World’s First Burn Nursing Specialty Certification Now Available

The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN) launched the world’s first Certified Burn Registered Nurse (CBRN) burn nursing specialty certification. To earn the CBRN credential, eligible RNs and APRNs must pass a rigorous national exam spanning the burn nursing continuum, including prehospital care and initial management, acute and critical care, post-acute rehabilitation, outpatient and community care, and aftercare and reintegration, as well as injury prevention, education, and psychosocial patient and family support.

“At last, tremendously skilled and compassionate burn nurses worldwide have the opportunity to have their advanced clinical and professional knowledge and expertise validated through board certification,” says CEO Janie Schumaker, MBA, BSN, RN, CEN, CENP, CPHQ, FABC. “The best possible thing a burn patient could have is a CBRN-certified nurse taking care of them.”

Nurses play critical roles in every aspect of burn care and recovery, and research links burn care specialty expertise to improved outcomes in patients with burn injuries.

In a new burn nursing video, burn nurse experts and American Burn Association (ABA) leadership comment on the development and future impact of BCEN’s CBRN certification program.

Burn injuries significantly cause disability and death, affecting all ages.

In the U.S., over 400,000 seek medical treatment for burn injuries annually, with 40,000 hospitalizations, including 30,000 at hospital burn centers, and over 3,800 deaths.
Worldwide, there are approximately 11 million burn cases and 180,000 deaths annually.
Learn more about burn injuries, care, and burn nursing in Burn Nursing Excellence: The CBRN.

Eligible nurses with a U.S. RN or APRN, or equivalent, may apply to sit for the CBRN exam here. Nurses educated or licensed outside the U.S., Canada, or Australia must first go through BCEN’s international credential evaluation process. BCEN offers exam discounts to ABA members, U.S. military active-duty service members, reservists, and veterans. Volume discounts are available through the BCEN Voucher Program. A CBRN practice exam and interactive burn nursing CE courses are available on the award-winning BCEN Learn professional development platform.