Certified in Public Health Nursing

Building a Public Health Nursing Certification

The National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE) has been certifying public health professionals since 2008. Our vision has always been to strengthen the public health profession through certification, which highlights the set of skills and knowledge unique to public health and to ensure the public health workforce is ready.  

In 2015, the NBPHE expanded its original eligibility to include members of the public health workforce without formal academic training in public health. Since then, in addition to certifying public health professionals from many backgrounds and specialty areas, more than 100 public health nurses have become Certified in Public Health. However, there has also been widespread interest in a specialty certification that includes public health nursing science as compared to the more general CPH.   

In response to this interest, NBPHE is developing the Certified in Public Health Nursing (CPHN) certification for public health nurses. The expected purpose of the CPHN is to recognize foundational knowledge and practical application of public health and nursing sciences based on public health nursing competencies. 

A public health nursing certification advisory committee was formed to begin the process. Initial first steps included:  

• Identification of key organizations which should be involved in the development process 
• Establishing preliminary eligibility 
• Determination of certification process
• Construct a Job Task Analysis for dissemination  

CPHN Exam Content

The CPHN certification program covers the areas of knowledge relevant to contemporary public health nursing and general principles. The purpose of the exam is to evaluate a public health nurse's knowledge of these competencies.

NBPHE conducted a CPHN Job Task Analysis (JTA) in 2025.

Explore the CPHN Exam Content Outline page.

The CPHN certification exam will launch in late 2026.

For more information, contact us at [email protected].