What are the CNA renewal requirements for Washington State?

Question

I am a full time nursing student in Washington State. I got my CNA license last year, but being a full time student have not worked in the field since then for pay. How many hours need to be completed in the field to keep my certification up? Do my clinical hours in nursing school in the field count toward this, or do the hours need to be paid employee hours?

Answer 1

According to the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, for OBRA registry purposes (your running work history) you have to show that you’ve worked a minimum eight (8) hour shift every two (2) years. If you meet this requirement, they add two (2) years to your expiration date. You would have to retrain and retest all over again if you let your certification expire because you do not meet the work requirement. For OBRA registry purposes only paid work counts and no volunteer work counts. The Washington Department of Health is where you obtain your license and you renew your NAC license annually. Your NAC license expires every year on your birthday and you have to pay a fee to renew it.

Answer 2

As far as I know, you don’t need more than one full day of work for pay to renew your certification and clinical hours in nursing school do not meet the renewal requirement. To remain active on the CNA registry in Washington, a nursing assistant who works in a nursing facility must never have a time period that exceeds two years when he or she does not work for pay as a caregiver. You can check this by calling the registry at 360-725-2570.

Federal regulations state that if a certified nursing assistant has not provided nursing or nursing-related services for monetary compensation within the past twenty-four (24) months and the CNA desires to work in a nursing home, they must retrain and retest. Certified Nursing Assistants have passed all the requirements set forth in the federal regulations in order to work in a nursing home while Registered Nursing Assistants are not allowed to work in a nursing home past their four month window for training and testing. If a nursing assistant certification is not renewed with the Washington State Department of Health within three (3) years, you must retrain and retest regardless of where you want to work as a CNA.

A student or graduate nurse who has successfully completed the comprehensive portion of the nursing assistant curriculum in a state-approved RN or LPN nursing program may be allowed to take the CNA tests without additional training. To do this you must submit to the Washington State Department of Health an official school transcript or an original letter on the school’s letterhead supporting successful completion of the state-approved nursing assistant curriculum. You will receive an email to complete registration if you are approved to test.

Answer 3

This post is intended to help clarify the roles of the Washington Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) Aging and Long-Term Support Administration with regard to CNA certification and testing.

The Washington State Department of Health only requires the certified nursing assistants to pay an annual renewal fee by their expiration date which is the licensee’s birth date, however, the OBRA registry (national nursing assistant registry) requires that you submit continuing education and/or employment hours to maintain your status on the registry.

The Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) ensures that certified nursing assistants meet federal requirements to work in a nursing home while the Department of Health (DOH) assures that each nursing assistant applying for a nursing assistant certification meets minimum requirements to work in any setting as a nursing assistant. If you need additional assistance with competency testing, sanctioned facilities, or the OBRA registry please contact the NATCEP program manager by email at susan.worthington@dshs.wa.gov or call (360) 725-2596. You may also contact the OBRA registry by email at obraregistry@dshs.wa.gov.

Certified nursing assistants receive their testing from DSHS and their training and certification license from DOH. CNA certifications are issued by DOH, as long as there are no grounds for denial of certification, to any applicant who demonstrates that the following requirements have been met:

1. Completion of an approved training program or successful completion of alternate training meeting established criteria approved by the commission, and
2. Successful completion of a competency evaluation test.

If employed in a nursing home, you must have completed training and OBRA testing through DSHS, and get certified/licensed through DOH within four (4) months from day you start work. If employed in a nursing home, you must register with DOH within three (3) days of employment to first obtain a nursing assistant registered (NAR) license.

A Nursing Assistant Registered (NAR) license is issued by the Department of Health to any applicant who pays any applicable fees and submits, on forms provided by DOH, the applicant's name, address, and other information as determined by DOH provided there are no grounds for denial of registration or issuance of a conditional registration. If you are hired by a nursing home to work as a nursing assistant while you are in training, you cannot perform nursing assistant skills for which you have not yet been trained and unprofessional conduct of any kind may result in permanent or temporary loss of a nursing assistant's license.