- What Is a CHPLN, Exactly?
- Who Awards the CHPLN and Who Administers It
- Who Can Become a CHPLN
- Exam Format at a Glance
- The Seven Content Domains
- Fees and Testing Windows
- Passing Score and Pass Rate Data
- Who Hires CHPLNs
- How to Prepare Without Wasting Time
- Keeping the Credential Current
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CHPLN stands for Certified Hospice and Palliative Licensed Nurse, awarded by HPCC.
- The exam is 150 questions (135 scored) over three hours, administered by PSI.
- Eligibility requires an active LPN/LVN license plus 500 hours in 12 months or 1,000 hours in 24 months of hospice/palliative practice under RN supervision.
- Passing requires a scaled score of 500 on a 200-800 range; the 2025 first-time pass rate was 66.3%.
What Is a CHPLN, Exactly?
A CHPLN is a Certified Hospice and Palliative Licensed Nurse - a licensed practical nurse or licensed vocational nurse who has demonstrated specialized knowledge in end-of-life and serious illness care through a formal certification examination. The credential is specific to LPNs and LVNs practicing under RN supervision in hospice and palliative settings, distinguishing it from RN-level palliative credentials. If you're comparing this to other palliative certifications, our overview of the CHPLN Certification walks through how it fits into the broader hospice and palliative care credentialing landscape.
Earning the CHPLN signals to employers, patients, and families that a nurse has verified competence across the full arc of hospice and palliative practice - from managing end-stage disease progression to coordinating with interdisciplinary teams. For a deeper dive into the terminology itself, see CHPLN Meaning and What Does CHPLN Stand For?.
Who Awards the CHPLN and Who Administers It
The Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC) is the certifying body that awards the CHPLN. HPNA, the professional nursing association for hospice and palliative nurses, serves as the preparation resource partner, offering review materials and continuing education aligned with the exam content. The two organizations work together but perform different roles: HPCC certifies, HPNA educates.
The actual exam delivery is handled by PSI, a third-party testing vendor. Candidates can sit for the exam either at a physical PSI test center or through live remote proctoring from a private location, giving some flexibility in how and where the three-hour exam is taken.
Who Can Become a CHPLN
Eligibility for the CHPLN is built around two pillars: licensure and clinical hours.
- Licensure: A current, unrestricted LPN or LVN license issued by a U.S. state or territory.
- Practice hours: 500 hours of hospice or palliative nursing practice, performed under RN supervision, within the preceding 12 months - or 1,000 hours within the preceding 24 months.
There is no requirement for a specific number of years since licensure or a minimum degree beyond the LPN/LVN license itself; the requirement is entirely practice-hour based. Candidates who are close to the hour threshold sometimes delay their application by a testing window to accumulate enough documented time. For a full walkthrough of documentation and edge cases, read CHPLN Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Key Takeaway
If you're at 480 hours in the last 12 months, don't rush the application - waiting a few weeks to clear 500 hours is safer than applying early and risking a rejected eligibility review.
Exam Format at a Glance
The CHPLN exam is closed-book, computer-based, and consists of 150 four-option multiple-choice questions. Of those, 135 are scored and 15 are unscored pretest items used by HPCC to evaluate future questions - but since they're indistinguishable from scored items, every question deserves full attention. Candidates have three hours to complete the exam.
| Exam Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total Questions | 150 (135 scored, 15 pretest/unscored) |
| Question Format | Four-option multiple choice |
| Time Limit | 3 hours |
| Delivery | PSI test center or live remote proctoring |
| Book Policy | Closed-book |
| Passing Score | 500 on a 200-800 scaled range |
Because pretest items are unmarked and mixed in, there's no strategy for "skipping the ones that don't count" - treat the exam as 150 questions that all matter. A more granular look at timing, question difficulty, and pacing strategy is available in How Hard Is the CHPLN Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
The Seven Content Domains
The CHPLN exam blueprint is organized into seven content domains, each weighted by the number of scored items it contributes to the 135-item scored pool. The domain names and their official scored-item allocations are:
Domain 1: Patient Care: End-Stage Disease Process - 18 items
Covers disease trajectories in advanced illness, expected physiological decline, and recognizing signs of approaching death across diagnoses.
- Disease-specific progression patterns (cardiac, pulmonary, renal, neurologic, oncologic)
- Signs and symptoms of imminent death
Domain 2: Patient Care: Pain and Comfort Management - 27 items
Focuses on pain assessment tools, pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, and comfort-focused care planning.
- Opioid and adjuvant medication principles
- Non-pharmacologic comfort measures
Domain 3: Patient Care: Symptom Management - 39 items (largest domain)
The single largest content area on the exam, covering management of dyspnea, nausea, delirium, fatigue, and other common end-of-life symptoms.
- Multi-symptom clusters near end of life
- Recognizing and managing terminal delirium and agitation
Domain 4: Patient Care: Treatments and Procedures - 12 items
Includes wound care, nutrition/hydration decisions, and procedural considerations appropriate to hospice and palliative settings.
- Skin integrity and wound management at end of life
- Artificial nutrition and hydration decision-making
Domain 5: Care of Patient, Family, and Other Caregivers - 15 items
Addresses psychosocial, spiritual, and caregiver-support needs throughout the illness trajectory and into bereavement.
- Grief and bereavement support
- Caregiver burden and respite needs
Domain 6: Patient and Family Education and Advocacy - 13 items
Covers teaching patients and families about disease course, medications, and advance care planning, plus advocating for patient wishes.
