- What CHPLN Certification Actually Is
- Who Awards It and Who Administers the Exam
- Eligibility Requirements
- Exam Format and Question Style
- The Seven Content Domains
- Registration, Fees, and Testing Windows
- Scoring and Pass Rates
- Who Hires CHPLNs
- Recertification Every Four Years
- How to Prepare Around the Domain Weighting
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CHPLN is awarded by HPCC, with HPNA providing preparation resources and PSI administering the exam.
- The exam is 150 four-option questions (135 scored, 15 unscored pretest) in three hours.
- Passing requires a scaled score of 500 on a 200-800 range; the 2025 first-time pass rate was 66.3%.
- Patient Care: Symptom Management is the largest domain at 39 of 135 scored items.
What CHPLN Certification Actually Is
The Certified Hospice and Palliative Licensed Nurse (CHPLN) credential recognizes LPNs and LVNs who practice hospice and palliative nursing under RN supervision. It is not a generic end-of-life competency badge - it is a specialty certification built around a defined scope of practice, a specific content outline, and a scored examination administered under strict testing rules. If you are researching this credential for the first time, it helps to separate the mechanics (who runs it, what it costs, how it's scored) from the substance (what you actually need to know to pass). This article covers both, and if you want a broader introduction first, see What Is CHPLN? or the plain-language breakdown in CHPLN Meaning.
Who Awards It and Who Administers the Exam
The Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC) is the certifying body that awards the CHPLN credential. The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) is the professional nursing association connected to the specialty and the primary source of preparation materials, continuing education, and practice resources. Actual test delivery - scheduling, proctoring, and score reporting - is handled by PSI, either at a physical test center or through live remote proctoring for candidates who prefer to test from home or another approved location.
Understanding this three-party structure matters because each organization controls a different piece of the process: HPCC sets eligibility rules and the content outline, HPNA supports candidate education, and PSI runs the actual testing day logistics. For a fuller explanation of the credential itself, see CHPLN Certification and What Does CHPLN Stand For?.
Eligibility Requirements
Before you can register, you must hold a current, unrestricted LPN or LVN license valid in a U.S. state or territory. In addition, you need documented hospice or palliative nursing practice under RN supervision that meets one of two thresholds:
- 500 practice hours in the 12 months immediately preceding application, or
- 1,000 practice hours in the 24 months immediately preceding application
There is no shortcut around these hour requirements - they exist to confirm that candidates have real clinical exposure to the domains tested. If you're unsure whether your current role or hour count qualifies, a full breakdown is available in CHPLN Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Key Takeaway
Start logging your practice hours now, even before you commit to a testing window. Hour requirements are checked against a rolling 12- or 24-month window, so gaps in documentation can delay your application.
Exam Format and Question Style
The CHPLN exam is closed-book and consists of 150 four-option multiple-choice questions. Of these, 135 are scored and 15 are unscored pretest items being evaluated for future exams - you won't know which is which, so every question deserves full attention. Candidates get three hours to complete the exam, which averages out to a bit more than a minute per question, though pacing should favor the heavier domains.
Because every item has exactly four answer options, elimination strategy matters. Many questions present a short clinical vignette (a patient scenario, medication list, or symptom cluster) and ask you to select the best next action or most likely explanation - not simply recall a definition. This scenario-based style is one reason candidates often underestimate the exam's difficulty; for an honest assessment of what makes it challenging, read How Hard Is the CHPLN Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
The Seven Content Domains
The 2026 exam uses a content outline based on the 2019 job analysis, and it will remain in effect for 2026 administrations (HPCC separately posts a distinct outline for the 2027 exam year). The 135 scored items are distributed across seven domains, and the weighting is not even - some areas carry far more exam weight than others.
Domain 1: Patient Care - End-Stage Disease Process (18 scored items)
Covers disease trajectories across major terminal conditions and how nurses recognize progression toward end of life.
- Expected clinical course of common terminal diagnoses
Domain 2: Patient Care - Pain and Comfort Management (27 scored items)
The second-largest domain, focused on pain assessment tools, comfort-focused interventions, and appropriate escalation.
- Pain scales and non-pharmacologic comfort measures
Domain 3: Patient Care - Symptom Management (39 scored items)
The single largest domain on the exam. Expect heavy coverage of dyspnea, nausea, delirium, fatigue, and other common end-of-life symptoms.
- Recognition and management of the most frequent hospice symptoms
Domain 4: Patient Care - Treatments and Procedures (12 scored items)
Covers hands-on interventions and procedural knowledge relevant to hospice and palliative settings.
- Appropriate use of treatments within LPN/LVN scope under RN supervision
Domain 5: Care of Patient, Family, and Other Caregivers (15 scored items)
Addresses psychosocial, spiritual, and caregiver-support dimensions of hospice care beyond the patient alone.
- Grief, bereavement, and caregiver burden considerations
Domain 6: Patient and Family Education and Advocacy (13 scored items)
Tests how well a candidate can teach, explain, and advocate for patient and family wishes.
