Awards & Scholarships

Distinguished CEN Award

• Honors a Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN)

• 2024 Winner
  

  Tina Owens

  BS, RN, CEN, CCRN, CRSN, CNML, MEDSURG-BC, NHDP-BC Buchanan General Hospital, Grundy, VA

  About Tina

  For over 40 years, Tina has been a nurse at Buchanan General Hospital, a stand-alone rural hospital in southwest Virginia. After being encouraged to earn the CEN by her nurse manager and mentor over 30 years ago, she has strived to pass it on by being a mentor for other nurses. When patients or nursing students ask Tina what CEN stands for, she proudly says: “The Best of Care.”

  From her bachelor’s degree thesis on the Utilization of Clinical Ladders to Build Strength and Confidence—with specialty certification being the key way to provide patients and families with validation that the nurse caring for them has demonstrated experience and knowledge in their specialty—to actively petitioning and working with her CEO and CNO for administration support of certification, Tina has epitomized Certified Emergency Nurse excellence and advocacy. As a result,  emergency and critical care nurses at BGH now enjoy robust encouragement and facility-provided financial support and incentives for specialty certification, and her colleagues credit her with impacting the culture of healthcare in their community.

  Read more about Tina in our Meet the Winner interview.

• Previous Winners

  2023
  Calee Muldrow, BSN, RN, CEN
  Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, Dallas, TX

  2022
  Nicholas Jazdzewski, BSN, RN, CENFroedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee, WI

  2021
  Heidi Cote, BSN, RN, CEN, CPEN
  Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME

  2020
  Jude Lark, BSN, RN, CEN, CCRN
  Overlook Medical Center, Summit, NJ

  2019
  Heather Linsalata, BSN, RN, CEN
  University Hospital, Newark, NJ

  2018
  Wilmar Flores, BSN, RN, CEN
  La Jolla Emergency Department, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Health Systems, La Jolla, CA

  2017
  Kathy Ingersoll, BSN, RN, CEN
  Harford Memorial Hospital, Havre de Grace, MD

  2016
  Kara Bauman, MN, RN, CEN, CPEN, TCRN
  Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, Falls Church, VA

  2015
  Diane Branson, RN, CEN, OR-SANE-A
  Salem Hospital, Albany, OR

Distinguished CPEN Award

• Honors a Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse (CPEN).

• 2024 Winner
  

  Jordan McAdam

  BSN, RN, CPEN Northern Navajo Medical Center, Shiprock, NM

  About Jordan

  Before the COVID pandemic, Jordan identified the need to improve pediatric response in her rural, 60-bed hospital when completing the facility’s EMSC Pediatric Readiness scoring. She started by taking and passing the CPEN exam herself, and then mentoring other nurses to do the same while working with leadership to ensure the availability of pediatric educational content and funding for certification.

  In her role as Pediatric Emergency Care Coordinator (PECC), Jordan lead efforts that saw the pediatric readiness score jump from 64 to 96 within a 3-year period, and the Northern Navajo Medical Center (NNMC) became the first in New Mexico to be recognized as Pediatric Ready by the New Mexico Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) and the University of New Mexico Child Ready Program. NNMC has one of the largest patient volumes in the Navajo Area Indian Health Service (NAIHS), which collectively delivers health services to over 244,000 American Indians in five Federal service units on and near the Navajo Nation.

  As her nominator wrote: “Jordan exemplifies what a certified nurse should be—an example of excellence, a mentor, and a champion for patient care.”

  Read more about Jordan in our Meet the Winner interview.

   

• Previous Winners

  2023
  Dawn Tasche, BSN, RN, CPEN
  Aurora Health Care in Sheboygan County, Sheboygan, WI

  2022
  Jessica Evins, BSN, RN, CPENin NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, New York, NY

  2020
  Lisa Chambers, MSN, MPS, RN, CEN, CPEN, TCRN
  CHOC Children’s Hospital, Orange, CA

  2019
  Cara Szeglin, BSN, RN, CPEN
  New York-Presbyterial Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, New York, NY

  2017
  Jodi Cregger, RN, MICT, CEN, CFRN, CPEN
  LifeTeam, Hutchinson Regional Medical Center, Hutchinson, KS

  2016
  Brian Johnson, RN, CEN, CPEN
  NorthBay Medical Center, Fairfield, CA

  2015
  Kristen Cline, BSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, SANE-A
  Sanford AirMed, Sioux Falls, SD

Distinguished CFRN Award

• Award honors a Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN).

