Click below to learn more about Certified Nurses Day and the value of nursing specialty certification.
What is Certified Nurses Day? | Why does nursing specialty certification matter?
A Special Message for Consumers, Patients & Families
“When you receive care from a nationally certified emergency, trauma or transport nurse, you know you’re being treated by the best of the best.
Board certified RNs voluntarily go above and beyond their nursing license requirements to master advanced knowledge across their specialty, much like physicians do.
They take a rigorous exam to prove it. And they commit to staying on top of the very latest advances and best practices.
That’s the kind of nursing care we all want and deserve. And that is definitely worth celebrating!”
BCEN CEO Janie Schumaker, a former ER nurse, has been a Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) since 1996. There are more than 40,000 CENs worldwide.
How to Celebrate Certified Nurses Day
Looking for Certified Nurses Day celebration ideas? Here are just a few ways to say “thank you” to the BCEN-certified nurses in your life.
Send a Personal Thank You
Printable Note Card & Certificate
Give a Certified Nurses Day Gift
Shop BCEN Merch
Proud to be Certified!
Here’s what RNs specializing in emergency, pediatric emergency, trauma, flight and critical care ground transport had to say about why specialty certification matters.
“Any specialty certification, by definition, improves patient care. It means you’re an expert who has demonstrated competency and knowledge in your field,” said Jessica Evins, BSN, RN, CPEN, a Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse (CPEN) with NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Emergency Department in New York City. “While pediatric patients make up a small percentage of the overall Emergency Department population, people underestimate the unique challenges of taking care of kids. Having pediatric emergency specialty knowledge is critical, and being a CPEN is the best way to show families that you are as equipped as possible to care for their kids.”
Nick Jazdzewski BSN, RN, CEN, with Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, said: “Quite simply, being a Certified Emergency Nurse makes me a better nurse, and it raises the performance of the team around me. The heightened knowledge I’ve obtained through specialty certification allows me to quickly anticipate changes in patients’ conditions, which means I can intervene sooner, and that gives patients the best chance for positive outcomes.”
Lindsay Schoem, BSN, RN, TCRN, a Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN) with Inova Loudoun Hospital in Leesburg, Virginia, described a thank you letter she received from a trauma patient who had learned what the letters T-C-R-N on her name badge meant: “The patient wrote: ‘I just felt so much more comfortable knowing your expertise was in trauma. I just knew I was going to receive the best care.’”
Education Coordinator and Flight Nurse Caroline Levin, BSN, RN, CEN, CCRN, CFRN, PHRN, a Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN) with STAT MedEvac in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said: “In the dynamic outside-the-hospital environment, being certified in transport nursing means we bring an expertise to patient care that offers an advanced knowledge-informed perspective on diagnosis and treatment to support our patients’ best possible outcomes.”
Celebrating Certified Nurses
Send us a picture of you and your colleagues celebrating 2023 Certified Nurses Day! We just might feature your photo on this page or on BCEN’s social media channels.
Email us at bcen@bcen.org and put “CND 2023” in the subject line. Bonus points for showing your BCEN credentials!
“I put off getting a certification for years. Maybe it was because I was tired after getting two bachelor’s and finishing my ER residency. Then it was I had a couple kids and didn’t feel like studying. But I am so glad I finally did it a few years ago!” wrote Amy Somers, RN, BSN, TCRN, an ER/Trauma Nurse with Texas Health Dallas. “I love explaining what the TCRN stands for on my jacket… I am proud of my certification! It’s never too late to get certified!”
“Happy Certified Nurses Day to all the nurses who raised the bar on nursing specialty credentials by becoming board certified,” said Austin Johnson, BSN, RN, EMT-P, CTRN, a Critical Care Transport Nurse with AdventHealth EMS in Orlando, Florida. “I’m proud of my board certification because it helps me and my patients feel more confident in what I do as a nurse.”
Credentials matter! WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital ED recognizes certified nurses Pat Bria BA, BS, BSN, RN, CEN and Jerry Brenner MSN, RN, CEN, CFRN with special Certified Nurses Day t-shirts.
“Grateful to be acknowledged for having certifications,” Roger Casey, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN shares Certified Nurses Day decorations recognizing his department’s specialty certified nurses.
“Happy Certified Nurses Day to all the nurses out there who went the extra lengths in their careers to get certified,” said flight nurse Stephanie Suzadail, MSN, MA, RN, PHRN, CEN, CFRN, CPEN, CTRN, TCRN, with Geisinger Life Flight in Danville, Pennsylvania. “Certification shows the world you have not only the knowledge and competency in your specialty, but also a passion for it.”
