Resources

Certification Support Materials

Everything nurses, managers, admins and executives need to succeed.

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Resources Quick Finder

At BCEN, we are proud to offer not just our robust certification exams, but also a vast tool chest of support materials for nurses and their supervisors.

Here you will find quick, easy links to download the information you need — to prepare for your exam, to offer support to your nursing team and to discover the benefits and value of emergency nursing certification. These resources are provided to simplify and optimize the certification journey. We invite you to explore, learn and get ready for certified success!

White Papers

As part of our ongoing commitment to provide information and resources to nurses seeking certification and employers seeking to support certification for their nurses, BCEN is publishing a series of free white papers for emergency nurses, ED leaders, and hospital and health system administrators.

View All White Papers

Digital Informational Flyers

Need straightforward info about the products and services offered by BCEN? These free flyers put all the facts at your fingertips. Simply click to download!

Journey to Certification Kits

Whether you’re a nurse or an administrator, BCEN offers the tools you need to make certified success a reality!

Cover of a booklet titled "Make Your Case" with a profile silhouette, medical icons, and the BCEN Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing logo.

Make Your Case Toolkit

The BCEN Make Your Case Toolkit is a FREE resource available to nurses who want to talk with their administrators about the benefits of certification, and make a case for financial, professional and moral support.

Inside the Make Your Case Toolkit, you’ll find:

  • Facts on the impact of board certification from BCEN on your career, your organization and your patients
  • Information on the certification specialty areas you might be considering
  • Certification timeline, costs, and financial resources
  • Materials to present to your administrator outlining benefits, value and possible cost savings
Cover of a booklet titled “Support Your Nurses Through Board Certification," featuring an illustration of two hands shaking and healthcare-related icons.

Support Your Nurses Toolkit

The BCEN Support Your Nurses Toolkit gives you a research-based overview of the true value of certification, along with materials that will help you encourage and support your nurses while they work to achieve more.

Inside the Support Your Nurses Toolkit, you’ll find:

  • Facts on the impact of board certification from BCEN…on your ED, your patients and your nurses
  • Information on the certifications your nurses might be considering
  • Materials outlining benefits, value and possible cost savings
  • Break room posters to promote the value of certification to your team

Nurse Recognition Kit

Board-certified emergency nurses put in endless hard work and tireless dedication to being the best they can be. This kit is our gift to you. It gives you a toolbox full of shareable elements to recognize and thank your emergency nurses for the work they do in the ED and beyond.

Inside the free kit, you’ll find:

  • Printable posters and flyers
  • Recognition certificates
  • Greeting cards with space to add your own message

Get Your Kit

A collection of colorful posters with motivational messages for nurses, featuring typography, illustrations, and the BCEN logo on a yellow background.

Research

Conducting and sponsoring specialty certification research is a BCEN core value. Featured here are findings from:

  • BCEN’s landmark Value of CEN Certification study
  • Collaborative research on the Emergency/Trauma/Transport Nursing Workforce
  • Pulse surveys of CFRN-certified flight nurses and CTRN-certified critical care ground transport nurses
  • Highlights of BCEN’s 2025 Culture of Certification Support Survey
Presentation slide titled "Value of CEN Certification Research Study: Results," showing hands analyzing charts and a blue bar graph, by HumRRO, dated June 5, 2017.

Value of CEN Certification Research Study

With more than 8,800 emergency nurses and 1,000 of their supervisors responding, this landmark, large-scale BCEN study stands as a definitive study on the value of emergency nursing certification and nursing specialty certification.

View detailed findings as compiled by HumRRO, BCEN’s research partner, plus key highlights.

Read more about the study in BCEN’s white paper for emergency nurses and white paper emergency department leaders.

Infographic summarizes statistics, roles, salary, preparedness, job challenges, and impact related to the emergency, trauma, and transport nursing workforce in the United States.

Emergency/Trauma/Transport Nursing Workforce Study

In partnership with MedEvac Foundation International, BCEN jointly funded and developed this wide-ranging survey of the emergency, trauma and transport nursing workforce with ASTNA, ENA and STN.

View the infographic and executive summary.

Detailed findings are featured in this award-winning Nursing Management article.

Highlights of open-ended responses are featured in Nurse Leader.

