- HPCC awards the CHPNA; PSI delivers the 110-question exam at test centers or via live remote proctoring.
- Passing requires a scaled score of 500 on a 200-800 scale, not a raw percentage.
- Eligibility needs 500 hours of hospice/palliative nursing-assistant practice in 12 months or 1,000 hours in 24 months.
- Testing runs March, June, September, and December, with applications due the 15th of the prior second month.
Quick Facts at a Glance
Cramming the night before a certification exam rarely works, but a fast reference sheet the week of your test absolutely does. This page is built for that purpose: a single-scroll summary of every hard number and mechanical detail tied to the Certified Hospice and Palliative Nursing Assistant (CHPNA) credential. If you want the full explanations behind each fact, the CHPNA Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt covers the reasoning in depth. This article is the condensed version you print out or bookmark.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Credentialing body | Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC) |
| Membership association | Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) |
| Test delivery | PSI, at test centers or live remote proctoring |
| Total questions | 110 (100 scored, 10 unscored) |
| Time allowed | 2 hours 30 minutes |
| Passing score | 500 on a 200-800 scaled score |
| Member fee | $190 |
| Nonmember fee | $280 |
| Retake fee (reTEST Assured) | $135, within one of the next three windows |
| Certification period | 4 years |
Who Awards the CHPNA
The Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (HPCC) is the body that actually issues the CHPNA credential. HPNA, the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, is a separate membership organization - joining it can lower your exam fee, but it does not itself certify anyone. This distinction matters because candidates sometimes confuse "who do I pay membership dues to" with "who grades my exam." PSI is the third organization in the chain: it is the testing vendor that actually delivers the exam, whether you sit at a physical test center or use live remote proctoring from home.
If any of these terms - HPCC, HPNA, PSI - are still fuzzy, the What Is CHPNA? and CHPNA Meaning pages walk through the acronym and the organizational structure in plain language.
Exam Format and Scoring
The CHPNA exam is 110 multiple-choice questions: 100 are scored and 10 are unscored pretest items you cannot identify during the test, so treat every question as if it counts. Each item has four answer choices with one best answer - no multiple-select, no matching, no fill-in-the-blank. You get 2 hours and 30 minutes to finish, and no reference materials, notes, or outside resources are permitted in the room.
Passing is defined by a scaled score of 500 on a 200-800 range, not a percentage of questions correct. This scaling accounts for slight difficulty differences between exam forms, so two candidates who each miss a different number of questions could both land above or below 500 depending on which items they missed. For a deeper breakdown of what this scale means and how it's calculated, see CHPNA Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Official 2025 results showed a 79.5% pass rate for first-time candidates (232 of 292) and 82.5% overall (316 of 383). Those numbers give a realistic sense of difficulty without suggesting the exam is a rubber stamp. For context on how those figures compare year over year and what they imply about preparation, read CHPNA Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows and How Hard Is the CHPNA Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
Key Takeaway
Because 20 of the 110 questions on any given exam are unscored pretest items woven in without identification, pacing yourself evenly across all 110 questions is the safest strategy - don't try to guess which ones "don't count."
Fees, Registration, and Testing Windows
Initial examination fees are $190 for HPNA members and $280 for nonmembers. If your first attempt doesn't go as planned, the reTEST Assured program offers one discounted retake at $135, usable within one of the next three testing windows after an unsuccessful attempt. That structure rewards prompt re-registration rather than letting the clock run indefinitely.
Testing happens in four windows each year: March, June, September, and December. Online applications are due about a month 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 these dates well in advance. The CHPNA Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling page lists every deadline for the year in one table, and CHPNA Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown breaks down every fee scenario, including membership math.
| Testing Window | Application Deadline |
|---|---|
| March | February 15 |
| June | May 15 |
| September | August 15 |
| December | November 15 |
Eligibility Requirements
Before you can even register, HPCC requires documented clinical hours: 500 hours of hospice and palliative nursing-assistant practice within the preceding 12 months, or 1,000 hours within the preceding 24 months. That practice must occur under registered-nurse supervision and take place in the United States. There is no shortcut around the hours requirement - it exists specifically because this credential validates hands-on experience, not just classroom knowledge.
If you're still accumulating hours or unsure whether your current role qualifies, the CHPNA Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify guide walks through common scenarios, including how part-time or PRN hours are typically counted toward the 500/1,000-hour thresholds.
