A CNA license is necessary for any nursing aide who wants to work in the healthcare industry. This includes hospitals, long-term facilities like nursing homes and rehabilitation centers as well as more local agencies that provide home care services or acute treatment options such as hospice programs.

If you’re looking to get a CNA license and want to know what it takes, this blog post is for you. We’ll go over the steps of getting your license in detail and give some helpful tips that will help make the process easier.

Contents

Step 1: Complete an Approved CNA Program

Your first step should be to complete an approved 75-120 hour program. Approved programs are conducted by vocational schools, community colleges and hospitals too! The educational level necessary to be a Certified Nursing Assistant is assessed by the CNA license. It’s nothing but written proof that proves possession of all skills and talent for nursing assistants to practice their work.

Nursing assistants are the backbone of medical professionals. They work in hospitals, nursing homes and other similar facilities to make sure that their RNs get all the support they need when it comes time for them to do a job like:

Feeding patients
Helping them bathe
Giving medicines as per the prescriptions
Monitoring their health regularly
Reporting each and every significant change in patient’s health to doctors
Comforting the patients, re-positioning them
Communicating between patients and doctors

All the tasks performed by the nursing assistants are quite responsible and challenging, thus require a lot of skill and dedication. These qualities are developed during training. CNA training prepares students to acquire the essential knowledge related to nursing as well as the skills that are required to work as professionals in nursing homes and hospitals.

Taking the CNA course gives the certification to the students, but getting the license makes it sure that the certified nursing assistant can now work at recognized institutions as a professional nursing assistant. That license acts as proof of the abilities of the student for the employers.

Step 2: Pass the CNA License Exam

Your next step is to pass the CNA state exam. After completing your CNA Course you have to successfully pass the state exam to get the certification and the license.

Below are some facts you should know about the exam:

The exam comprises of 2 tests – technical/theory exam and practical/clinical test
Both these tests are to be passed separately by the students and then only, they can get the certificate and the license
The theoretical test is based on the classroom training session whereas the clinical test is based on the practical training session
The theoretical exam as the name says will test your knowledge on the various areas related to the subject.
The theoretical test paper consists of a specified number of multiple-choice questions (MCQs in English only)
Some students find it difficult to solve the paper in English, therefore some states also provide an alternative of the oral exam in other languages for the convenience of the students
The practical test consists of any 5 random clinical tasks to be performed successfully by the students within the given specified time
The clinical exam will test what you have learned in the practical sessions and you should be confident in displaying every skill you learned during your training.
The instructor will be present during both the tests to monitor the task of the students
You have to pay a specific amount of fee to set at the exam

Apart from the above information, we have a detailed post on the CNA exam here.

How do I get my exam results? The CNA license exam results are now available on the internet! If you passed both tests, get your certification and a CNA license by checking online. If you pass one of the 2 tests and fail in another, a retest is taken for that paper only. If you fail both two papers, then it’s back to school (literally) with all your work cut out for next year!

The majority of states permit students to challenge the exam three times within their completion of a CNA training program. If they do not pass after 3 attempts, it is mandatory for them to retake classes at the institution where they originally enrolled and pay on-site tuition. A few institutions offer free class attendees from the institute as repeaters with similar financial needs who have been unable to clear all the exams.

Step 3: Get the CNA License

If you successfully pass the exam, this is your next step. One should follow the following steps to obtain the CNA license –

Fill in the application form provided by the state licensing authority
Send the notarized form to the state licensing office
Accomplish the verification form required to verify the accreditation of the school from which you have taken CNA classes
Submit medical card, fingerprint card and the proofs of background check to the Department of Public safety
On getting approval, be prepared for the fees for licensing (can vary from state to state)
Obtain your CNA license only after you get the notification about the same

Wondering how a CNA license looks like? That may vary from state to state, Here is an example of a CNA license in Idaho.

If you have followed those steps, you are an officially certified nursing assistant and can work at various healthcare centres. But, There’s more, we have some additional information below that might help you in a long run.

Verify the License

To make sure that your CNA license is not expired, it’s a good idea to verify the status of the certification every few months. Below is a different way to verify your earned CNA license.

Search for the address of the State’s Nurse Aide Registry and the local address of the licensing authority, and contact either by calling or by sending email
Check for the online process of verification or status update (some states may also inform the status of the license through the online system of verification)
Visit the licensing authority’s office personally, if the online verification system is not available, then carry along the certificate, number, serial number, issue date and other relevant documents that might be required for verification
Deposit the fees demanded by the authority for the verification purpose
Request the licensing authority to post a hard copy of the license to your mailing address and also ask them to send a copy via email

Steps for Renewal of CNA License

The CNA license has an expiry date. It must be renewed every time it expires, or the holder will lose their rights to practice as a nurse’s aide in most states.

