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CPN Preparation and Resources

The Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB) provides a comprehensive detailed content outline for the Certified Pediatric Nurse (CPN) exam. This outline acts as a strategic guide, helping candidates identify core areas of focus such as health promotion, assessment, care planning, and professional responsibilities.

BoardCerts incorporates these recommended resources and the CPN exam blueprint into the development of its question banks, ensuring accuracy, relevance, and alignment with the essential competencies of pediatric nursing.

Key Concepts on CPN Exam

Exam Categories: Percentage Distribution

CPN Blueprint and Focus Areas

Area of FocusSubtopicsNumber of QuestionsPercent of Exam

Health Promotion

  • Customize health promotion by considering factors like genetics, environment, and early birth history that affect the child, family, or community.
  • Offer age-appropriate education and guidance on topics like growth, safety, nutrition, preventive care, mental health, risk behaviors, and building resilience.
  • Connect families with community resources when additional support or services are needed.

34

23%

Assessment

  • Physical e.g. Conduct a comprehensive, developmentally appropriate assessment of the child's health, including history, physical and developmental status, pain, nutrition, function, safety risks, and signs of maltreatment or substance-related concerns.
  • Psychosocial e.g. Evaluate the child and family's emotional, social, cultural, and environmental factors including stressors, mental health, risk behaviors, understanding of care, and coping abilities to support holistic health and well-being.

53

35%

Planning and Management

  • Care for short-term and long-term physical and behavioral health needs e.g. Provide safe, effective, and individualized nursing care by collaborating with the health care team, using assessment data to guide interventions, managing pain, adapting to the child's responses and needs, and planning for ongoing or transitional care.
  • Psychosocial and family centered care e.g. Deliver compassionate, family-centered care by respecting cultural, spiritual, and individual identities, addressing barriers, promoting communication and developmentally appropriate support, involving the family in care planning, and providing education, trauma-informed care, and grief support.
  • End of Life Care e.g. Palliative care, quality of life, and care during dying process.

50

33%

Professional Responsibilities

  • Advocate for the needs of children and families in both individual care and broader health policies.
  • Address ethical, legal, and professional responsibilities, including confidentiality, reporting, and maintaining boundaries.
  • Collaborate with the care team, manage priorities, and support well-being for yourself and your colleagues.

13

9%

CPN Resources

The BoardCerts CPN question bank is expertly designed to align with the official exam blueprint, ensuring candidates focus on the most relevant topics for success.

In addition, PNCB lists the following resources as additional materials to support preparation:

  • Child Health Nursing: Partnering with Children and Families, Elsevier
  • Essentials of Pediatric Nursing, Wolters Kluwer
  • Leadership and Nursing Care Management, Elsevier
  • Neinstein’s Adolescent and Young Adult Health Care: A Practical Guide, Wolters Kluwer
  • Pediatric Physical Examination: An Illustrated Handbook, Elsevier
  • Principles of Pediatric Nursing: Caring for Children, Elsevier
  • Wong's Essentials of Pediatric Nursing, Elsevier
  • Wong's Nursing Care of Infants and Children, Elsevier
  • Pediatric Nursing Certification Review, Pearson
  • Lippincott Nursing Procedures, Wolters Kluwer
  • Lexicomp Pediatric & Neonatal Dosage Handbook, Lexicomp
  • Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, American Academy of Pediatrics

Additionally, PNCB offers a CPN Exam Resources page, where additional resources can be viewed: CPN Resources

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