Nursing, Nursing RN, Exam Prep
The Ins and Outs of Being a CHPN®
Jun 19, 2019
(With excerpts from Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse (CHPN) Exam Review, by Patricia Moyle Wright, PhD, CRNP, CNS, CHPN, CNE
Thinking about the next step in your career? The nursing profession is a robust field, with certifications running the gamut of clinical, managerial, and educational specialties. But which is the best choice for you? Here, we’ll take a deep dive into what it means to be a Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse®.
What Does a CHPN Do?
Also known by its acronym, CHPN, a Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse provides pain management and personal care to patients at the end of their lives as well as emotional support to both the patient and family. They are liaisons to other members of the care team, such as physicians and spiritual leaders, and may work in a hospice (inpatient or home based), hospital, or nursing home.
The most important traits of an effective CHPN are sympathy and resilience. All of your patients will be at the end of their lives, and you will need to be sympathetic to both the patient’s and family’s situation. You’ll need to remember that this may be the first time a family has experienced the death of a loved one, even though you may have helped hundreds of families through this before. The emotional strain of a patient’s death can be easy to take home with you, and you’ll need to be able to separate work from your home life. One way to do this is to remind yourself that you are helping a patient maintain his or her dignity in the last days of his or her life and that you were able to support the patient's family during a time of distress.
How Do I Become a CHPN?
To become a CHPN you must hold an active RN license and have a certain number of hours of practice, which you can learn more about here (link to How to Certify article). You’ll then need to pass the CHPN exam offered by the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA). This certification needs to be renewed every four years.
Are You Preparing for the Exam?
For more study options, check out Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse (CHPN) Exam Review, featuring 300 Q&As with detailed answer rationales to help you make the grade!
Resources:
What is hospice nursing? (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.registerednursing.org/specialty/hospice-nurse/
What are the pros and cons of hospice nursing? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://nursejournal.org/hospice-nursing/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-hospice-nursing/
Wright, P. M. (2019). Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse (CHPN) Exam Review. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.