- What the 2025 CHPLN Pass Rate Numbers Actually Say
- Why Domain Weighting Drives the Pass Rate
- How CHPLN Scoring Works (500 on a 200-800 Scale)
- Registration Mechanics That Quietly Affect Your Odds
- Who Sits for the CHPLN Exam - and Why It Matters
- Building a Domain-Weighted Study Plan
- If You Don't Pass: The reTEST Assured Path
- FAQ
- 2025 first-time CHPLN pass rate was 66.3% (57 of 86 candidates); overall pass rate was 69.6% (78 of 112).
- Passing requires a scaled score of 500 on a 200-800 range, not a fixed percentage of 150 questions.
- Patient Care: Symptom Management carries 39 of 135 scored items - nearly 29% of your score.
- reTEST Assured costs $135 and only lets you retake in one of the next three windows, never the same one.
What the 2025 CHPLN Pass Rate Numbers Actually Say
The Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC), which awards the Certified Hospice and Palliative Licensed Nurse (CHPLN) credential, publishes exam statistics that give a clear picture of how candidates actually perform. For 2025, the official first-time pass rate was 66.3%, based on 57 of 86 candidates passing on their initial attempt. The overall pass rate - combining first-time and repeat test-takers across all administrations - was 69.6%, or 78 of 112 total administrations.
Those two numbers matter differently. The first-time rate tells you how prepared the typical candidate is walking in cold. The overall rate, being slightly higher, reflects the fact that some candidates who didn't pass on attempt one returned better prepared and succeeded. Neither number is exceptionally high nor alarmingly low - they reflect a credential with real, defensible difficulty rather than a rubber-stamp exam.
If you want a deeper breakdown of how difficult the content itself is relative to other specialty nursing certifications, see How Hard Is the CHPLN Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
Why Domain Weighting Drives the Pass Rate
The CHPLN exam is a closed-book test of 150 four-option multiple-choice questions, taken in three hours. Of those, 135 are scored and 15 are unscored pretest items you cannot identify during the test - so every question deserves full attention. The 2026 candidate handbook, dated December 2025, applies the content outline built from the 2019 job analysis, and that outline is not evenly distributed across the seven content domains.
Domain 3: Patient Care: Symptom Management
This domain alone accounts for 39 of the 135 scored items - nearly 29% of your total score. Candidates who underestimate its breadth (covering the full range of symptom presentations and management strategies across end-of-life conditions) are the ones most likely to fall short of the 500 scaled-score threshold.
- Largest single domain by far - deserves proportionally more study hours than any other
- Overlaps heavily with Domain 2 (Pain and Comfort Management), so studying them together is efficient
Here is the full scored-item allocation across all seven domains, in the order HPCC presents them:
| Domain | Scored Items | Share of 135 |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Patient Care: End-Stage Disease Process | 18 | ~13% |
| 2. Patient Care: Pain and Comfort Management | 27 | ~20% |
| 3. Patient Care: Symptom Management | 39 | ~29% |
| 4. Patient Care: Treatments and Procedures | 12 | ~9% |
| 5. Care of Patient, Family, and Other Caregivers | 15 | ~11% |
| 6. Patient and Family Education and Advocacy | 13 | ~10% |
| 7. Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Practice Issues | 11 | ~8% |
Notice that Domains 2 and 3 together represent nearly half the entire exam (66 of 135 scored items). A candidate who studies all seven domains equally is, mathematically, under-preparing for the two areas most likely to determine pass or fail. For a full walkthrough of what each domain actually tests, read CHPLN Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 7 Content Areas.
Key Takeaway
Allocate study time roughly proportional to scored-item counts - Domains 2 and 3 should consume close to half of your total prep hours, not one-seventh each.
How CHPLN Scoring Works (500 on a 200-800 Scale)
The CHPLN exam does not report a raw percentage of questions answered correctly. Instead, results are converted to a scaled score ranging from 200 to 800, and passing requires reaching 500. Because the 15 unscored pretest items are mixed in randomly and indistinguishable from scored items, you cannot game the exam by skipping questions you suspect are experimental - you must treat all 150 as real.
This scaled approach means the raw number of correct answers needed to hit 500 can shift slightly between exam forms, as PSI (the organization that administers the CHPLN exam at test centers or via live remote proctoring) calibrates for item difficulty. Candidates should not fixate on hitting an exact raw percentage from a practice source; instead, focus on mastering content across all domains so that whichever form you receive, your performance clears the threshold comfortably. A full explanation of how the scaled score is calculated and what it means for your target accuracy is in CHPLN Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Registration Mechanics That Quietly Affect Your Odds
Pass rates aren't only about content knowledge - timing and logistics play a role in whether a candidate walks in ready. The CHPLN exam is offered in four testing windows per year: March, June, September, and December. Online application deadlines fall six weeks earlier, on February 15, May 15, August 15, and November 15 respectively. Missing a deadline means waiting an entire quarter, which can force candidates to test before they feel fully prepared just to avoid a longer delay.
