Specialized care is required for patients with burn injuries, and when nurses master the knowledge and skills to treat burns, including injury recovery and rehabilitation, they help to ensure optimal patient outcomes.
The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing, after collaborating with the American Burn Association, recently announced it is developing a burn nursing specialty certification. The new professional credential will be called the Certified Burn Registered Nurse (CBRN).
“Following years of extraordinary advocacy by the American Burn Association and the burn nursing community to set the stage for a burn nursing-specific professional credential, and knowing the impact specialty certification has on ensuring optimal patient safety and outcomes as well as nurse success and satisfaction, BCEN is honored to take on this important endeavor,” BCEN CEO Janie Schumaker said.
Among the ABA-led steps leading up to the development of the certification was the formal recognition of burn nursing as a specialty. The American Nurses Association did so in August 2020 with the publication of Burn Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice.
The certification recently gained traction thanks to a large-scale burn nurse survey that runs through April 15. This survey was developed and sent to burn nurses throughout the world and will help shape the examination. The goal is to look at the scope of practice of a burn nurse, including:
- Prehospital and acute care
- Patient and family support
- Recovery and rehabilitation
- Educational outreach
Burn nurses interested in participating in the survey can contact BCEN director of certification and accreditation Amy Grand, MS, RN, at agrand@bcen.org.
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