IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR INDIVIDUALS TEACHING CPAN®/CAPA® EXAMINATION REVIEW COURSES

ABPANC’s goal is to have as many CPAN and CAPA certified nurses as possible at our patients’ bedsides and we want to see perianesthesia nurses succeed in their certification quest.  To that end, we hope that information offered in CPAN/CAPA Exam Review Courses contains the most up to date and factual information as possible.  We hope that the information that follows will help those teaching CPAN and CAPA exam reviews as well as those individuals studying for certification to use the CPAN and CAPA examination blueprints to their best advantage.

The CPAN and CAPA certification programs are each based on the results of a Role Delineation Study (RDS) or Study of Practice.  A summary of the results of the study, conducted from 1999-2000 is described in the article, “A Study of Perianesthesia Nursing Practice: The Foundation for Newly Revised CPAN and CAPA Certification Examinations” (JOPAN, June, 2001). This study reconceptualized the model on which the CPAN and CAPA examination blueprints were based and the test blueprints for both the CPAN and CAPA examinations were revised.  CPAN and CAPA examinations using the new blueprints were administered for the first time on November 3, 2001. This study of practice validated that perianesthesia patients have certain needs, regardless of the setting in which they receive perianesthesia nursing care.

A more recent study conducted from 2005-2006, resulted in minor changes to the examination blueprints, however the conceptual framework for the examination programs did not change. 

Perianesthesia nurses are tested on whether they have the knowledge required to meet the broader needs exhibited by perianesthesia patients who may be experiencing a wide variety of procedures and/or medical problems.  For example, a physiological patient need is Stability of the Cardiovascular System: Organ Perfusion.  An example of knowledge required to meet that need is knowledge of hemodynamic monitoring.   This patient need and related knowledge transcends a specific procedure and applies to a variety of patient problems – for example, a patient with a feochromocytoma, a child undergoing a T&A that has been feverish recently, a radical prostatectomy with a bowel prep the night before.  A specific disease or patient problem provides the context for applying the knowledge related to hemodynamic stability.  Exam candidates are best prepared if review courses focus on the listing of patient needs and related knowledge –as in the above example, and how they can apply their knowledge of hemodynamic parameters in any situation.
 
The CPAN and CAPA certification examinations (which are national in scope) are designed to test a broad range of knowledge.  Some perianesthesia nurses may have never cared for patients with some of the specific needs found in the blueprint, however, to earn the CPAN or CAPA credential, they need to demonstrate they have the knowledge to care for them.

Those teaching review courses are cautioned against making generalized statements that specific questions are included on the CPAN or CAPA certification examination.  Such statements are misleading and may be untrue.  Each examination is different from one administration to another.  There are over a thousand questions in each of our item banks and exams are assembled using specifications that dictate a certain percentage of questions in a given area.  While we strive to have at least one question on any given patient need, sometimes that may not happen.  Also, some patient needs , as a result of our research, are weighted more heavily than others, thus there will be more questions in that area.  In addition, as noted previously, while a question may focus on hemodynamic monitoring, the context for the question (i.e., cardiac surgery, hypovolemic shock, etc.) will vary. 

As educators we know that you understand our need to protect the confidentiality of the CPAN and CAPA examinations and that you know that maintaining test security is always a challenge.  No one wants students to leave a test and tell their peers what’s on it!   It’s really a challenge with a high stakes national certification exam! 

Test candidates are instructed that they are not to share information about the examination.   In addition, as noted in the Candidate Handbook and Application, “the examination and items contained therein are protected by Federal copyright law.  No part of the examination may be copied or reproduced in part or whole by any means whatsoever, including memorization.”

For complete and accurate information about either the CPAN or CAPA certification examination, please review the CPAN/CAPA Candidate Handbook and Application and the test blueprints that are contained in Appendix B.