2025 Edition

Emergency Nurse Certification Test

Take this free Emergency Nurse Certification practice test to give you an idea of the types of questions and sections on your actual CEN exam.
 
 

Cardiovascular Emergencies

1. You have defibrillated the patient in ventricular fibrillation. The appropriate action to take next is:
2. When performing carotid massage, all of the following are true EXCEPT:
3. Common physiological findings with CHF include all of the following EXCEPT:

Respiratory Emergencies

4. The laryngeal airway:
5. You are caring for a 2-year-old child who was brought to the emergency department by his parents with reports of "trouble breathing". A sign of improved respiratory effort is:
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6. A mother rushes her 6-year-old choking child into the emergency department. She states that he was playing with a small toy immediately before the choking incident began. The correct action for this patient is to perform:

Shock Emergencies

7. Which of the following is NOT a warning sign that compensatory mechanisms in a patient in shock are failing?
8. Which of the following is TRUE about shock?
9. For management of septic shock, vasopressors should be administered:

Neurological Emergencies

10. Fibrinolytic therapy should be considered in hemorrhagic stroke.
11. You are caring for a 30-year-old patient who has been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome. Which of the following is NOT an appropriate intervention?
12. Meningitis that is fatal in half of the infected patients is caused by a:

Genitourinary, Gynecological and Obstetrical

13. Priapism can result in impotence.
14. The term used to define uterine bleeding in which there is too much blood loss in a 24-year-old woman is:
15. Placenta previa is common in early pregnancy; most of these early placenta previa cases resolve before delivery.

Medical Emergencies

16. The most common electrolyte in the extra-cellular fluid is:
17. A diabetic patient is brought to the emergency department in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). You would expect the patient to have:
18. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can be spread through hugging, sneezing, coughing, sharing eating utensils and other forms of casual contact.

Gastrointestinal Emergencies

19. Your patient in the ED has been diagnosed with gastroesophogeal reflux disease (GERD). The medication contraindicated for a patient with this disease is:
20. Diverticulosis is a condition that is found in almost all Americans over the age of 80 years.
21. A 6-month-old child is brought to the emergency department with reported sudden onset projectile vomiting. It is a high probability that the diagnosis for this child is:

Maxillofacial and Ocular Emergencies

22. A 12-year-old boy is brought to the ED with epistaxis after being hit in the nose by a baseball. There was no loss of consciousness and no other injury. All of the following are appropriate interventions for this patient EXCEPT:
23. A 65-year-old man presents to the emergency department with complaint of painless visual disturbances including loss of central vision, photopsia, "floaters" and shadows in his vision. The most important intervention for this patient is to:
24. Your patient has been diagnosed with a hyphema. The medication class that is contraindicated for this patient is:

Musculoskeletal and Wound Emergencies

25. A patient is brought to the ED with suspected shoulder dislocation after falling at home. His hand on that side is cooler than the other hand, but pulses are still palpable. He appears to be in severe pain. The most appropriate first intervention is to:
26. Your patient has been diagnosed with a left ankle sprain. On the discharge instructions, the physician has prescribed the RICE protocol. This acronym stands for:
27. A 22-year-old woman presents to the ED with complaint of pain, swelling, and purulent drainage around the site of a recently acquired piercing in her lower lip. Discharge instructions will include all of the following EXCEPT:

Environment and Toxicological Emergencies

28. A patient is brought to the emergency department with multiple bee stings. Which of the following should NOT be done as part of treatment?
29. A child presented to the ED with itchy scalp, irritation of the scalp, and infected areas on the child's head. Assessment reveals lice and nits in the child's hair. Discharge instructions will include:
30. The most common problem associated with a heat inhalation injury is:

Mental Health Emergencies

31. A 35-year-old female patient is brought to the ED with complaint of depression as a result of a recent divorce. She must be evaluated for suicidal ideation.
32. A patient is brought to the ED with complaint of inability to sleep for more than six hours during a 24-hour period. According to the CDC, workers in which industry are most likely to have this problem:
33. The factor most closely associated with a child's risk for autism and schizophrenia is which of the following?

Professional Issues

34. The term used to describe pain that is due to a stimulus that does not normally provoke pain is:
35. A pregnant woman in active labor is brought to the emergency department by the pre-hospital providers. According to EMTALA:
36. Triage of patients in the ED should include PQRST components. This acronym includes:

CEN Practice Exam

Quality starts with who wrote the material.
Our practice exam writer
s
:
Macie Roetting, MSN, APRN, CEN
, has worked in the emergency room for over 10 years.  She has mentored many new nurses and is the trauma liaison in the emergency room.


Jennifer Hulsebus, RN, CEN
, has been a CEN for five years and a registered nurse for over fifteen years. She has worked in the emergency department in four hospitals.


Eileen Johnson, RN, MSN
, a former CEN, is a master’s prepared RN and medical writer. She had over 15 years of experience as a Certified Emergency Nurse and is a former item writer for the CEN exam.

A nurse who wishes to obtain the Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) credential must take and pass the CEN exam which is administered by the Board of Certification of Emergency Nursing (BCEN).

The CEN exam tests your ability to use the Nursing Process within the context of Emergency Nursing. Throughout the test, you can expect to see questions that will test your assessment, analysis, intervention and evaluation knowledge. The CEN exam is composed of 175 multiple choice questions and covers the following twelve areas:

  • Cardiovascular
  • Respiratory
  • Medical Emergencies and Infections
  • Neurological
  • Orthopedics and Wounds
  • Gastrointestinal
  • Genitourinary, Gynecological and Obstetrical
  • Environment and Toxicology
  • Professional issues
  • Shock
  • Maxillofacial and Ocular
  • Psychosocial