• 2024 Winner
  

  Tyler Reeves

  RN, NRP, CFRN, CEN EagleMed, Great Bend, KS

  About Tyler

  Tyler began his nursing career in the ED of a small critical care access hospital in rural Kansas. His experience as an emergency nurse in a rural hospital gave him what he needed to pursue his dream job of flight nursing. After years of working in the ED, he accepted a job as a flight nurse with EagleMed flying on fixed wing aircraft, earned his CFRN, and then moved over to a new EagleMed rotor base in his hometown. Today, he serves as a clinical coach and the QA coordinator for that base.

  Through mentoring and clinical coaching, Tyler has oriented many new clinicians to flight medicine, incorporating CFRN content into their onboarding education to show them how to model their care and teach them best practices standards and then apply these in real patients in the flight environment. He makes himself available during work hours and after hours to answer questions and guide and share his vast collection of study materials as colleagues prepare to sit for the CFRN.

  To encourage and support crew members in maintaining their certifications, he extends invites to the many conferences he attends because, as he says, “Education is more enjoyable with friends.” He credits his own clinical coach who always put a heavy emphasis on advanced certification, and his coworkers, for their great help in their mutual educational journeys.

  Read more about Tyler in our Meet the Winner interview.

• Previous Winners

  2023
  Stacey Dock, MSN, RN, CFRN
  LifeFlight Eagle, Kansas City, MO

  2022
  Abigail Harvey, BSN, RN, CFRN, NREMT-PLutheran Health Network, Fort Wayne, Indiana

  2021
  Kevin Kissner, MSN, RN, CEN, CFRN
  VCU Health & Virginia State Police Med-Flight I , Richmond, VA

  2020
  Tonya Barnard, BSN, RN, CEN, CFRN, CPEN, CTRN, TCRN, CCRN, EMT-B
  Pafford Air One, Orlando, FL

  2019
  Carlos Tavarez, RN, CEN, CFRN, CTRN, TCRN, NREMT-P, FP-D, CCEMT-P, EMT-T, WEMT
  Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center, Orlando, FL

  2018
  Teresa Elder, MEd, BSN, RN, CFRN
  Flight for LIfe Colorado, St. Anthony Hospital, Denver, CO

  2017
  Bambi Pish-Derr, DNP, CFRN, CCRN
  Angel MedFlight, Scottsdale, AZ

  2015
  Mick McCallum, TNS, RN, CFRN, CCRN, EMT-P, FP-C, CMTE
  Topeka, KS

Distinguished CTRN Award

• Award honors a Certified Transport Registered Nurse (CTRN).

• 2024 Winner
  

  Austin Johnson

  BSN, RN, EMT-P, C-NPT, CBRN, CCRN, CEN, CFRN, CPEN, CTRN, TCRN AdventHealth Orlando, Orlando, FL

  About Austin

  Lauded by AdventHealth Orlando for his “exceptional whole person patient care, his innovative approaches to critical care transport, and his unwavering dedication to his team” in his role as a Critical Care Transport Nurse, Austin’s dedication extends beyond his practice and support of his colleagues to industry forums, on social media and podcasts, and in his community.

  From discussing his love of transport nursing to celebrating workplace colleagues every Certified Nurses Day to sharing educational opportunities and resources to countless emergency nurses in every subspecialty to helping nurses succeed in their daily practice and career choices, he helps aspiring and more established nurses alike whenever and however he can.

  His main message, as he says, “always boils down to being proud of yourself and our profession. By setting the goal of certification and achieving it, you make yourself the best version of you possible.”

  Read more about Austin in our Meet the Winner interview.

• Previous Winners

  2023
  George Olschewski, BSN, RN, CFRN, CTRN, CEN, TCRN
  Hackensack University Medical Center Specialty Care Transport Unit, Hackensack, NJ

  2022
  Mackenzie Alexander, BSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, CTRN, CPENHarris Health System, Houston, Texas

  2016
  Kimberly Lacina, MSN, ARNP-C, CTRN, CEN, EMT-P
  Sunstar Paramedics, Largo, FL

Distinguished TCRN Award

• Honors a Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN).

