CTRN case studies
CTRN · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Certified Transport Registered Nurse (CTRN®) is a specialty nursing credential awarded by the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN). BCEN describes the CTRN as the foundational nursing specialty certification for RNs working at transport programs and across the emergency spectrum, and as the only certification built specifically for ground transport nursing - a deliberate contrast with the flight-focused CFRN®. The CTRN case studies are 5 cases and about 4,569 words.
1ARDS at 8,000 Feet: Accepting the Unpressurized Aircraft
Your fixed-wing team is asked to move a 58-year-old man with influenza-associated ARDS from a 25-bed critical access hospital to an ECMO center 240 miles away. He was intubated 36 hours ago.
865 words, about 4 min2Septic Shock, Two Vasoactives, One Syringe Pump
A 71-year-old woman with urosepsis from an obstructed kidney is accepted by a tertiary ICU 75 minutes away by ground ambulance. Referring ED vitals: BP 78/44, HR 128 in sinus tachycardia, temp 38.9 C, GCS 14, urine output 10 mL/h, lactate 7.4 mmol/L.
960 words, about 5 min3Hemorrhagic Shock With a Head Injury: Which Blood Pressure Do You Defend?
A 34-year-old motorcyclist with a grade IV splenic laceration is being transferred 60 minutes by helicopter from a critical access hospital to a level I trauma center. In the referring ED he received 4 L of lactated Ringer's.
994 words, about 5 min4Wake-Up Stroke in the Air: tPA Questions and a Blood Pressure Demand
A 68-year-old right-handed woman with a right middle cerebral artery syndrome - left hemiplegia, left neglect, gaze preference, NIHSS 19 - is being flown 40 minutes to a thrombectomy center. Her daughter found her at 06:30 with symptoms and last saw her normal at 22:00 the night before.
721 words, about 4 min5A Valid POLST, a Demanding Son, and a Hospice Line on Hold
You are dispatched at 02:10 to a home for a 79-year-old woman with metastatic pancreatic cancer and a valid state POLST form documenting 'Do Not Attempt Resuscitation' and 'comfort-focused treatment only - no transport.' She is cachectic, drowsy, with a respiratory rate of 36, SpO2 82% on room air, and loud gurgling respirations. She will squeeze your hand but cannot answer yes or no reliably.
1,029 words, about 5 min