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The CEN is valid for four years, and you can recertify by continuing education or by retaking the
exam. Here’s what BCEN requires.
How long is the CEN valid?
Four years from the date you certify.
Two ways to recertify
Option 1 — Continuing education
Complete 100 contact hours of nursing continuing education within your four-year
period, with at least 75 hours of clinical content specific to emergency nursing (up to
25 may be non-clinical).
Option 2 — Retake the exam
You can also recertify by passing the current CEN exam again.
Plan ahead
Because most of the hours must be clinical and specialty-specific, track your emergency-focused CE as
you earn it — it’s the part candidates most often have to backfill at renewal.
Unlock 2,100+ CEN practice questions across 14 full-length simulators — $19.99 lifetime →
Sources & references
The exam facts on this page are drawn from official certifying-body materials, reviewed 2026-06-18 by the DrCertifications exam-prep team (10+ years in exam preparation and publishing).