CHPN Exam Guide 2026: HPCC Eligibility, Content Outline, Pass Rates, and Practice

Last updated May 6, 2026. Official sources checked: HPCC CHPN credential page, HPCC Certification FAQ, HPCC Scaled Scores FAQ, HPCC Exam Statistics, HPCC Live Remote Proctoring, and HPCC reTEST Assured.

The Short Answer

The Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse (CHPN) exam is HPCC's specialty certification for experienced hospice and palliative registered nurses. It is not an entry-level nursing test. It assumes you can prioritize care for patients with serious illness, manage pain and complex symptoms, support families, communicate goals of care, and apply hospice/palliative practice standards under ethical and regulatory constraints.

HPCC lists two core eligibility requirements: a current active RN license in the United States, U.S. territories, or equivalent in Canada, plus hospice and palliative nursing practice of 500 hours in the most recent 12 months or 1,000 hours in the most recent 24 months before applying.

The CHPN exam has 150 multiple-choice items and 3 hours for completion. HPCC's exam statistics page reports the 2025 CHPN first-time pass rate as 69.3% and total pass rate as 66.8%. HPCC uses scaled scores; the minimum passing scaled score is 75, which is not the same as a percent correct.

free CHPN practice questionsPractice questions with detailed explanations

CHPN Exam Snapshot

Eligibility And Application Timing

HPCC's CHPN page lists four annual windows. Applications open about three months before each window and close on the 15th before the testing month:

Do not buy an HPNA membership after submitting the exam application if you want the member discount. HPCC states the membership must be purchased before submitting the application.

CHPN Content Outline

The CHPN exam is built around five practice domains. Use the scored-item counts as your study map:

Symptom management, support/education, and practice issues together represent more than 60% of the scored items. Pain management is also high yield and clinically dense. Assessment is smaller, but it drives the first step in many scenarios.

How CHPN Questions Think

CHPN items usually ask for the best next nursing action, not the textbook definition. Expect scenarios with incomplete information, family distress, medication tradeoffs, ethical tension, and patient goals that may differ from family goals.

A strong CHPN answer usually does one of five things:

• Assesses before intervening when the question lacks essential data.
• Aligns care with patient goals and hospice/palliative philosophy.
• Treats distressing symptoms without abandoning safety and reassessment.
• Educates caregivers in language they can use at the bedside.
• Escalates to the interdisciplinary team when a plan needs coordinated support.

10-Week CHPN Study Plan

Weeks 1-2: Assessment and hospice foundations. Review eligibility, trajectories, admission priorities, decline signs, imminent death, goals-of-care communication, interdisciplinary planning, and documentation.

Weeks 3-4: Pain management. Study opioid selection, equianalgesic thinking, breakthrough dosing concepts, renal/hepatic considerations, adjuvant analgesics, nonpharmacologic care, bowel regimens, sedation risk, and reassessment.

Weeks 5-6: Symptom management. Drill dyspnea, delirium, nausea/vomiting, constipation, terminal secretions, fatigue, anorexia/cachexia, wounds, anxiety, depression, and emergency symptom calls.

Weeks 7-8: Support, education, advocacy, and practice issues. Practice family teaching, caregiver burden, grief, spiritual distress, cultural humility, ethics, advance directives, DNR/POLST, scope, boundaries, and quality issues.

Weeks 9-10: Timed mixed practice. Take two timed sets. Review misses by domain and by reasoning error: assessment missed, wrong priority, medication safety, ethics, communication, or hospice benefit/regulatory issue.

Test-Day And Remote-Proctoring Notes

HPCC offers PSI test centers and live remote proctoring. For live remote testing, HPCC says to complete the system check, use a dependable device with webcam, use a private location, keep a clean desk, show government-issued ID, and complete a 360-degree room scan. HPCC also notes that one scheduled break is offered beginning March 2026, but you cannot access previous questions after the break.

If remote testing adds stress, choose a PSI test center. If travel adds more stress, use live remote proctoring but test your computer and internet before the deadline.

Mistakes That Cost Points

• Treating the scaled score of 75 as a simple 75% raw score. HPCC says scaled scores are not percentages.
• Studying only pain pharmacology and underpreparing caregiver education, ethics, and practice issues.
• Choosing hospital-transfer answers before checking patient goals, hospice plan, and symptom-control options.
• Missing reversible causes of agitation, dyspnea, or confusion when the question asks for assessment priority.
• Forgetting family teaching during active dying, especially normal breathing changes, mottling, intake decline, and comfort goals.
• Buying reTEST Assured or HPNA membership without checking timing and eligibility rules.

Official Links

• HPCC CHPN credential page
• HPCC Certification FAQ
• HPCC Scaled Scores FAQ
• HPCC Exam Statistics
• HPCC Live Remote Proctoring
• HPCC reTEST Assured

Practice With OpenExamPrep

OpenExamPrep's CHPN practice testPractice questions with detailed explanations