10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,054-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
The CENP exam has 175 questions and runs 3 hours 30 minutes.
These 10 free CENP questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Certified in Executive Nursing Practice (CENP) blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
Two service line directors have escalated a dispute to the CNO over shared use of a procedural suite. Both have defensible positions, both must continue to collaborate daily, and the decision will set precedent for future capacity allocation. Using the Thomas-Kilmann framework, which mode is MOST appropriate?
Correct answer: C - Collaborating, because both sets of underlying concerns must be integrated
A CNO must present a request for 12 additional RN FTEs to a board finance committee that has recently rejected two nursing proposals. Which approach is MOST likely to succeed?
Correct answer: B - Quantify the projected cost of preventable harm and turnover against the cost of the positions
An experienced nurse administers a look-alike medication after the manufacturer changed its label design. The nurse followed the unit's verification process as written. Under Just Culture principles, the appropriate organizational response is to:
Correct answer: A - Console the nurse and redesign the verification process
A nurse executive is evaluating a proposed change to the sepsis escalation pathway before implementation. Which tool is MOST appropriate?
Correct answer: D - Failure Mode and Effects Analysis of the proposed pathway
A CNO is 14 months into a system-wide virtual nursing rollout. Adoption was strong for the first year, but three of five hospitals have quietly reverted to their prior workflows. The steering committee was disbanded after go-live, and the executive sponsor moved to another system. Applying Kotter's model, the failure is BEST attributed to a breakdown at which step?
Correct answer: A - Instituting change by anchoring the new approach in the culture
A nurse executive is preparing to deploy an AI-driven deterioration prediction model. The vendor reports strong validation performance on its national development cohort. The organization serves a patient population that differs substantially in payer mix and racial composition from that cohort. The MOST important governance action before implementation is to:
Correct answer: C - Validate performance against the organization's own population, stratified by subgroup
During a difficult negotiation over service line consolidation, a CNO notices she is becoming defensive and that her tone has sharpened. She pauses, names her own reaction internally, and then deliberately returns to an inquiring posture. Which Goleman emotional intelligence domain does the PAUSE AND NAME step primarily demonstrate?
Correct answer: A - Self-awareness
A CNO reviews hospital-acquired pressure injury data and finds the overall rate is at benchmark. On closer review, patients with limited English proficiency experience HAPIs at nearly twice the rate of English-speaking patients on the same units. What should the CNO do FIRST?
Correct answer: D - Stratify the remaining nurse-sensitive indicators by language, race, and ethnicity
A medical-surgical unit operates at an average daily census of 19 with a budgeted nurse-to-patient ratio of 1:4. Using a 2,080-hour full-time equivalent, how many worked FTEs are required to staff this unit annually? (Round to the nearest tenth.)
Correct answer: B - 20.0
A unit budgeted 4.2 NHPPD at an average daily census of 30. Actual results for the month show exactly 4.2 NHPPD delivered at an average daily census of 34, producing a significant unfavorable salary expense variance. This variance is BEST classified as:
Correct answer: D - A volume variance, because hours per patient day were delivered exactly as budgeted
The full bank has 1,044 more CENP questions with explanations.
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