How to get a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) license in Louisiana

Louisiana nursing assistant licenses

Louisiana issues 2 nursing assistant credentials. Each has its own section below; the table shows what each one covers and its headline requirements.

Who needs a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) license

Direct patient care in nursing homes, hospital skilled-nursing units and other LDH-licensed settings; certified status is what employers check on the registry before hiring.³

Other rules on who may do this work:

• Nursing facilities and hospital SNF units may employ an aide or trainee for up to 60 days before they must complete an approved training and competency evaluation program; facility-based trainees must train and test within 60 days of hire.²
• Out-of-state aides may work in Louisiana during a declared emergency for up to 30 days on their home-state certification.¹

Requirements for a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) license

Minimum age

16 years old²

Education or training

At least 80 clock hours²

The board's words

“2. The curriculum shall be a minimum of 80 hours in length, which includes 40 classroom hours and 40 clinical hours.”

Who may teach it: Programs must be approved by LDH-HSS: community colleges, vocational-technical programs, other educational entities, and nursing facilities (which may train but not test). LDH charges no program-approval fee.²
Alternative: RN/LPN students who completed enough nursing course content may test without a CNA program if they apply within 3 years of the course (LA Nurse Aide Certification - Approval to Test Application).⁴
Alternative: Military-trained personnel (military transcript, DD-214), RNs/LPNs trained abroad, and RNs/LPNs on probation or suspension may be approved to test.⁴

Exam

Louisiana Nurse Aide Competency Evaluation (written or oral exam plus skills demonstration)³
Given by: Prometric or Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS)⁶
When you can take it: After finishing an approved program; trainees from non-facility programs must test within 30 days of completing training. Submit the vendor application with payment to schedule.²
Written exam, or an oral version for limited literacy (with a reading-comprehension portion)²
Skills demonstration: at least five randomly selected tasks²
Retakes: Up to three attempts within one year of completing training.²
Time limit: One year from completing training (RN/LPN student and military candidates: one attempt within 12 months of the approval letter).²
Exam waived: Reciprocity (Prometric Route 8) needs no testing.⁶

Background check

Background check required²
Barred from training if convicted of abusing, neglecting or mistreating the elderly or infirm or of misappropriating a resident's property, or with a registry finding. Other criminal history does not stop training. Employers may not hire a CNA convicted of a non-hirable offense under R.S. 40:1203.3, and must check the registry, the adverse actions list and the OIG LEIE before hiring and monthly.⁷

Social Security number

Registry records are keyed to SSN; reciprocity applicants send a copy of their Social Security card, and RN/LPN/military applicants include it with the Approval to Test application.⁸

How to apply

1. Choose an LDH-approved Nurse Aide Training Program (list on the LDH Nurse Aide Training Schools page); you must be at least 16 and pass the program's criminal background check.²
2. Complete the 80-hour program (40 classroom + 40 clinical) and get your certificate of completion.²
3. Apply and pay to test with Prometric or LCTCS; take the written/oral and skills exams (within 30 days of finishing a non-facility program).³ prometric.com⁴
4. Passing results are reported to the registry; check your listing at tlc.dhh.la.gov (LDH does not issue paper proof).³

Application form

Form (PDF, ldh.la.gov)⁹

Temporary or provisional license

No temporary certificate; employers may use a trainee for up to 60 days.²

Processing time

Training programs/testing entities must report passing candidates to the registry within 30 days.²

Renewal and continuing education

How often

Every 2 years³

When it expires

Automatic: recertified at midnight on the expiry date if an employer has reported the required work history to the registry during the 24-month period; CNAs cannot report their own hours.⁴

Required topics

Work requirement: at least 8 paid hours of nursing or nursing-related duties in each 24 months in an approved LDH-licensed setting (private sitting and most staffing-agency work do not count).²

If it expires

Lapsed for lack of work history: one retest (both parts) within two years after expiry; failing either part, or missing the two-year window, means retraining.⁴
If the work was done but not reported, ask the employer to submit the work history; status returns to Certified once verified.⁴

Moving to Louisiana with a license from another state

These are the routes the Louisiana Nurse Aide Registry publishes for the Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) license. The other nursing assistant licenses have their own routes in their sections below.

