UC Davis

Objective

The certified transport registered nurse (CTRN) credential independently validates a registered nurse's advanced knowledge, skills, and abilities in critical care ground transport nursing. After multiple years of mostly modest growth, the number of CTRNs surged in 2020 and 2021 and continues to post strong growth into 2022. The aim of the 2022 Certified Transport Registered Nurse Pulse Survey was to better understand the ways in which CTRN-certified registered nurses value this national ground transport specialty credential and gain insight into factors that may have contributed to the recent surge in CTRN certification.

Methods

The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing e-mailed individuals in its database of CTRN credential holders and invited them to complete an 11-question online survey between March 15 and March 28, 2022. Participation in the survey was voluntary. Sixty-three of 297 verified CTRN holders who received the survey responded for a response rate of 21.2%. The survey instrument included discrete field and open-ended questions. Data were deidentified for analysis, and institutional review board exemption was received. Descriptive statistics were used, and counts and percentages are reported.

Results

The highest percentage of respondents (42.9%) have 10 or more years of experience in ground transport nursing, and nearly half (46%) are employed by a stand-alone transport program. Forty-three percent of all respondents reported that ground transport makes up at least 50% of their current role, whereas one third (33.3%) indicated they do ground transport 100% of the time. Critical thinking (87.5%) in the ground transport environment, confidence as a ground transport nurse (87.5%), and a sense of accomplishment and pride (94.6%) were the top 3 perceived benefits of being a CTRN-certified nurse.

Conclusion

The 2022 CTRN pulse survey identified current CTRN demographics, practice environments, and perceived benefits of the CTRN credential. The findings suggest CTRNs are highly experienced and perceive multiple intrinsic and extrinsic benefits of CTRN certification, many of which are essential to safe, evidence-based nursing practice in the autonomous, complex, and dynamic ground transport environment.