The CHPN is the hospice and palliative nursing certification from the Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC). It is for registered nurses who meet its practice-hour requirement. This page lists the exam facts, checked against HPCC's own pages: 150 items, 3 hours and a passing scaled score of 500. It links each official content area to a free practice set and explains sample questions answer by answer.
The CHPN has 150 questions, takes about 3 hours and costs $445[1][2] (Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC), part of Advancing Expert Care, verified Oct 25, 2026).
Numbers in brackets link to the official sources listed under Sources & last verified. Dates that have passed are removed automatically.
According to Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC), part of Advancing Expert Care, “consists of 150 multiple choice items, of which 135 have equal weight for scoring.”[1]
The CHPN exam is run by the Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC). It tests whether a registered nurse can apply hospice and palliative care knowledge to real situations with patients and families.
Who can apply. You need a current, unrestricted RN license in the United States, its territories, or the equivalent in Canada. You also need hospice and palliative nursing practice of 500 hours in the most recent 12 months, or 1,000 hours in 24 months.
Format and delivery. The exam is taken on a computer, either at a PSI test center or with live remote proctoring. It has 150 multiple-choice items. 135 of them are scored and 15 are unscored pretest items, so answer every item as if it counts. You have 3 hours.
Scoring. Scores are reported on a scale of 200 to 800, and you need a scaled score of 500 to pass. You see pass or fail on screen, and PSI emails the score report within 24 hours.
Dates, fees and retakes. The exam is given in month-long windows in March, June, September and December. Applications open on December 1, March 1, June 1 and September 1, one for each of those windows. The fee is $445, or $305 for HPNA members. If you do not pass, you can retest as many times as you need by reapplying in an open window. The optional reTEST Assured costs $135 and can be used once. Certification is valid for 4 years. Deadlines and policies change, so check the current HPCC candidate handbook before you apply.
The content areas below are copied from the official CHPN content outline published by Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC), part of Advancing Expert Care. The right-hand column shows which of our practice sets covers it.
| Official content area | Practice on this site |
|---|---|
| Patient Care – Assessment and Planning[3] | CHPN Patient Assessment & Care Planning Practise collecting physical, psychosocial and spiritual assessment data and turning it into an individual plan of care that the whole team can follow. |
| Patient Care – Pain Management[3] | CHPN Pain & Symptom Management Practise pain assessment in patients who can and cannot report pain, opioid and non-opioid choices, and managing side effects such as constipation and sedation. |
| Patient Care – Symptom Management[3] | CHPN Pharmacology & Medication Management Practise drug and non-drug management of dyspnea, nausea, delirium, anxiety and terminal secretions, and know when each approach fits. |
| Practice Issues[3] | CHPN Ethical & Legal Issues in End-of-Life... Practise advance directives, decision-making capacity, ethical conflicts, documentation and the limits of the hospice nurse's role. |
| Support, Education, and Advocacy[3] | CHPN Psychosocial & Spiritual Support Practise supporting patient and family coping, spiritual distress, teaching caregivers and recognising when grief needs extra help. |
Prepare for the CHPN - Hospice Certified Professional exam with our free practice test modules. Each quiz covers key topics to help you pass on your first try.
These are practice questions written for this site, not questions from the real exam. Each explanation shows why the right answer is right and why the others are wrong.
Question: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'total pain' as introduced by Dame Cicely Saunders?
Answer: B. The combined physical, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions of suffering
Explanation:
B is correct. Dame Cicely Saunders used the term 'total pain' to describe suffering as a whole. It covers physical symptoms together with psychological distress, social worries such as family or money problems, and spiritual questions about meaning. This idea is why hospice care relies on an interdisciplinary team.
A is wrong because a rating-scale score, even one that combines rest and movement pain, measures only the physical sensation. C mixes up the concept with medication dosing, and total pain is not about how much drug is given. D describes adding up scores over a 24-hour period, which is a charting task and has nothing to do with the concept.
Rule to remember: when a question mentions total pain, choose the answer that covers every part of the person, not a measurement.
Question: When a child is part of a bereaved family, the hospice bereavement team should:
Answer: A. Provide age-appropriate grief support and encourage honest, simple explanations of death
Explanation:
A is correct. Children grieve too, and the way they grieve depends on their developmental stage. Hospice bereavement teams give support suited to the child's age. They encourage adults to use honest, simple, concrete words, such as 'died' rather than 'went to sleep', which reduces confusion and fear.
B is wrong because hiding the death leaves children to fill the gaps with their imagination and can leave them feeling alone. C is wrong because grief is a normal response, not a psychiatric illness. Referral is for complicated grief or a specific risk, not a routine step. D is wrong because many children never ask, so the team should offer support first instead of waiting.
Rule to remember: include children, tell the truth simply, and match support to their developmental level.
Question: What documentation is MOST critical to maintain for safety compliance in the Hospice Certified Professional field?
Answer: B. Incident reports, training records, and inspection logs
Explanation:
B is correct. Safety compliance is shown through records proving that hazards were reported, staff were trained, and equipment and work areas were checked. Incident reports record events such as falls, needlestick injuries and medication errors. Training records show that staff were taught safe practice, including infection control. Inspection logs show that equipment and premises were checked on schedule.
A, C and D are all business records. Vacation schedules, marketing preferences and revenue reports may matter to an agency, but none of them shows that patients and staff were kept safe.
Rule to remember: when a question asks about safety or compliance documentation, pick the records an inspector would ask for. Those are the records showing that risks were found, acted on, and that staff were prepared for them.
Start with the official material. Download the current HPCC candidate handbook and read the content outline, so you know what each area covers before you practise.
The CHPN exam has 150 multiple-choice items and you have 3 hours to finish. Of those items, 135 are scored and 15 are unscored pretest items. You cannot rely on telling them apart, so give every question full effort and pace yourself across the whole exam.
You need a scaled score of 500. Scores are reported on a scale from 200 to 800. You see a pass or fail result on screen when you finish, and PSI emails the full score report within 24 hours.
You are eligible if you hold a current, unrestricted RN license in the United States, its territories, or the equivalent in Canada. You also need hospice and palliative nursing practice of 500 hours in the most recent 12 months, or 1,000 hours in 24 months. Check the HPCC CHPN page for the exact wording before you apply.
Initial certification costs $445 for non-members and $305 for HPNA members. HPCC also offers an optional reTEST Assured for $135, which covers a retest if you do not pass. Fees can change, so confirm the current amounts on the official HPCC page before you pay.
The exam is given in month-long windows in March, June, September and December. Applications open on December 1 for March, March 1 for June, June 1 for September and September 1 for December. You can test at a PSI center or with live remote proctoring.
You can retest as many times as you need. Reapply during an open application window for a later testing month. If you bought reTEST Assured for $135, it can be used once. Your score report shows how you did in each area, so use it to choose which practice sets to focus on next.
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