The Four Content Domains
The 2026 candidate handbook reflects HPCC's 2024 job analysis and organizes exam content into four domains. Roughly 20% of questions test simple recall while about 80% require application of knowledge to scenarios - that split describes cognitive difficulty, not how many questions come from each domain. For a full walkthrough of every domain with sample topics, see CHPNA Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas.
Domain 1: Patient Care: Activities of Daily Living
Covers hands-on personal care tasks specific to hospice and palliative patients - bathing, positioning, mobility assistance, feeding, elimination care, and comfort measures for patients who may be actively declining.
- Adapting ADL support as function decreases near end of life
- Safe transfer and positioning techniques for frail or bed-bound patients
- Recognizing when a change in ADL tolerance signals a status change to report
Domain 2: Patient Status and Environment
Focuses on observing and reporting physical changes, maintaining a safe and clean care environment, and recognizing signs that require escalation to the supervising RN.
- Recognizing and reporting changes in vital signs, skin, or comfort level
- Infection control and environmental safety in home or facility settings
- Documentation habits that support the care team's decision-making
Domain 3: Psychosocial/Spiritual Care of the Patient and Family/Caregivers
Tests understanding of emotional, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of end-of-life care, plus how to support both the patient and the family or caregiver unit.
- Communicating with patients and families experiencing grief or anticipatory loss
- Respecting cultural and spiritual practices around dying
- Recognizing caregiver burnout and knowing when to alert the care team
Domain 4: Professional Skills
Covers the CHPNA's scope of practice, communication within the interdisciplinary team, ethical boundaries, and professional conduct standards.
- Working within RN-supervised scope of practice
- Accurate, timely communication with the care team
- Ethical and legal boundaries specific to hospice and palliative settings
A Domain-Based Review Schedule
Generic study techniques only help if they're mapped to the actual content you'll be tested on. Rather than a one-size-fits-all weekly template, anchor your remaining prep time to the four domains above, spending more repetition on the domain areas where your on-the-job experience is thinnest.
Domain 1 and Domain 2
- Drill ADL adaptations for declining patients and safe transfer techniques
- Review status-change indicators and what triggers an RN report
Domain 3
- Practice scenario questions on grief support, cultural sensitivity, and caregiver communication
- Review documentation language for psychosocial observations
Domain 4 and mixed review
- Study scope-of-practice boundaries and interdisciplinary communication
- Run full-length practice sets mixing all four domains
Timed practice and gap-filling
- Take full 110-question timed practice runs under exam-like conditions
- Revisit only the domains where practice scores lag
For candidates who want ready-made scenario questions organized by these exact domains, the practice tests on the main practice test site mirror the four-domain structure so you can see where your accuracy actually stands before test day.
Recertification at a Glance
CHPNA certification lasts four years. When it's time to renew, you have two paths: qualifying practice plus a successful re-examination, or completion of the Hospice and Palliative Accrual for Recertification (HPAR) program, which includes its own professional-development requirements. One important rule to flag now, years before you'll need it: if you attempt the renewal exam and fail, you must continue through the examination route - you cannot switch over to HPAR after a failed renewal attempt.
Because that rule locks in your renewal path, it's worth deciding early which route fits your career plans, especially if you're weighing continuing education commitments against exam retakes.
If you're earlier in the process - still building hours, choosing a training path, or simply confirming this is the right credential for your goals - the CHPNA Training, What Is CHPNA Certification?, and CHPNA Certification pages are good starting points before you circle back to this cheat sheet closer to your test date. And if you've ever seen the acronym expanded oddly elsewhere, What Does CHPNA Stand For?, What Is A CHPNA?, and What Does CHPNA Mean? clarify the terminology specific to this credential.
FAQ
The exam has 110 multiple-choice questions - 100 scored and 10 unscored - and you have 2 hours and 30 minutes to complete it, with no reference materials allowed.
You need a scaled score of 500 on a 200-800 scale, not a fixed percentage of correct answers.
Initial fees are $190 for HPNA members and $280 for nonmembers. A discounted retake through reTEST Assured costs $135 if used within one of the next three testing windows.
Testing windows occur four times a year - March, June, September, and December - each with an online application deadline exactly one month before the window opens.
You must continue through the examination route for renewal; failing a renewal exam means you cannot switch to the HPAR accrual pathway instead.