- Advance directives and goals-of-care conversations
- Culturally sensitive patient education
Domain 7: Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Practice Issues - 11 items
Focuses on the LPN/LVN's role within the interdisciplinary hospice team, scope of practice, and communication with RNs and other disciplines.
- Scope of practice under RN supervision
- Interdisciplinary team roles and communication
Because Patient Care: Symptom Management alone accounts for nearly 29% of the scored questions, it deserves proportionally more study time than any other area. For a domain-by-domain study strategy, see CHPLN Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 7 Content Areas. This outline is based on the 2019 job analysis and applies to 2026 administrations; HPCC publishes a separate outline for 2027 testing.
Fees and Testing Windows
Understanding the registration mechanics helps you avoid missed deadlines and unnecessary costs.
- Initial exam fee: $260 for HPNA members, $365 for nonmembers.
- reTEST Assured: A one-time $135 add-on that guarantees a retake opportunity in one of the next three testing windows (not the same window) if you don't pass.
- Testing windows: March, June, September, and December.
- Application deadlines: February 15, May 15, August 15, and November 15 respectively - six weeks before each window opens.
For a complete cost breakdown including recertification pricing, visit CHPLN Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown, and for a calendar of upcoming windows and deadlines, see CHPLN Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Passing Score and Pass Rate Data
The CHPLN uses a scaled scoring system ranging from 200 to 800, and candidates must reach a score of 500 to pass. The scaled score accounts for slight variations in difficulty between exam forms, so a "500" always represents the same competency threshold regardless of which version of the exam a candidate receives.
Official 2025 data shows a first-time pass rate of 66.3% (57 of 86 candidates) and an overall pass rate - including repeat attempts - of 69.6% (78 of 112 administrations). These numbers underscore that thorough domain-by-domain preparation, particularly in the heavily weighted Symptom Management domain, meaningfully affects outcomes.
For more on how the scaled score is calculated and what it means practically, read CHPLN Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. For a closer look at the pass rate trends and what they suggest about exam difficulty, see CHPLN Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows.
Who Hires CHPLNs
CHPLN-certified nurses typically work in hospice agencies, inpatient palliative care units, long-term care facilities with hospice contracts, and home health organizations offering end-of-life services. Employers value the credential because it verifies specialized competence beyond baseline LPN/LVN licensure - particularly in symptom control, family communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration, which are core to daily hospice work.
Because the certification is tied so directly to hands-on hospice/palliative practice hours, most candidates are already working in the field before they sit for the exam rather than pursuing it as an entry credential. If you're weighing whether the certification translates into better job prospects or compensation, our CHPLN Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis and Is the CHPLN Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 articles go deeper, and CHPLN Jobs covers common job titles and settings.
How to Prepare Without Wasting Time
Generic study advice only goes so far here - the smartest approach is to allocate study time in proportion to domain weight rather than splitting time evenly across all seven areas.
Symptom Management and Pain/Comfort
- Cover Domains 2 and 3 first - together they represent 66 of the 135 scored items
- Drill symptom clusters and pharmacologic management scenarios
End-Stage Disease and Treatments/Procedures
- Move to Domains 1 and 4
- Focus on disease-specific decline patterns and comfort-focused procedures
Family, Education, and Interdisciplinary Domains
- Cover Domains 5, 6, and 7
- Run full-length timed practice sets on CHPLN Exam Prep's practice platform to simulate the 3-hour format
Timed, full-length practice is especially important given the three-hour, 150-question format - pacing yourself to roughly 70-75 seconds per question builds the muscle memory needed on test day. For a structured week-by-week plan with more detail, see the CHPLN Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and keep a condensed reference nearby using the CHPLN Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts.
Key Takeaway
Spend nearly half your prep time on Domains 2 and 3 combined - they make up 49% of the scored questions (66 of 135 items).
You can also start practicing with realistic question sets on CHPLN Exam Prep to gauge readiness before committing to an exam date.
Keeping the Credential Current
CHPLN certification is valid for four years. Renewal happens through HPAR (HPCC's recertification pathway), where candidates submit evidence of continued practice and professional development through the LearningBuilder platform, or alternatively by re-taking the exam.
- HPAR fees (members): $235 early or $345 standard.
- HPAR fees (nonmembers): $340 early or $450 standard.
- Renewal by exam (members): $235.
- Renewal by exam (nonmembers): $340.
Planning ahead for the early-bird HPAR pricing can meaningfully reduce the cost of maintaining the credential over a career. If you're just starting out and want the full picture of what training resources exist before your first exam, check out CHPLN Training.
Frequently Asked Questions
CHPLN stands for Certified Hospice and Palliative Licensed Nurse, a credential specifically for LPNs and LVNs practicing in hospice and palliative care under RN supervision.
HPCC certifies candidates, but the exam itself is delivered by PSI, either at a physical test center or via live remote proctoring.
There are 150 total questions: 135 scored and 15 unscored pretest items, all in a four-option multiple-choice format, completed within a three-hour time limit.
You need a scaled score of 500 on a 200-800 range. The 2025 first-time pass rate was 66.3%, with an overall pass rate of 69.6%.
You need 500 hours of hospice or palliative nursing practice under RN supervision within the preceding 12 months, or 1,000 hours within the preceding 24 months, along with a current unrestricted LPN/LVN license.