CNA Certification: How It Works in Every State
CNA certification means your state has listed you on its nurse aide registry after you finished a state-approved training program and passed its competency exam: a written or oral test plus a skills test. Federal rules set the minimum at 75 hours of training, including at least 16 hours of supervised practical training, and 27 states require more. A nursing home can’t use you as a nurse aide for more than 4 months unless you’re certified, and it checks the registry before you start. To stay listed, you have to keep working: 24 months in a row without paid nursing work means retraining or retesting.
Every state runs its own registry, picks its own exam vendor and sets its own renewal rules, so start with your state below.