Emergency Nurse Certification Board
Certifying Nurses Since 1980
The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing certifies adult and pediatric emergency, trauma, flight, critical care ground transport, and burn nurses. Our board certifications support your clinical practice, career growth, and patient care.
Our Mission
BCEN supports nurses to achieve excellence by being the industry leader in professional credentialing while promoting the value of certification and lifelong learning.
Our Vision
Every patient across the emergency spectrum receives care from a BCEN-certified nurse.
Our Values
- Professional & Clinical Excellence
- Lifelong Learning
- Quality & Integrity
- Leadership
- Diversity & Inclusion
- Innovation
- Collaboration & Community
- Exceptional Customer Service
We Believe the Why Behind What We Do Is as Important as What We Do
Better nurses lead to better patient outcomes, and certification ensures emergency nurses practice at the top of their specialty.
It instills a sense of pride, honor, and fulfillment, resulting in better-functioning, highly efficient EDs, burn units, and transport and trauma programs. BCEN-certified nurses demonstrate excellence, achievement, and impact on every shift, every call, and with every patient.
Providing Certifications That Strengthen Practice and Improve Care
Research shows nurses certified through BCEN report stronger clinical confidence and greater professional pride.
Hospitals with higher certification rates demonstrate better patient, team, and organizational outcomes.
Our credentials contribute to staff retention and create pathways for professional development across emergency specialties.
Empowering RNs Working Across the Emergency Spectrum
Six nationally accredited certifications with guided study tools and recertification support for every career stage.
Enhancing Nursing Professional Development
BCEN supports emergency nurses beyond certification with specialty-specific CE courses, certification review, and practice exams. Staying current with your credentials should be as straightforward as earning them.
Advancing Emergency, Trauma, Transport, & Burn Specialty Practice & Care
BCEN certification sharpens competence in healthcare’s most uncertain, demanding, and dynamic environments.
Nationally Accredited and Magnet-Accepted Specialty Nursing Programs
We offer six specialty nursing certification programs that each strengthen clinical confidence, validate expertise, and open doors to leadership roles and career advancement.
When patients receive care from a BCEN-certified nurse, they’re in the hands of a proven expert committed to delivering safer, more effective emergency care.
Certified Emergency Nurse
The Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN®) is the cornerstone credential for adult/mixed emergency care and ED nursing excellence. It validates the broad clinical judgment RNs need to treat any patient who walks through the door and supports long-term professional growth across the full emergency spectrum.
Certified Flight Registered Nurse
Earning the Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN®) prepares a flight nurse for the complexities of delivering care in flight, whether they are responding to the scene of an accident, a natural disaster, or an inter-facility transfer.
Certified Transport Registered Nurse
Designed for the demands of critical care ground transport, the Certified Transport Registered Nurse (CTRN®) recognizes the skill it takes to care for patients in unpredictable environments, often providing essential support when air transport is not an option.
Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse
From neonatal and infant care all the way through childhood and adolescence, the Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse (CPEN®) prepares RNs to handle pediatric emergencies for every age and stage with expertise and confidence.
Trauma Certified Registered Nurse
Built for trauma nurses providing injury prevention education, prehospital care, acute care, rehabilitation and reintegration into society, the Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN®) validates mastery across the trauma care continuum.
Certified Burn Registered Nurse
The Certified Burn Registered Nurse (CBRN®) validates advanced knowledge and expertise across burn care, including initial management, critical and acute care, patient and family support, and recovery and rehabilitation.
Trusted By More Than
50,000 Civilian and
Military Nurses Globally
With more than 60,000 credentials held across over 25 countries.
BCEN provides award-winning continuing education through BCEN Learn, conducts and funds research that advances specialty practice, and partners with nursing organizations to set industry standards.
Our leadership influences nursing certification standards across all specialties through key roles at ABNS and ABSNC. We recognize outstanding nurses and healthcare organizations that champion nursing specialty certification through national annual awards.
1975-1980
Emergency nursing pioneers, led by Marion Dover, Pam Bourg, Peggy McCall, Vicki Patrick, and Marta Prado, worked to create the first emergency nursing certification despite funding challenges.
July 1980
Over 1,400 nurses took the first Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) exam at 30+ sites across the country. This marked the birth of emergency nursing specialty certification.
1986
BCEN became a separate, independent, not-for-profit corporation dedicated solely to emergency nursing certification.
1993-Present
BCEN launched the CFRN in 1993, CPEN in 2009, CTRN in 2006, TCRN in 2016, and CBRN in 2023, building the most comprehensive portfolio of emergency nursing credentials in the world.
2020s
BCEN launched the BCEN Learn continuing education platform, achieved ABSNC accreditation for all six certification programs, expanded access through live remote proctoring, and continues conducting research that advances specialty practice.
Inclusive, Accessible Certification for All Nurses
Board certification should be accessible to every nurse who pursues it. Our exams are inclusive and non-discriminatory, and success is based on individual drive and determination.
If you have questions about our diversity, equity and inclusion policies or concerns about bias in our exams or procedures, reach out to our team at 1-877-302-2236 or [email protected].
Have Questions About BCEN or Our Certifications?
Whether you’re just starting to explore certification or ready to begin, we’re here to help you understand your options.