Completely free
No account walls, no upsell
Free exam prep for every test — 20,000+ exam pages and 2.4M+ practice questions.
Open free CPN Exam prep resources ↗Exam facts & prep options
Certified Pediatric Nurse (CPN) Exam
The Certified Pediatric Nurse (CPN) exam is the national board certification examination of the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB): a linear (non-adaptive) 175-item multiple-choice computer-based exam (25 unscored pretest items, 150 scored) with 3 hours of testing time, delivered at PSI test centers or by live remote proctoring, for experienced pediatric RNs.
Official exam siteJump to prep options ↓
Questions175 multiple-choice items, of which 25 are non-scored pretest items randomly distributed throughout the exam (150 scored)
Testing time3 hours (180 minutes)
ScoringCriterion-referenced pass/fail; minimum passing score set by the Angoff method and statistically equated across forms; reported on a 200–800 scale with a scaled score of 400 corresponding to the pass point
Exam feeUSD 309 initial exam fee (includes a USD 103 non-refundable registration fee); USD 252 non-refundable re-exam fee; USD 134 non-refundable testing window extension fee; USD 45 SPN member discount on the initial exam only; employer 'No Pass, No Pay' program available (fees effective October 1, 2025)
Prep options
Study resources for CPN Exam
Independent prep
Courses and study resources
Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- PNCB
- Category
- Specialty Nursing Certification
- Current version
- Current specification; no public version label (criterion-referenced exam built to the current CPN exam content outline; handbook fee schedule effective October 1, 2025)
- Where it applies
- International / multi-country
- Exam languages
- English
- Score scale
- 200–800 (400 = pass point)
- Testing provider
- PSI Services, LLC
- Format
- Computer-based exam at PSI test centers (300+ locations) or by live remote proctoring (LRP) from home
- Availability
- Offered year-round; after application approval each candidate is assigned a 90-day testing window and schedules with PSI (rescheduling allowed up to 48 hours before the appointment)
- Results
- Unofficial preliminary pass/fail status shown on-screen at the end of the exam attempt; official pass/fail results emailed by PNCB usually within 2–3 weeks after testing (no results by phone; passers do not receive a numeric scaled score)
- Credential validity
- Certification is maintained through PNCB's annual Recertification Program (recertification each year between November 1 and January 31), not by exam score validity
- Remote testing
- Available
Exam structure
One linear (non-adaptive) 175-item multiple-choice exam — all items are presented and the exam does not end when a passing score is determined — with 25 randomly distributed unscored pretest items; content follows the CPN exam content outline; item types include multiple-choice questions with one correct answer, some with images/tables
Where rules vary
U.S. national board certification for pediatric RNs; candidates must hold a current unrestricted RN license in the U.S., Canada, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Pediatric nursing experience must have taken place in U.S. or Canadian facilities, except that international practice experience is accepted with an active U.S. RN license. The exam itself is one uniform English-language form set.
Eligibility
Current, valid, unrestricted, unencumbered RN license (U.S., Canada, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, or U.S. Virgin Islands) plus either 1,800 hours as an RN in pediatric nursing within the past 24 months, or 5 years as an RN in pediatric nursing with 3,000 pediatric hours in the last 5 years (minimum 1,000 within the past 24 months); all candidates must also complete PNCB's free 'Ethics in Testing' CE module before applying
Retake policy
Unsuccessful candidates may apply to retest (USD 252) only after official results are received; eligibility requirements must be re-met each time; a different exam form and a new 90-day testing window are assigned