CPN Recert FAQs
Find the answers to common questions below. If you don't see the answer you need, consult your CPN Recert Guide or email recert@pncb.org for assistance.
RECERT BASICS
You can access your digital wallet card at any time by logging in to Profile & Wallet Card. Your wallet card updates 15 minutes after Recert payment is processed.
No. A current, active, and unencumbered license is required to maintain your certification.
HOW TO RECERTIFY
From November 1 through January 31 login to your portal to complete your application.
TRACKING MY RECERT HISTORY
Log in to your Recert Dashboard to see where you are in your 7-year Recert tracking cycle.
Log in to your ReCErt Tracker to see your past Recert enrollment submissions.
CONTACT HOURS/ CONTINUING EDUCATION
Continuing education includes lectures, seminars, conferences, online education, grand rounds, etc. that you attend as a learning exercise. Contact hours can be earned for attending a continuing education course. Review your recertification guide for more information about contact hours.
Review your recertification guide to see what other options are available to you, including Professional Practice Learning (PPL), free CE resources, academic credit, and Pediatric Updates.
Yes, you may apply the remainder to the following year as long as the contact hours are earned within 24 months preceding your Recert enrollment application date.
You must document 15 earned contact hours.
Review your recertification guide for specific information on accepted contact hour content for your certification, as well as a list of accepted agencies.
No, you will attest that the continuing education was completed. Certificates are required when your application is audited.
CLINICAL PRACTICE HOURS
No. For PNCB Recert, 200 clinical practice hours can count as 5 contact hours, and 400 clinical practice hours can count as 10 contact hours.
Clinical practice hours are work or volunteer hours that involve the direct "hands-on" assessment or clinical management of pediatric patients or indirect care such as management, charting, supervision or education of other personnel or students to help achieve patient care goals.
Yes, faculty can count direct clinical supervision of students in the same certification specialty and teaching class time that awards academic credit to students.
ACADEMIC CREDIT
Courses must be relevant to your certification specialty, and you must be the learner, not the instructor. DNP courses are accepted for CPNP Recert; however, these cannot be courses completed in the program you used to meet exam eligibility requirement
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE LEARNING (PPL)
PPL is equivalent to 5 contact hours for your Recert.
Lectures of at least one hour in length that are sponsored by an employer, a membership or educational organization, and awards CE to attendees. Learning objectives and a reference list must have been provided and the content must be related to pediatric nursing or nursing leadership.
CPNs can count hours precepting RN or BSN students but not practical nurses.
Your poster must be related to pediatric nursing or nursing practice in addition to being accepted by the organization you are presenting to.
Authorship must have been for a peer-reviewed journal article or textbook contribution and may be co-authored, and be nursing-related professional articles and use professional references.
Yes, an unpublished or published doctoral dissertation/capstone project or master's thesis meets this requirement.
No.
Yes, membership on a committee at a state or national level as an officer or committee member of a task force related to pediatric nursing can be used for recertification.
Examples of awards include but are not limited to: PNCB, Society of Pediatric Nurses (SPN), or National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) annual awards, Daisy Award, Nightingale Award, GEM Award, or Magnet Nurse of the Year.
MISCELLANEOUS
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