addition, emergency room nurses are required to lift or carry patients. As an emergency room nurse, you must wear comfortable shoes and attire and be willing to engage in strenuous tasks. Being a part of the action and saving lives definitely requires high fitness level.

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Excellent memory

As an emergency nurse, it is essential to have a strong memory, whether it be for remembering patients' food orders, their names, or vital information to relay to incoming shifts.

Fortunately, this ability has several solutions, such as having a notebook on hand (being careful not to record patient identities) or asking other staff members for assistance. You can also increase your memory and avoid memory loss by engaging in regular exercise and social interaction.

True Passion

As an emergency nurse, you will never have an easy day. There will be days of trauma, despair, frustration, and exhaustion.

However, there is no other career quite like becoming an emergency nurse if you have genuine enthusiasm, passion and is also prepared to confront everything it throws at you. 

Eligibility Requirements

A valid, unrestricted registered nursing license is required for CEN test eligibility. To prepare for the certification exam, it is also recommended, although not compulsory, that you have at least two years of emergency care experience. The education requirements for nursing certification are limited to those specified by your state.

Preparation

Some vocational institutions and universities provide CEN examination preparation courses and programs. These typically consist of two full days of lectures and training on emergency circumstances and medical difficulties that emergency care nurses often face. Alternatively, you may opt for institutions that provide online certification preparation classes where you can study at your pace, in addition to getting assistance and support from certified teachers.

Test Contents

The CEN (Certified Emergency Nurse) exam has 175 questions. Twenty-five (25) are pretest questions that do not contribute to your score. The examination is largely a test of your critical thinking skills and focuses on the diagnosis and proper treatment of certain diseases and conditions. It is intended to simulate what you might encounter on a daily basis while working in emergency care.

Exam topics address the following emergencies:

●  Gynecology and labor and delivery

●  Orthopedics and diverse wound types

●  Communicable illnesses

●  Shock

●  Oral and dental trauma

●  Professional conduct

●  Respiratory illnesses

●  Toxic material exposure

●  Cardiovascular problems

●  Psychosocial conduct

●  Gastrointestinal disorders

●  Neurological diseases

Taking the Test

To take the CEN test, you must first register for it online. You must choose a testing location and set your exam date. Bring your proof of eligibility to the testing venue. You will have three hours to finish the complete examination. Before you leave the exam facility, you will get a report indicating whether you passed. You have three months to retake the test if you did not pass the previous one. CEN certification is valid for four years. To keep your certification, you must either pass a certification renewal exam or fulfill continuing education requirements. The renewal exam may be taken online or at a testing location.

Registering for the CEN Exam

Submit Your Application for a CEN

After reading and understanding the CEN eligibility criteria, you are now prepared to submit your application. You will submit your application online, but you must pay in full before you can schedule your test. There are two approaches to this:

Use a credit card detail or a prepaid voucher number to submit payment with your online application for immediate processing.

If using a voucher, you must schedule your test with the voucher number in hand.

Note that online applications and fees are promptly processed, allowing you to arrange your test on the application date. Mail applications may take up to four weeks to complete, and you will not be able to book your test until you get an email confirming your exam eligibility.

Plan/Schedule Your CEN Exam Date 

After receiving your exam eligibility notification, you will see the CEN test dates for test centers and Live Remote Proctoring to schedule your exam. Your exam will be arranged via PSI, the exam administration firm, and may be scheduled at any of their global testing centers.  There are several things to remember, and these include the following:

You must arrange and take the CEN examination within your 90-day testing window, which you will get after submitting your CEN application.

Plan your exam date as soon as possible since test center seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Also, remember that you cannot just stroll in to take an exam; you must plan ahead of time.

There are no reschedule/cancellation fees for candidates who cancel and reschedule their appointments within 48 hours of their scheduled appointment time (this is calculated depending on the time zone of the testing center where the exam is scheduled) and are still within their 90-day eligibility period.

Candidates who do not cancel and reschedule their appointments within these restrictions or who do not appear for their scheduled test will lose the entire exam cost.

Application Fees

The first CEN examination costs ENA members $230. The fee for individuals who are not ENA members is $370.

Renewal of Certificate

There are two ways to renew your certification as a certified emergency nurse, namely:

Recertification through Continuing Education Attestation

Eligibility

●  You must possess an active BCEN certification (CEN, CFRN, CPEN, CTRN, or TCRN) in the program for which you seek recertification.

●  You must possess a valid, unrestricted Registered Nurse license or a nursing certificate that is equal to that of a Registered Nurse in the United States, a US territory, or Canada.

