The nursing certification process is a voluntary process that an individual nurse undertakes to validate the knowledge, skill, and expertise acquired in a specialized field of nursing, beyond the general skills and knowledge obtained during nursing school. The validation of those skills is usually measured by taking a certification exam, which is usually overseen by a nongovernmental certifying organization.
The credentials CPON stand for Certified Pediatric Oncology Nurse and are sponsored by the Oncology Nursing Society. The CPON credentials encourage nurses to obtain a standard of knowledge that earns them the right to use the CPON credentials after their name. This process serves to further enhance the quality of care in pediatric oncology nursing and to convey outwardly to the community and peers the professionalism and abilities of the individual nurse. The exam is a benchmark by which the nurse’s ability to practice at a basic level within the specialty is measured.
The CPON Certification Process
To qualify to sit for the CPON exam the nurse must have a current, unrestricted license to practice nursing within the United States. The nurse must also meet a practice requirement of 1,000 hours in pediatric oncology nursing within the two-and-one-half years before application and one year experience as a registered nurse. Additionally the nurse must have completed 10 continuing education units or 1 academic elective in oncology within the last three years.
The CPON exam is a 165-item multiple-choice test. One hundred forty-five of the test items are used to derive the candidate’s score. The other twenty questions are questions that are being validated for possible use in future versions of the CPON exam. The candidate will have a maximum allotted time of three hours in which to finish the exam.
Candidates who wish to renew their CPON status must meet the same practice and experience requirements as they did to initially certify, and their nursing license must be current and unrestricted.
The OCN Board website has a candidate handbook available for download free of charge. The handbook outlines the eligibility criteria, the exam process, and contains a test content outline and suggested references for study. The candidate should consult the handbook throughout the certification process and use the study materials as a guide to plan and direct study needs in order to have the best chance of passing the exam.