I am an RN (20+ years) who has finally decided to take the plunge and pursue hospice nursing.
I am currently doing private duty nursing, and I plan to stick with my little guy until he doesn't need me anymore (probably a matter of months).
To prepare until that happens, I am planning on reading/ studying everything I can regarding hospice/ palliative nursing. I was also planning on obtaining the CHPN certification (if I pass the exam, of course).
Is it weird to obtain the CHPN certification without ever having worked as a hospice nurse? (I have volunteered for hospice in the past so I do have an idea of what is involved).
My desire is to know as much as I can going into this, and I believe being certified will help my chances of landing a job when the time comes.
There is no work requirement. I took the test years ago without any hospice experience (though I had oncology). It would be wonderful for you to develop a hospice service in your community. Wonder where you will have to go to take the test ???!!!!
Working in oncology typically counts in terms of hours to sit for the exam.
As far as I know, it has gotten more strict and nurses who qualified to sit for the exam in the past may not be considered anymore or in the future. The reason is that work experience in palliative care / hospice care is essential to build the expertise. Knowledge alone is not sufficient.
If you do not work in any of the areas outlined in the exam handbook it is best to ask.
In terms of hospice services - that is highly regulated and Medicare determines how "hospice" is the be administered in order to meet the conditions for participation.
Hospice is a defined benefit - if you work and live in an area where it would not be feasible and financially possible to run a hospice agency (because it is very rural and you would not have enough clients) you might want to look into "palliative care". Hospice is a very specialized part of palliative care. But end of life care or serious illness support can also happen with palliative care.
The credentialing authority did add a work requirement for the test in the last two years or so; previously there had been none. The requirement is: "Applicants must hold a current, unrestricted registered nurse license in the United States or Canada, and must have 500 hours of hospice and palliative nursing practice in the most recent 12 months or 1,000 hours in the most recent 24 months." I am not sure what they do to verify. Presumably, like other certifications, they spot-check with audits.
I just renewed my certification in 2016 and they specifically requested to know how long I've worked in hospice/palliative, how many hours I have worked in hospice/palliative in the past few years, if I'm still working in hospice/palliative, and contact information for my employer so they could verify.
Honestly, I think there should be an experience requirement for any kind of nursing specialty certification. If it becomes something that just anyone can get by rote learning and memorization without actually having worked in that specialty, what good is it, really? I probably could have passed the exam by studying hard and memorizing content before I worked in hospice but the knowledge that I've gained from working in hospice before I took the exam and since is what has made me a valuable hospice nurse, not an exam.
BTW, they have really changed things up since I first got certified in 2012. I'm not sure if initial certification still consists of taking an exam, but to get recertified you have to provide evidence from a combination of areas such as working in hospice/palliative, having an allotted number of continuing ed hours in hospice/palliative, and any teaching and/or management experience in hospice/palliative. I think the fourth area involves having done writing or any other kind of media production related to hospice/palliative nursing, but I could be wrong on that one because I just used a combination of the first three. You have to accrue so many points in at least three out of those four areas, if I remember correctly. It is not easy, an exam would have been much easier.
Almost all of the big certifications these days (OCN, WOCN, CCRN, CHPN) allow you to recertify via either re-testing or a combination of experience/education. And most require a minimum of hours in the field. I am semi-retired now and worried about getting enough hours to qualify for my certification next time!
Hi. I was lurking allnurses and this post was the closest to my situation. I have no in patient hospice hours but I currently work In a busy critical care unit for 9 years. We deal with a lot of comfort measures, palliative care, and frequently deal with family issues regarding end of life. I currently also have my CCRN
I just want to comment that it's possible to pass the test. I just took it today and passed. Studied off the HPNA study guide and an app on my iPhone.
But I must add that because of my CCC experience I was very familiar with all of the meds and symptom management.
TammyG
434 Posts
There is no work requirement. I took the test years ago without any hospice experience (though I had oncology). It would be wonderful for you to develop a hospice service in your community. Wonder where you will have to go to take the test ???!!!!