Military service members, veterans and spouses: Military-trained personnel may test for certification without a CNA program after LDH approval (military transcript and DD-214).²

Medication Attendant Certified (MAC)

A CNA who gives medications in licensed long-term care facilities (nursing homes and adult residential care providers) under delegation of an RN and direct supervision of an on-site licensed nurse; no more than two MACs per licensed nurse.⁵

Requirements

Minimum age

18 years old²

High school diploma or GED

Required²

Education or training

At least 120 clock hours²
State-approved MAC training program: 120-hour core curriculum incl. at least 45 clinical hours, plus a facility orientation; English at an eighth-grade level shown by the program's entry placement test.²
Who may teach it: Department-approved MAC training and competency evaluation programs with approved RN/LPN instructors; clinicals in an approved LLCF at no more than 5 trainees per instructor.²

Experience

At least 1 year²
At least one year's experience in a licensed long-term care facility, and employed there as a CNA on the first day of MAC training.²
License you must hold first: Louisiana Certified Nurse Aide in good standing²

Exam

MAC competency evaluation (written exam plus skills) set by the training entity²
Given by: The MAC training entity or another LDH-approved organization²
Passing score: Programs must use a pass rate of at least 80 percent for each student.²
When you can take it: At the end of the MAC training program; the training entity notifies the registry within 15 days of a pass.²
Exam waived: Reciprocity for MACs certified in another state.²

Background check

Background check required²
Statewide State Police criminal background/security check within 90 days of starting the MAC program, plus periodic drug testing; a MAC must report any arrest.²

Social Security number

U.S. citizen or legal alien with DHS documentation.²

Also required

Health and physical examination required.²

Also required

Must work in an LLCF approved for the MAC program.²

How to apply

1. Be a Louisiana CNA in good standing employed in a MAC-approved long-term care facility, with 1 year of LLCF experience, a high school diploma/GED, age 18+, a physical, and a State Police background check.²
2. Complete the 120-hour state-approved MAC training program and its competency evaluation.²
3. The training entity reports you to the MAC registry; your initial certification letter is valid 12 months.⁵

Processing time

Training entity notifies the registry within 15 days after a trainee passes.²

Renewal

When it expires

Before expiry, submit a signed attestation of the current MAC rules, proof of 4 hours of state-approved medication-administration CE, and proof of at least 400 hours worked as a MAC in an LLCF in the previous 12 months; must remain a CNA in good standing with no MAC findings.²

Continuing education

At least 4 hours each renewal period²

Required topics

Medication administration²

Approved courses

State-approved CE from an approved institution.²

If it expires

Expired: no medication administration until reissued. Reissue needs 400 hours worked as a MAC in the last 12 months plus a signed attestation within 30 days of expiry, or 40 hours of re-orientation by an RN within 12 months of expiry. Not meeting renewal/reissue within 12 months of expiry counts as voluntary surrender.²

From another state

City and county rules

Certified Nurse Aide (CNA)No local license: the CNA is a statewide LDH certification.³

Medication Attendant Certified (MAC)No local license: the MAC is a statewide LDH certification.²

Check a license or report a problem

Before you hire a nursing assistant in Louisiana, you can confirm the license is current on the board's own search. Every board we cover in Louisiana is on the Louisiana license lookup page.

Look up a license

tlc.dhh.la.gov³

Laws and rules

The requirements above come from these laws and board rules.

• 42 CFR 483.150-483.158 (nurse aide training, competency evaluation and registry)
• LAC 48:I Chapter 100, Subchapters A-D (Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation Program; Nurse Aide Registry) - LDH-hosted compilation, September 2025
• La. R.S. 40:1203.1 et seq. (criminal history checks on nonlicensed persons)
• LAC 48:I Chapter 100, Subchapter G (Medication Attendant Certified), §§10080-10091 - LDH-hosted compilation, September 2025

Rule changes since January 2024

• September 11, 2025: LDH reciprocity procedure revised: Route 8 application through Prometric with a $35 fee; LA registry no longer gives written verifications.⁸

Common questions

Certified nursing assistant (CNA) licenses in other states

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
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• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Kentucky
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
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• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Texas
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• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wyoming