●  You must have completed 100 contact hours of nursing continuing education within the last four years to maintain your certification.

You must have completed 100 contact hours during the current certification term of four years. All 100 contact hours must have been earned on or before the day, you submit your application for renewal through continuing education attestation. Contact hours cannot be earned once an application has been filed, even if the application is completed before the expiry date.

●  Select My Account.

●  Once logged in, click By CE on the left-hand menu next to your certification.

●  Follow the instructions to renew your qualification.

Exam-Based Recertification

Eligibility

●  You must maintain valid certification (CEN, CFRN, CPEN, CTRN, or TCRN).

●  You must possess a valid, unrestricted Registered Nurse license or a nursing certificate that is equal to that of a Registered Nurse in the United States, a US territory, or Canada.

●  If you are recertifying via exam, you may book your exam with BEN's test delivery partner, PSI Exams, as soon as you get the exam eligibility email.

You are required to arrange and take the exam within the 90-day testing timeframe specified in the exam eligibility email.

It is highly recommended that you choose the day you want to take the test and swiftly arrange it with PSI.

Scheduling Your Exam

Schedule and take your BCEN exam within a 90-day timeframe at a testing facility or other suitable location using Live Remote Proctoring.

To do so:

●  Select My Account.

●  After logging in, select By Exam on the left-hand menu next to your credential.

●  Follow the on-screen instructions to arrange your test. 

What to Expect on the Exam Day

The CEN exam is a computer-based certification exam of 175 questions, of which 150 are scored, and 25 are pretest questions. You will have three hours, or a total of 180 minutes, to finish the test. The clock will start as soon as you are seated and provided with the BCEN Examination Rules and Regulations agreement screen.

The Certified Emergency Nurse test is based on specialized nursing role delineation studies (RDS) or practices analysis or job analysis; therefore, you should expect the same on your exam day. Exam committees made up of appropriate subject field experts perform these studies. The test committee distributes survey instruments around the United States to decide which activities and knowledge domains will be included in the exam. As the test is created, item writers will generate questions based on the integration of relevant topics and the distribution of cognitive levels.

The test committee evaluates, revises, and approves questions regularly. These questions may be organized according to the CEN content structure below:

●  Cardiovascular Emergencies (20 Questions)

●  Breathing Emergencies (16 Questions)

●  Neurological Emergencies (16 Questions)

●  Emergencies of the Gastrointestinal, Genitourinary, Gynecologic, and Obstetrical Systems (21 Questions)

●  Mental Health and Medical Emergencies (25 Questions)

●  Emergency Maxillofacial, Ocular, Orthopedic, and Wound Care (21 Questions

●  Environment and Toxicology Seventh Urgent Situations and Communicable Diseases (15 Questions

●  Professional Questions (16 Questions)

How is the exam scored?

Only your performance and the number of questions you successfully answered decide your CEN score. To pass the exam, you must answer 109 of the 150 questions correctly.

Soon after you leave the Pearson VUE testing center, you will get a score report that shows whether you passed or failed the examination. Your score report will also contain your digital image for identification and security reasons. If you passed the test, a certificate and wall card would be sent to you within ten business days of the exam date. 

Tips on How to Pass the CEN Examination

It's wonderful that you've chosen a career in emergency nursing. As you may be aware, passing the CEN Test is required for certification as an emergency room or trauma nurse. The following are some efficient ways for preparing and passing the CEN Exam.

Consider it a marathon, not a sprint

You must consider studying for the CEN Exam like preparation for a marathon. Rarely do distance runners train by running their full distance. Instead, they work out at far shorter distances for longer durations. Try to study like a marathon-training program, with shorter periods of concentration and frequent breaks. Your brain is similarly wired. Learning, learning, and memorization all need the use of short-term memory. This is an established method known as chunking. In cognitive psychology, chunking is the process of combining separate parts of information. Individuals are considered to construct higher-order cognitive representations of list items when they are recognized as a group rather than as individual things.

Identify your study style

Everyone has a somewhat different learning style, and you probably already know yours. If you comprehend ideas best when presented with a visual representation of the information, it may be beneficial to create preliminary drawings. Several YouTube lectures and podcasts cover the exam topic if you are an auditory learner. If you learn effectively via debate, you should form a study group to explore issues together.

Consider your study time as if it were a job 

Would you be able to turn up to work randomly? Of course not. Treat your study time as you would your allocated work hours. Plan your study hours and adhere to them. Too many individuals wait until the conclusion of a hard day or attempt to cram everything in on the weekend. It is rarely an effective study technique. Keep in mind that shorter learning sessions are