Eligibility

The PNCB and BCEN recommend that applicants have two years of full-time experience in pediatric emergency nursing care. Pediatric emergency nursing care as defined by the PNCB and BCEN includes providing direct care, health care facilitation, education, and advocacy for pediatric emergency patients and their families.

However, recognizing that nurses prepare for their role in pediatric emergency nursing in various ways, the minimum* eligibility requirements to apply for the CPEN examination include:

• Holding a current unrestricted license to practice as an RN in the United States or Canada (a nursing certificate equivalent to a RN license in the US is also acceptable), and
• Having practiced at least 1,000 hours* in pediatric emergency nursing practice as an RN in the past 24 months.

* The 1,000 hours in pediatric emergency practice requirement may be obtained through RN practice in any U.S. or Canadian urgent care or emergency setting, and may include providing direct care, health care facilitation, education, and advocacy for patients and families. Examples of ways in which the 1,000-hour requirement may be met include:

• full time employment as an emergency nurse in a pediatric emergency setting for six months,
• full time employment as an emergency nurse in a mixed-age emergency setting for two years with a population of approximately 20 percent pediatric patients,
• part-time employment as an emergency nurse in a pediatric emergency setting, for example, for 20 hours per week for one year, or
• any other combination of practice involving direct care, health care facilitation, education, and advocacy for pediatric patients and their families for a total of 1,000 hours in the past 24 months.

CPEN candidates are required to sign an attestation statement to confirm eligibility. The PNCB and BCEN reserve the right to conduct an audit of the applicant's attestation, and may require that the applicant provide confirmation, for example through agreement of a supervisor (or supervisors), of completion of the practice requirement in pediatric emergency nursing.