Initial examination fees are $260 for HPNA members and $365 for nonmembers. Because HPNA (the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association) is both the professional association and a preparation resource provider, membership can offset some of the cost difference through access to study materials. A full cost comparison, including renewal fees, is available in CHPLN Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown, and the exact application calendar is mapped out in CHPLN Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Who Sits for the CHPLN Exam - and Why It Matters
Unlike some hospice and palliative credentials aimed at RNs, the CHPLN is specifically for LPNs and LVNs. Eligibility requires a current, unrestricted U.S. or territorial LPN/LVN license, plus hospice or palliative nursing practice under RN supervision totaling 500 hours in the preceding 12 months, or 1,000 hours in the preceding 24 months. This practice-hour requirement means every candidate has hands-on clinical exposure to the domains being tested - there is no purely academic pathway.
That clinical grounding is a double-edged sword for pass rates. Experienced LPNs and LVNs often have strong intuitive command of symptom presentation and comfort measures (Domains 2 and 3), but may have less structured exposure to the interdisciplinary collaboration and documentation nuances tested in Domain 7, simply because those responsibilities are often led by RNs or social workers on the care team. Full eligibility details are broken down in CHPLN Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Domain 7: Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Practice Issues
Smallest domain at 11 scored items, but often underrated because LPNs/LVNs may have less direct exposure to team-based care planning documentation than RNs do.
- Covers coordination across hospice/palliative team roles
- Worth targeted review even though it's the lightest-weighted domain
Building a Domain-Weighted Study Plan
Rather than a generic week-by-week template, the most efficient CHPLN prep schedule mirrors the scored-item distribution directly. Spend the most calendar time on Domains 2 and 3, moderate time on Domains 1, 5, and 6, and lighter review passes on Domains 4 and 7 - always closing with full-length timed practice to simulate the three-hour, 150-item format.
Symptom Management + Pain and Comfort Management
- Cover Domain 3 and Domain 2 together - they overlap clinically and represent 66 of 135 scored items
- Build recall drills around common end-of-life symptom clusters
End-Stage Disease Process + Caregiver Support
- Study Domain 1 (18 items) and Domain 5 (15 items) as disease-trajectory and family-impact content
Education, Advocacy, Treatments, and Collaboration
- Cover Domain 6 (13 items), Domain 4 (12 items), and Domain 7 (11 items)
- These lighter domains still total 36 scored items combined - don't skip them
Full Simulation and Weak-Spot Review
- Take timed, 150-question practice runs under realistic three-hour conditions
- Revisit any domain where practice accuracy lags
For a structured resource that walks through this entire process in more depth, see CHPLN Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. Running full-length timed simulations on our CHPLN practice test platform is one of the most direct ways to find out whether your Domain 2 and Domain 3 knowledge holds up under exam conditions before test day arrives.
If You Don't Pass: The reTEST Assured Path
Given that roughly one in three first-time candidates did not pass in 2025, it's worth understanding the retake process before you ever sit for the exam. HPCC's reTEST Assured program costs $135 as a one-time fee and permits a retake in one of the next three testing windows - but not the same window you just tested in. That means a candidate who tests in June and doesn't pass cannot simply retest in June; the next opportunity is September, December, or the following March.
This built-in waiting period is a strong argument for treating your first attempt as seriously as possible rather than planning to "test and see." A failed attempt costs both the reTEST Assured fee and a minimum three-month delay before you can try again, during which your practice-hour eligibility window continues ticking.
Key Takeaway
Because reTEST Assured forces a minimum wait of one full testing window, front-loading your Domain 2 and Domain 3 preparation before your first attempt is far more efficient than planning on a quick retake.
Once certified, CHPLN credential holders maintain it for four years, renewing through HPAR with practice and professional-development evidence tracked in LearningBuilder, or by re-examination. Renewal fees run $235 early or $345 standard for members, and $340 early or $450 standard for nonmembers, with re-examination fees set separately at $235 for members or $340 for nonmembers. Whether the credential is worth the ongoing investment given your career goals is covered in Is the CHPLN Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
The official 2025 first-time pass rate was 66.3%, based on 57 of 86 candidates passing on their initial attempt, according to HPCC's published exam statistics.
Yes. The overall pass rate for 2025, which includes repeat test-takers, was 69.6%, or 78 of 112 total administrations - slightly higher than the first-time-only figure.
Patient Care: Symptom Management is the largest domain, with 39 of 135 scored items, making it the single highest-leverage area to master before test day.
You can use the one-time reTEST Assured program for $135, which allows a retake in one of the next three testing windows - but not the same window in which you tested.
No. Results are reported on a scaled score from 200 to 800, and a candidate needs to reach 500 to pass, rather than a fixed percentage of the 150 questions.