Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (CPNP)

Posted by How Much It Cost on Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner specializes in assessing, diagnosing, and treating pediatric patients with acute or chronic pediatric diseases and it's available for those Nurse Practitioners who practice in acute or primary care.

The Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner exam is offered throughout the year at various testing centers throughout the United States. To take the Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner certification exam, the applicant must have a Master's Degree from an accredited Nurse Practitioner program with specialization in Acute Care or Primary Care along with an active Registered Nurse license.

To complete the listed acute care or primary care skills, the documentation must be submitted verifying the Nurse Practitioner's ability and must be verified by a colleague.

The fee to take CPNP is $385 for both Acute Care and Primary Care Nurse Practitioners.

Re-certification of the Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner certified requires various continuing education, employment, and self-assessment activities.

The Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner exam consists of 200 questions and 3 ½ hours are allotted to complete it. The questions focus on the Nurse Practitioner's assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of the pediatric patient. Questions specific to disease states are included, along with physiologic affects of pediatric illness. There are also questions pertaining to educating the patient and family regarding illness in a child.

The guidelines that must be met for re-certification can be found on the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board website.

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