• 2024 Winner
  

  Jamin Rankin

  BSN, RN, CEN, CFRN, TCRN, CPEN, CTRN Ochsner LSU Health Monroe Monroe, LA

  About Jamin

  According to his colleagues at Ochsner LSU Health System and his industry peers, Jamin doesn’t just talk about certification in his professional field, he lives it every day. As a trauma program manager at a busy urban hospital, he led his facility to become a verified and state-designated trauma center, and has established different methods to maneuver well between pre-hospital and in hospital at all levels to improve communication and patient outcomes. He also organizes regional Rural Trauma Team Development Courses and serves as faculty. Locally, regionally, and nationally, he’s led, facilitated and/or helped secure funding for numerous traumatic and pediatric emergency courses for nurses and other healthcare professionals and on injury prevention topics for citizens of all ages in his local community.

  When he is introduced using the different certifications he holds, including the Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN), he invariably mentions to the audience that the prep work for the exam, sharing the knowledge, and reflecting the professionalism of certification on one’s resume is where the value lies.

  Read more about Jamin in our Meet the Winner interview.

• Previous Winners

  2023
  Jordan Tyczka, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN
  Inova Loudoun Hospital, Leesburg, VA

  2022
  Shayna Stevens, BSN, RN, TCRNTexas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano, Plano, TX

  2021
  Julie Donnelly, MSN, RN, TCRN
  Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA

  2020
  Lt. Mariah Pruett, NC, BSN, RN, CEN, CFRN, CPEN, TCRN, CCRN
  David Grant USAF Medical Center, Fairfield, CA

  2019
  Travis Beebe-Woodard, BSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, TCRN
  University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT

  2018
  June Guadalupe, MSN, BSN, RN, CEN, CCRN, CMC, CNRN, TCRN 
  R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD

  2017
  Andrea Wright, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN
  Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital Level I Trauma Center, Roanoke, VA

National Certification Champion Award

BCEN’s National Certification Champion Award recognizes health care facilities and health systems that:

• Exemplify excellence in supporting emergency RNs who pursue BCEN certifications
• Show achievement in designing and implementing effective and innovative practices and programs that encourage, support, and recognize emergency nursing specialty certification
• Demonstrate the impact of a board certified emergency nurse workforce on patient, nurse and organizational outcomes

Nominations open June 1, 2024. Add to Calendar

One national winner will be recognized in each of the following categories:

• Small Healthcare Organization: single hospital emergency department, trauma program or freestanding emergency center with less than 30,000 visits per year, or a single critical care ground transport and/or flight base
• Large Healthcare Organization: single hospital emergency department, trauma program or freestanding emergency center with more than 30,000 visits per year
• Healthcare System: a group or system of 2 or more hospital emergency departments, trauma programs, freestanding emergency centers, or critical care ground transport and/or flight bases

Eligibility Requirements 

To be eligible for the National Certification Champion Award, a facility or organization must:

• Currently employ BCEN-certified emergency, transport and/or trauma nurses
• Be actively engaged in supporting their nurses in obtaining and maintaining one or more of BCEN’s certifications
• Serve as a model for advancing board certification for the nursing profession

Nomination Requirements

In order to be considered, nominations must include the following:

• Completed nomination form
• Two (2) letters of reference from individuals with relevant professional positions or qualifications

Healthcare System

• 2023 Winner
  

  RWJBarnabas Health Emergency Departments

  Throughout New Jersey

  RWJBarnabas Health—whose 13 EDs and over 1,400 emergency nurses serve over 2 million patients per year—is extremely supportive of all nurses pursuing certification. That support has created a “CEN buzz” and buoyed the ED RN certification rate from 18% to nearly 25% in 12 months.

  When ED RNs start work, the concept of BCEN certification is introduced as a goal. Free Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) review courses are offered to all EDs. Because the course was developed internally and ED Clinical Nurse Educators take turns teaching, no additional funding was required, and it promoted a collaborative effort across the health system. Discounted exam fees through BCEN Voucher purchases, advancement and leadership opportunities, mentorship and unconditional support are also keys.