The renewal process are as follows:

First, obtain the renewal form and fill the details in it
Obtain the second section of the form filled by the employer (current or within past 24 months)
After completing the filling of the form, email it to the mailing address of the respective state’s licensing board
Keep checking for the status of renewal online through their official website
The license renewal may take a maximum of 2 weeks.

Those are the basic information on license renewal, Want to know more? Read this post.

Transfer of CNA License

The CNA license transformation process are as follows:

Contact the nurse aide registry of your own state (by phone or email)
Ask for the application form and fill in the details
Submit the completed application form to the nurse aide registry, along with your current contact information
Contact the new state’s nurse aide registry and ask them about the submission of the completed application form for the reciprocity (submission by email/post or in-person)
Don’t forget to inquire about the delivery of your new CNA license
Be in touch with the nurse aide registries of both the states regularly so as to avoid any complications

Documents for the Application of Reciprocity

Identity card (mostly driver’s license)
The approval from your state’s nursing registry
Proof indicating whether you are working as a certified nursing aide within the past 2 years
Latest payslip
Social security card
Educational and background check documents

Reasons for Losing Your CNA License

Failing to complete the renewal procedure before the due date of expiry
Failing to continue the nursing practice within a period of 24 months
Working as a certified nursing assistant, but failing to produce the proof when asked for
Losing the permit at the workplace or anywhere and failing to find it back

Advantages of the CNA License

It helps the students to get paid higher
It is considered as a proof of skills, talent, and efficiency of the students in nursing
It helps to acquire many opportunities to work at different health organizations

However, it is essential to obtain the hard copy of the CNA license, as it bears the original seal of the issuing authority. This hard copy can also be presented to the employers whenever required or to any independent verification agency for verification.

Why Should You Protect Your License?

Many nurses rank “nursing school” as one of their most stressful life experiences. Other nurses would say that taking the license exam was an even worse experience.

When a new nurse enters the workforce, protecting their hard-earned nursing license is a top priority. As time passes, most seasoned nurses relax somewhat. They may still worry about it, although not with the same level of obsessiveness as they did before.

There are several reasons to remain conscientious about protecting your CNA license.

The actions you take to protect your CNA license can increase the quality of patient care outcomes.
Losing your nursing license can be a traumatic life event and would surely top the stress of nursing school.
You would be protecting your time and monetary investment by keeping your license.
You would avoid the legal ramifications associated with losing your license.

How to Protect Your CNA License?

Many factors can contribute to the protection of your CNA license such as careful thorough charting and completing the necessary requirements to keep your license. However, there are two global categories that many of these factors can be placed in:

Use critical thinking and self-reflection in everything you do as a CNA.
Learn to say “no” while dismissing judgmental opinions.

For example, one way is to conduct a self-evaluation, reflect on the results using critical thinking, and carry out an action plan.

For example, one self-reflection question (as you do start to self reflect you will think of more) is to ask yourself “What skills am I most competent at and in what areas are my nursing skills weak?”

Now compare it to your peers and employer’s evaluations.

Do their evaluations match your conceived nursing skills self-image?
If not, why not?
Are you being defensive if your self-assessment does not match another person’s assessment of your skills?
Is your self-assessment accurate, or do others have valid points about your performance and clinical decision-making skills?

You need to have an open mind when doing this exercise and form your answers using critical thinking and not emotion.

After assessing your nursing strengths and weakness, make a plan of action to work on skills that you feel could increase your competency level. Your weak skills could be your downfall and lead to mistakes that put your license and patient at risk. Although an imbalanced sense of self could result in the failure to pay close attention to details when performing your highly self-rated skills. These skills are often performed on “autopilot” and have room for error.

The other category that contributes to the safety of your nursing license is not caring what people think about you. What does this mean? Do you worry that if you ask for help or the advice of more experienced nurses that you will be seen as incompetent?

Many nurses simply refuse to ask for help. However, consider the ramifications of performing skills or acting on the knowledge that you are unsure of. When a situation occurs that you need help, ask for it, because the patient’s safety and your license depend on it.

What about working that overtime shift your co-workers or manager is pressuring you to sign up for?

In your heart, you know that working another shift will leave you dead on your feet and unable to function properly. But, the unit is short-staffed and you worry about what they will think if you say no. It does not matter what they think! Protect yourself and your patients by mustering up the courage to say no.

We hope this blog post has been helpful and informative. If you need more information, please feel free to contact us or visit our other posts for further guidance. Good luck!