The Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner certification is available to those Nurse Practitioners who practice in acute or primary care. The Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner specializes in assessing, diagnosing, and treating pediatric patients with acute or chronic pediatric diseases as well as seeing children for well-child visits and other common concerns.
In order to take the Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner certification exam, the applicant must have a Master’s Degree from an accredited Nurse Practitioner program with specialization in Acute Care or Primary Care along with an active Registered Nurse license.
The Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner exam is offered throughout the year at various testing centers throughout the United States. The exam fee is $385 for both Acute Care and Primary Care Nurse Practitioners.
The exam is 175 questions (150 are scored, 25 are pre-test) with 3 hours to complete the exam.
Questions focus on the Nurse Practitioner’s assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of the pediatric patient.
Questions specific to disease states are included, along with physiologic affects of pediatric illness. There are also questions pertaining to educating the patient and family regarding illness in a child.
Recertification of the Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner certified requires various continuing education, and self-assessment activities. This varies for the Acute Care and Primary Care Nurse Practitioner.
The guidelines that must be met for recertification can be found on the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board website.