  Reinvigorating Emergency RNs Post-Pandemic: “We are finding that the staff are energized and excited about their accomplishments. There is an increased ED RN engagement in the RWJBH system.”

  The focus on professional development is “leading the RWJBH ED RNs back to their love of and commitment to emergency nursing, and … this is great for our patients.”

  The Bottom Line: “Certification is one of the keys to helping our nurses truly be the best that they can be.”

  Read our Meet the Winner interview with RWJBarnabas Health.

• Previous Winners

  2022
  Centura Health
  Centennial, CO

  2020
  Life Link III
  Minneapolis, MN

  2019
  Northeast Georgia Health System  
  Gainesville, GA

  2018
  UCHealth Emergency Care  
  Fort Collins, CO

Large Healthcare Organization

• 2023 Winner
  

  Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital

  Roanoke, VA

  At Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, the BCEN certification rate among full-time staff within the ED, air medical transport program, and trauma-designated in-patient care areas is 29% and growing.

  A Culture of Excellence: Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital supports nurses in achieving specialty certification through continuing education, a clinical advancement program, exam preparation classes, and coverage of expenses for travel, lodging and exam fees. Recognition includes bonuses for initial certification and renewals, unit-level celebrations, and system-wide intranet “WOW Wall” posts.

  Homegrown Innovation: A home-grown, nurse-led TCRN Study Group was created to provide a safe space for nurses to learn more in-depth trauma care. The internally led, biweekly group covered a wide array of trauma topics over seven months, after which 14 nurses signed up to sit for the TCRN exam. As a result, there has been a 500% increase in TCRN certifications, with a 133% increase in certified nursing staff within the trauma PCU alone.

  Sparking Systemic Success: Can an organized program that provides directed education to a specific group of nurses improve the success of those nurses in completing the certification journey? Yes, it can! And based on the success of the TCRN Study Group, leadership is supporting additional study groups to support certification across units.

  Read our Meet the Winner interview with Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

• Previous Winners

  2022
  Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital Emergency Center
  Houston, TX

  2021
  Yale New Haven Hospital
  New Haven, CT

  2020
  University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital   
  Plattsburg, NY

  2019
  Oak Hill Hospital  
  Brooksville, FL

  2018
  Chilton Medical Center 
  Pompton Plains, NJ

  2017
  Houston Methodist Hospital System 
  Houston, TX

  2016
  Avera McKennan Hospital Emergency Department
  Sioux Falls, SD

  2015
  Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital EMTC
  Indianapolis, IN

Small Healthcare Organization

• 2023 Winner
  

  WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital

  Ephrata, PA

  For a small community hospital treating 29,000 patients annually, WellSpan Ephrata’s is making big strides in increasing the number of certified nurses—leading to improved patient outcomes, increased nurse retention, higher levels of accuracy, and an elevated commitment to ethics and safety.

  Removing Financial Barriers: WellSpan Ephrata reimburses exam and recertification fees, provides free CEN review courses plus online CEs and review courses focused on the CEN, CFRN and TCRN, and offers flexible scheduling and paid time off for exam preparation and recertification.

  Leadership Opportunities: Certified nurses lead in the ED as preceptors, triage nurses and charge nurses, modeling best practices and professionalism, and also training and orienting nursing students, new nurses and transferring nurses. They also provide informal and formal education to colleagues across the hospital.

  Championing Patient and Community Awareness: WellSpan Ephrata promotes the value and benefits of certification to patients, families and the community. By identifying certified nurses on their badges, and celebrating their achievement in the hospital and on social media, patients regularly ask what being a certified nurse means. This gives nurses the opportunity to share how certification benefits the patient, the nurse, the hospital, and the community.

  Read our Meet the Winner interview with WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital.

• Previous Winners

  2022
  Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Centennial Emergency Department
  Frisco, TX

  2020
  Childress Regional Medical Center
  Childress, TX

  2019
  Rush Foundation Hospital ED
  Meridian, MS

  2018
  USC Verdugo Hills Hospital
  Glendale, CA

  2017
  Bristol Hospital
  Bristol, CT

  2016
  Angel MedFlight
  Scottsdale, AZ

  2015
  IU Health Saxony Hospital Emergency Department
  Fishers, IN