Nursing, Nursing RN, Exam Prep
What’s The CEN® Exam Like?
Earning the designation of Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) marks a milestone in your career. You’ll join nearly 40,000 of your colleagues who have passed this challenging test and earned the right to use a valuable credential. Here’s a brief look at some of the questions that may be on your mind about this exam.
The Format
The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN) administers the 175-question computer-based exam, which is given at an independent testing center. To qualify to take the test, you’ll need an unrestricted RN license. While not required, the BCEN suggests at least 2 years’ experience working in the emergency department.
The Questions and Time
You will have 3 hours to finish the exam, including reviewing and agreeing to the rules and regulations. Of the 175 items, 150 are scored and 25 are unscored pretest items. Of the 150 scored items, you have to answer 106 items correctly to pass. To keep track of your time, you can use an onscreen timer that allows you to see how much time remains to complete the exam. If a question is particularly challenging, you can flag that item and come back to it later.
The Setting
Exams are given daily Monday through Friday, and you must have a scheduled appointment. Security will be tight: You won’t be permitted to bring personal items, such as mobile phones, purses or bags, into the testing center, for instance.
Exam Content Outline
Get ready for questions that cover eight broad sections, as outlined below. As you can see, the test covers a wide range of topics, from cardiovascular and respiratory emergencies to environment and toxicology emergencies and communicable diseases. Here are the sections, the number of questions in each section, and some of the topics covered in each section.
| Topic | Number of Questions | Topics (not inclusive) |
| 1. Cardiovascular Emergencies | 20 | Acute coronary syndrome, heart failure, hypertension, trauma, shock, other topics |
| 2. Respiratory Emergencies | 16 | Aspiration, COPD, pneumothorax, pulmonary embolus, others |
| 3. Neurological Emergencies | 16 | Alzheimer’s, meningitis, stroke, others |
| 4. Gastrointestinal, Genitourinary, Gynecology, and Obstetrical Emergencies | 21 | Acute abdomen, hepatitis, pancreatitis, others |
| 5. Psychosocial and Medical Emergencies | 25 | Abuse and neglect, depression, allergic reactions, immunocompromise, others |
| 6. Maxillofacial, Ocular, Orthopedic, and Wound Emergencies | 21 | ADental conditions, glaucoma, amputation, abrasions, pressure ulcers, others |
| 7. Environment and Toxicology Emergencies, and Communicable Diseases | 15 | Burns, overdose, MRSA, others |
| 8. Professional Issues | 16 | Ethical dilemmas, discharge planning, delegation, others |
The Results
After completing the exam, you won’t have to wait for your results as you’ll get your results before you leave the testing center. Your score is based on the number of exam items answered correctly (raw score). It is not based on a curve.
Are You Preparing for the Exam?
Prepare for the CEN exam with Certified Emergency Nurse Q&A Practice. You’ll get access to 300 questions and answers with detailed rationales. You can review by exam category or test yourself with either a 150-question timed test or five 30-question mini tests. Try it free for seven days.
As you study, keep in mind ways you can best approach multiple-choice questions. For instance, be wary when you see words such as “always” or “never.” And make sure to read all the answers before choosing. For more, see 10 Tactics for Multiple-Choice Questions.
Resources
Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing. (2020). Certified Emergency Nurse Detailed Content Outline. Retrieved from https://bcen.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CURRENT-CEN-Content-Outline.pdf
Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing. (2020). Exam FAQs. Retrieved from https://bcen.org/cen/faqs/
The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN®) is the sole owner of the Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN®) certification program. BCEN does not endorse any CEN certification exam review resources or have a proprietary relationship with Springer Publishing Company.