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Primary Care Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner — Requirements & Free Practice

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Primary Care Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

National certification for primary care pediatric nurse practitioners, earned by passing the CPNP-PC examination and satisfying PNCB documentation requirements; approved final-transcript exception candidates are not certified until PNCB receives their final transcript.

Licensing authority: Pediatric Nursing Certification Board · Application information

Initial by examination
Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner – Primary Care (CPNP-PC) Certification Exam
Applicability
Current initial-by-examination route only. The current PNCB resources page adopts the May 2023 outline effective October 24, 2023. No official beginning date for the certification itself or this route was established, so those dates remain null; the future January 2030 graduation-recency rule is not applied.
Application
Complete the mandatory Ethics in Testing module and application attestation, submit the online application and required official transcript(s) and supporting documents, and obtain PNCB eligibility approval. Ordinarily the final transcript must show the posted degree, role and population focus, conferral date and completed courses. Under the final-transcript exception, submit documentation from the program director; PNCB staff contact the program for additional documentation attesting to completion of the exception requirements and either a certificate or an official transcript without the posted degree. Scheduling under the exception requires PNCB authorization rather than an automatic exemption from application review.
Certification
Pass the CPNP-PC certification examination and satisfy the final-transcript requirement. Under an approved final-transcript exception, a passing candidate is not considered certified and official passing results/scores are withheld until PNCB receives the official final transcript. The transcript page specifies submission within 24 months from the pass date; the handbook specifies that results are invalidated if PNCB does not receive the final transcript within 24 months of testing. For unsuccessful exception candidates, official failing scores are released and PNCB's retest policy applies. The exception changes documentation and certification timing, not the single required examination or initial-by-examination pathway.
Eligibility
Current, active, unencumbered RN license issued by a US state, US territory, or Canada; ordinarily, graduation from the accredited pediatric primary-care NP master's/doctoral or formal dual primary/acute-care program described by PNCB, or an accredited post-master's pediatric primary-care NP certificate program. The final-transcript exception permits PNCB-approved testing before final conferral only when all other examination eligibility requirements have been met, all didactic courses and clinical hours for the PNP program track are completed, all grades are posted, AND either the terminal degree or certificate will not be conferred for more than 30 days after graduation OR the candidate is enrolled in a DNP program whose final year is devoted to a project and will not graduate until project completion. The minimum of 500 supervised direct patient-care clinical hours in primary-care pediatrics and the three separate comprehensive graduate-level advanced physiology/pathophysiology, health-assessment and pharmacology courses within the transcript-bearing educational program still apply. Telehealth and global-health direct care may count; simulation cannot count toward the 500 direct-care hours.
Scheduling
After approval, schedule with PSI and test at a testing center in the individually assigned 90-day window; CPNP-PC is offered year-round. PMHS fixed windows do not apply.

Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner – Primary Care (CPNP-PC) Certification Exam

Provider
PSI
Format
Computer-based multiple-choice examination; one correct answer per item; testing center only
Exam questions
Total questions: 175; Scored questions: 150; Unscored questions: 25; The total includes the scored and unscored questions.
Time limit
3 hours
Passing score
400 on a scaled-score range of 200 to 800
Exam fee
$407, including a $134 nonrefundable registration fee; subject to change
Examination outline
  • Health Maintenance and Promotion (30%)
    • Anticipatory guidance for growth and development
    • Immunization counseling
    • Age-appropriate injury prevention and safety
    • Illness prevention and early warning signs
    • Age-appropriate social, behavioral, and mental health education
  • Assessment and Diagnosis (35%)
    • Growth and Development
    • History and Physical Examination
    • Diagnostic Testing
    • Screening and Assessment
    • Clinical Decision Making and Diagnosis
  • Management (30%)
    • Child and Caregiver Counseling and Education
    • Therapeutic Interventions
    • Procedures
    • Collaboration and Referral
    • Coordination of Care
    • Evaluation and Follow-up
  • Leadership, Ethics, and Practice Management (5%)
    • Leadership and Evidence-based Practice
    • Legal and Ethical Issues
    • Practice Management
Examination sources