CHPLN Certification

What CHPLN Certification Is

The Certified Hospice and Palliative Licensed Nurse (CHPLN) credential is a specialty certification for LPNs and LVNs who work in hospice and palliative care settings under RN supervision. It's awarded by the Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC), while the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) serves as the affiliated professional association and a source of preparation resources. The examination itself is administered by PSI, either at a physical test center or through live remote proctoring for candidates who prefer to test from home or office.

CHPLN exists to formally recognize licensed nurses who have accumulated substantial hands-on experience managing end-of-life symptoms, comfort measures, and family support under supervision, distinguishing them from generalist LPN/LVN roles. If you're still getting oriented to the basics of the credential, our overview at What Is CHPLN? and the plain-language breakdown in CHPLN Meaning are good starting points before diving into exam mechanics.

Eligibility Requirements

Before you can sit for the CHPLN exam, HPCC requires two things: an active, unrestricted LPN or LVN license valid in a U.S. state or territory, and documented practice hours in hospice or palliative nursing performed under RN supervision. Specifically, candidates need either:

• 500 hours of hospice or palliative nursing practice in the preceding 12 months, or
• 1,000 hours of hospice or palliative nursing practice in the preceding 24 months

There is no minimum years-of-licensure requirement beyond holding the license in good standing, but the hours requirement means candidates typically need to be actively working in the specialty rather than recalling experience from years past. For a full breakdown of documentation, license verification, and how HPCC checks these hours, see CHPLN Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.

Exam Format and Question Style

The CHPLN exam is a closed-book, computer-based test consisting of 150 four-option multiple-choice questions. Of these, 135 are scored and 15 are unscored pretest items being evaluated for future exams - candidates cannot tell which is which, so every question should be treated as if it counts. You get three hours to complete the full exam.

Scoring uses a scaled range of 200 to 800, and you need a scaled score of at least 500 to pass. This is not a raw percentage-correct cutoff; the scale accounts for slight difficulty variance between different question sets. For a full explanation of how the scaled score works and what it means in practice, read CHPLN Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.

Questions on the CHPLN exam are scenario-based rather than pure recall. Expect clinical vignettes describing a hospice or palliative patient's symptoms, family dynamics, or care plan status, followed by a question asking what the nurse should do, assess, or communicate next. This format tests applied judgment specific to the LPN/LVN scope of practice under RN supervision, not just textbook facts.

The Seven Exam Domains

The 2026 CHPLN content outline, published in the December 2025 candidate handbook, is based on the 2019 job analysis and organizes the 135 scored items across seven domains. HPCC has separately posted a distinct outline for the 2027 exam year, so make sure any study materials you use reference the correct year.

For a deeper dive into every subtopic and sample scenarios per domain, see CHPLN Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 7 Content Areas.

Fees, Testing Windows, and Deadlines

CHPLN uses tiered pricing depending on HPNA membership status. Initial examination fees are $260 for HPNA members and $365 for nonmembers. If you don't pass on your first attempt, the one-time reTEST Assured option costs $135 and permits a retake in one of the next three testing windows - not the same window you just tested in, so plan your study runway accordingly.

Testing occurs in four windows per year: March, June, September, and December. Online application deadlines fall a month before each window - February 15, May 15, August 15, and November 15, respectively. Missing a deadline means waiting for the next quarterly window, so mark these dates early. Full scheduling logistics, including how remote proctoring windows work, are covered in CHPLN Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.

Preparing With the Domain Weights in Mind

Since Symptom Management and Pain and Comfort Management together account for 66 of the 135 scored items - nearly half the exam - your study time should skew heavily toward those two domains rather than being spread evenly across all seven. A common mistake is treating each domain as equally important simply because there are seven of them; the item counts tell a different story.

For a structured week-by-week plan built specifically around these weightings, see CHPLN Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. And if you're trying to gauge realistically how much preparation time you'll need, How Hard Is the CHPLN Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 walks through the scoring model and pass-rate context in more depth. You can also run timed practice questions modeled on the real domain weighting at our CHPLN practice test platform.

Who Hires CHPLN-Certified Nurses

CHPLN-certified LPNs and LVNs typically work in hospice agencies, inpatient hospice units, palliative care consult teams within hospitals, and long-term care facilities with dedicated end-of-life care programs, always under RN supervision as required by scope-of-practice rules. Employers in these settings often view the certification as evidence of focused, verified experience beyond baseline licensure - useful when staffing specialty units or hospice interdisciplinary teams. For a broader look at where the credential can open doors and how employers use it in hiring decisions, see CHPLN Jobs and the ROI discussion in Is the CHPLN Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026. If you're curious about compensation trends associated with the specialty, CHPLN Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis covers what's publicly documented.

Recertification and Maintaining CHPLN

CHPLN certification is valid for four years. To renew, nurses go through HPAR (the HPCC renewal pathway), submitting practice hours and professional-development evidence tracked in the LearningBuilder system, or alternatively by retaking the examination. HPAR fees are tiered by membership and timing: $235 (early) or $345 (standard) for HPNA members, and $340 (early) or $450 (standard) for nonmembers. If you choose to recertify by exam instead, renewal examination fees are $235 for members or $340 for nonmembers.

Because the renewal window and evidence requirements take planning, it's worth tracking your professional-development activities throughout the four-year cycle rather than scrambling near expiration. If you're prepping for initial certification now, it's also worth bookmarking the requirements for later - our CHPLN Requirements guide includes context on how initial eligibility and renewal eligibility differ.

Frequently Asked Questions