- Communication strategies for difficult conversations
Domain 7: Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Practice Issues (11 scored items)
The smallest domain, covering how CHPLNs function within the interdisciplinary hospice team.
- Role boundaries and collaboration with RNs, social workers, and chaplains
Because Symptom Management and Pain and Comfort Management together account for 66 of the 135 scored items - roughly half the exam - candidates should weight their study time accordingly rather than spreading effort evenly across all seven areas. A domain-by-domain walkthrough with more detail on subtopics is available in CHPLN Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 7 Content Areas.
Registration, Fees, and Testing Windows
Initial examination fees are $260 for HPNA members and $365 for nonmembers. If you don't pass on your first attempt, HPCC offers a one-time reTEST Assured option for $135, which guarantees a retake seat in one of the next three testing windows - but not the same window you just tested in.
CHPLN testing runs in four windows per year: March, June, September, and December. Online applications are due about two weeks before each window opens - February 15, May 15, August 15, and November 15, respectively. Missing a deadline means waiting for the next quarterly window, so mark your calendar early. A complete calendar with deadline logic is in CHPLN Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling, and a full pricing breakdown including recertification costs is in CHPLN Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
| Item | HPNA Member | Nonmember |
|---|---|---|
| Initial exam fee | $260 | $365 |
| reTEST Assured (one-time) | $135 | $135 |
| HPAR renewal (early) | $235 | $340 |
| HPAR renewal (standard) | $345 | $450 |
| Renewal by re-examination | $235 | $340 |
Scoring and Pass Rates
CHPLN scores are reported on a scaled range of 200 to 800, and a scaled score of 500 or higher is required to pass. The scaled system means your raw number of correct answers is converted to account for slight difficulty variations between exam forms, so there is no fixed "number of questions right" target to aim for.
Officially reported 2025 statistics show a first-time pass rate of 66.3% (57 of 86 candidates) and an overall pass rate across all administrations of 69.6% (78 of 112 administrations). These numbers indicate that roughly one in three first-time candidates does not pass on the initial attempt, which underscores the value of structured preparation rather than casual review. For a deeper look at what these numbers mean for your own prep plan, see CHPLN Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows and CHPLN Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Who Hires CHPLNs
Hospice organizations, palliative care programs, home health agencies with hospice divisions, and long-term care facilities with end-of-life care units all look for CHPLN-certified LPNs/LVNs when filling specialty nursing roles. The credential signals to employers that a nurse has verified practice hours in hospice or palliative settings and has passed a standardized exam covering symptom management, pain control, and interdisciplinary collaboration - the core competencies these employers need on their care teams. If you're evaluating whether the credential is worth pursuing for your career goals, compare the effort against the potential upside in Is the CHPLN Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and browse current openings context in CHPLN Jobs. Earnings expectations tied to the credential are discussed in CHPLN Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis.
Recertification Every Four Years
CHPLN certification is valid for four years. Renewal happens through HPAR (HPCC's recertification pathway), where candidates submit practice and professional-development evidence through the LearningBuilder platform, or alternatively by retaking the examination. HPAR fees depend on membership status 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, the fee is $235 for members or $340 for nonmembers. Planning your renewal path - and budgeting for it - early avoids scrambling as your four-year window closes.
How to Prepare Around the Domain Weighting
Generic study advice rarely accounts for how unevenly CHPLN content is weighted. Since Symptom Management (39 items) and Pain and Comfort Management (27 items) together make up nearly half the scored exam, your study calendar should reflect that imbalance rather than treating all seven domains equally.
Symptom Management + Pain and Comfort
- Drill dyspnea, nausea, delirium, and pain-scale scenarios since these two domains carry 66 of 135 scored items
End-Stage Disease Process + Care of Patient/Family/Caregivers
- Review disease trajectories alongside caregiver-support and bereavement content
Education, Advocacy, Treatments, and Interdisciplinary Practice
- Cover the four smaller domains together, then run full-length timed practice under three-hour conditions
Using timed practice questions modeled on the real four-option, scenario-based format is far more useful than passive review, since the exam rewards applied clinical judgment over memorized definitions. You can build that habit with realistic practice questions on CHPLN Exam Prep before test day. For a full week-by-week study plan built around these same domain weights, see 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
Allocate roughly half your total study time to Symptom Management and Pain and Comfort Management combined - they account for nearly half the scored exam by design.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC) issues CHPLN certification. HPNA is the affiliated nursing association providing preparation resources, and PSI administers the exam itself.
The exam has 150 four-option multiple-choice questions - 135 scored and 15 unscored pretest items - with a three-hour time limit.
You need a scaled score of 500 on a 200-800 range. The scaled score adjusts for minor difficulty differences between exam forms.
You can purchase the one-time reTEST Assured option for $135, which guarantees a retake seat in one of the next three testing windows, though not the same window as your original attempt.
Certification is valid for four years. You renew through HPAR by submitting practice and professional-development evidence in LearningBuilder, or by retaking the exam.