First page of a research article titled "The 2022 Certified Flight Registered Nurse Pulse Survey" from the Air Medical Journal, displaying text and author information.

Value of Flight Nursing Certification: The 2022 Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN) Pulse Survey

With nearly 1,000 CFRNs responding, the findings from the first value of CFRN certification study are featured in this Air Medical Journal original research article authored by former flight nurse and AMJ co-editor Jackie C. Stocking, PhD, and BCEN CEO Janie Schumaker.

Survey highlights and comments from AMJ’s co-editors are in this national announcement.

A research article titled "The 2022 Certified Transport Registered Nurse Pulse Survey" published in the Air Medical Journal, featuring authors and an abstract.

Value of Transport Nursing Certification: The 2022 Certified Transport Registered Nurse (CTRN) Pulse Survey

With 21% of CTRNs participating, the findings from the first value of CTRN certification study are featured in this Air Medical Journal original research article, authored by transport nursing expert and AMJ co-editor Jackie C. Stocking, PhD, and BCEN CEO Janie Schumaker.

Survey highlights and comments from AMJ’s co-editors are in this national announcement.

Bar chart showing responses to BCEN certification held: CEN 80.63%, CPEN 16.20%, TCRN 20.06%, CFRN 8.40%, CTRN 3.24%. Total respondents: 2,509.

2025 BCEN Culture of Certification Support Survey

BCEN surveyed over 2,500 board certified RNs across six emergency nursing specialties to understand workplace support for nursing specialty certification and to inform future advocacy and resource development efforts. Read our survey findings to learn what nurses are saying about organizational encouragement, support, incentives, rewards, and recognition for specialty certification.

Practice Exams

Our top test prep tool just got even better. Take a practice exam. Earn CEs.

The same authentic test-taking experience you expect from BCEN now has even more value. When you purchase and take one of our practice exams, you’ll be eligible to earn three CEs.

What sets our practice exams apart from others?

  • Only our practice exams are created by the same organization designing the actual exams (that’s us).
  • We have a committee of nurses and emergency professionals who build our practice exams with the goal of helping you succeed.
  • A BCEN practice exam will help you familiarize yourself with the computer-based format of the real exam.
  • You will be able to answer questions, then have immediate access to the correct answers, backed up with rationale and references.

Take a Practice Exam

Note: BCEN makes no guarantees as to the success of a candidate that has taken a practice exam. Taking a practice exam is not required to be eligible to sit for any BCEN exam.

Virtual Review Courses

Get expert certification prep with BCEN’s online certification review courses! Our CEN, CPEN, and TCRN review courses are based on BCEN’s official exam content outlines to provide an accurate, highly-interactive study experience.

  • 21 accredited CE contact hours
  • Printable Study Guide
  • 175+ Practice Questions
  • Any Device, Any Time Access

Take a Review Course

Note: BCEN makes no guarantees as to the success of a candidate that has taken a BCEN review course. Taking a review course is not required to be eligible to sit for any BCEN exam.

Tackling Test Anxiety

If you’re nervous about taking a BCEN exam, you’re not alone. We’ve put together some answers to your toughest test jitters questions, along with research-backed information on how to handle them. Get tips, strategies and more at the page below.

Overcome Test Anxiety 

 

BCEN Voucher Program

The BCEN Voucher Program is a great way to encourage the nurses in your department to pursue certification. It’s easy to think about all the reasons you “can’t” get certified…but we’re giving you one great reason you can do it! Our voucher program is open to both employers and groups of nurses, and allows you to purchase exam vouchers in bulk at a great discount!

Purchase vouchers, read up on FAQs, and learn more about the benefits of buying in bulk by clicking the button below.

Get Started with Vouchers

Candidate Handbook

Everything you need to know for certified success!

Already know the benefits of certification, but need more information on how the process actually works? Our BCEN Candidate Handbook gives you all the details in one convenient document. Determine your eligibility, read more about each certification and learn about recommendations on experience, skills and more. Plus, discover how to register, purchase and schedule your exam, along with all the facts you’ll need to know for your testing day. Download now and start planning your path to certification.

Check out the Handbook

Take the Next Step Toward Certification

You have the skill. You have the experience. We offer the resources that help you take the next step with clarity.

Talk to a Candidate Experience Specialist