I Am Certified!

As a nurse one must not only have a license, but has to have a large collection of certificates in special areas of one's particular practice. For example, as an emergency nurse I have be competent in ACLS (advanced cardiac life support), ENCP (pediatric trauma), TNCC (adult trauma) and keep these certificates up to date every 2-4 years. Next week I signed up for a non-mandatory class called NRP, or neonatal resuscitation. There is always another class to take or certification to renew. I get paid to take it and it's just good stuff to know even if it isn't mandatory. Last month I took 4 classes for work and was pretty tired by November 1st. Looking forward to not studying for a little while!

The big news is that last Friday I took and passed my CEN, which stands for Certified Emergency Nurse. I studied on my own for three months and it was one of the hardest test I've ever taken. Management had been encouraging me to take it, even though it is recommended that you have 2 years ER nursing experience before taking it (I've only had a little over one). It is also amazing that I passed because the content is in areas of emergency nursing that I never work in, such as the trauma and cardiac room (where the real sicky patients go). I'm not sure yet what having my CEN means, but I'm hoping for a raise! We'll see. I'm not pushy about it because they are going to cover the cost of the test (and it was not cheap!) and I'm just happy to have a job right now. So, I'm pretty proud of myself for passing and hopefully some of the information I studied will stick with me!