How to get a Certified Nursing Assistant-I (CNA-I) license in Maryland

Maryland nursing assistant licenses

Maryland issues 3 nursing assistant credentials. Each has its own section below; the table shows what each one covers and its headline requirements.

Applies to every license level

These rules are the same for several of the Maryland nursing assistant licenses on this page, so they are shown once here, with the licenses they apply to. Each license's own section lists only what differs.

1. Every license level (all 3)

How to apply

Apply online

mdchart.health.maryland.gov¹²

Renewal

How often

Every 2 years⁶

Renewal fee

$40⁵

Late renewal

Late renewal fee: $50¹³

Renew online

mdchart.health.maryland.gov¹²

2. Every license level except Certified Nursing Assistant-II (CNA-II)

Renewal

If it expires

No 16 hours of paid nursing-assistant work in 2 years: a CNA-I must take and pass the nursing assistant competency evaluation.¹⁴
30-day grace period after expiry to renew; practicing more than 30 days after expiry without renewing can bring a civil fine of up to $50.¹⁴
Reinstatement: the Board reinstates a non-renewed certificate if you meet the renewal requirements; after 1 year or more you must also complete a criminal history records check.¹⁵

3. Every license level except Certified Medicine Aide (CMA)

Requirements

Background check

Background check required⁴⁶
Fingerprints required⁴¹⁶
The Board weighs age at the time of the crime, circumstances, time elapsed, later work history, references and other evidence of risk; it cannot issue a certificate until the criminal history record is received and reviewed. A record of abuse, negligence or misappropriation, or discipline in another state, bars certification.³

Fees

Each line is a separate charge as the board lists it. The board does not publish a combined total, so none is shown here.

Renewal

When it expires

Renew every 2 years by the 28th of your birth month (odd/even year by birth year) in CHART: renewal application, $40 fee, proof of 16 hours of paid work as a nursing assistant in the previous 2 years, a criminal history records check if scheduled for your birth month (2026: September/October births; 2027: October/November), and attestation of an approved implicit bias and structural racism training at your first renewal after April 1, 2026. The Board sends a notice at least 3 months ahead.¹⁴

Required topics

Implicit bias and structural racism (approved program; attestation at first renewal after April 1, 2026)¹⁷

Who needs a Certified Nursing Assistant-I (CNA-I) license

For pay, routinely performs nursing tasks delegated by an RN, LPN or APRN (or technical tasks delegated by a licensed certified midwife), in any practice setting including nursing facilities. Since April 1, 2026 all new CNAs are certified as CNA-I; former geriatric nursing assistants (GNAs) and certified medicine aides became CNA-I.⁹

Work that does not need this license:

• A person may practice as a CNA-I for less than 4 months under 42 CFR 483.35(d) before certification; nursing and nursing-assistant students under supervision, and gratuitous family care, are exempt.¹⁸

Requirements for a Certified Nursing Assistant-I (CNA-I) license

More rules for this license are shared with other levels: group 1, group 2 and group 3 under Applies to every license level.

Minimum age

16 years old³

Education or training

At least 100 clock hours²
Complete a Board-approved nursing assistant training program of at least 100 hours: at least 60 hours of didactic and classroom-lab training (including at least 16 hours of in-person lab) and at least 40 hours of supervised clinical training, at least 16 of them in long-term care or care of elderly/chronically ill people.²
Who may teach it: Programmes must be approved by the Board (with the Maryland Higher Education Commission) and teach the content of 42 CFR 483.152; MBON publishes a list of approved CNA programs (effective 4/1/2026). An acute care nursing assistant program also qualifies.¹⁹
Alternative: Nursing students and graduates whose completed nursing courses the Board finds equivalent (nursing fundamentals, mental health, health assessment, nursing ethics, 42 CFR 483.152(b) content).⁷
Alternative: Service members with military training the Board finds substantially equivalent.⁸
Alternative: Foreign-educated nursing graduates with a transcript evaluation from a Board-approved vendor.²⁰

Exam

Maryland nursing assistant competency evaluation (written or oral exam plus skills evaluation)³
Given by: Credentia²¹
When you can take it: After completing an approved nursing assistant (or acute care nursing assistant) training program or qualifying nursing education; apply to test through a Credentia account.⁷
Written exam: 70 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours (or Oral exam: 60 multiple-choice plus 10 reading comprehension questions)²¹
Skills evaluation: 5 timed skills in 30 minutes, rated by a registered nurse²¹
Retakes: After a first failure you may retake three more times, waiting at least 45 calendar days between attempts; after four failures you must complete a new approved training program.²²
Time limit: Sit for the evaluation within 24 months of meeting the education requirement (service members excepted); otherwise retrain.²²
Exam waived: Certification by endorsement for nursing assistants certified in good standing in a state with essentially similar requirements (no Maryland exam is listed for endorsement).⁷

Also required

Good moral character.³

How much a Certified Nursing Assistant-I (CNA-I) license costs

Each line is a separate charge as the board lists it. The board does not publish a combined total, so none is shown here.

The board's pages we cite do not list the exam fee; check it with the exam provider, Credentia²¹, when you schedule.

How to apply

1. Complete a Board-approved nursing assistant training program (100+ hours).²
2. Create a Credentia account, apply to test and schedule the written (or oral) and skills exams; pass both, within 24 months of finishing training.²²
3. Get fingerprinted for the state (Central Repository) and FBI criminal history records check and pay those fees.⁴
4. Register in MDH CHART and submit the CNA application with the $20 fee; your program coordinator signs/verifies completion. COMAR ties the application to 24 months from finishing training (it reads "after 24 months of the date of completion"; we read it, like the matching exam rule, as a 24-month window). Incomplete applications are abandoned after 12 months.¹²
5. The Board issues the CNA-I certificate after it receives and reviews your criminal history record; check status in the CHART license lookup.²³

Temporary or provisional license

Temporary practice certificate for applicants who meet requirements, have no criminal record and no discipline: valid 90 days, extendable up to 90 more days while awaiting the criminal history check.²³

Renewal and continuing education

Moving to Maryland with a license from another state

These are the routes the Maryland Board of Nursing publishes for the Certified Nursing Assistant-I (CNA-I) license. The other nursing assistant licenses have their own routes in their sections below.

Certified Medicine Aide (CMA)

A certified nursing assistant (CNA-I) who has completed a Board-approved medication administration course and is certified as a medicine aide; counted as a CNA-I.⁹

Requirements

Education or training

At least 60 clock hours¹⁰
Board-approved CMA program of at least 60 hours: at least 30 clock hours of theory and 30 clock hours of supervised clinical training in a COMAR 10.07.02 facility; admission needs a positive recommendation from your facility's director of nursing. Programmes are run by community colleges.¹¹
Who may teach it: Board-approved CMA programs (listed on the MBON approved programs grid).¹¹

Experience

At least 1 year¹¹
Current CNA-I employment plus 2 years full-time experience as a CNA-I in a 42 CFR Part 483 facility, or 1 year full-time as a CNA-I in a Maryland COMAR 10.07.02 facility.¹¹

Also required

Must hold active CNA-I certification in good standing.¹¹

How to apply

1. Work as a CNA-I with the required full-time experience and get a positive recommendation from your director of nursing.¹¹
2. Complete a Board-approved CMA program (60+ hours).¹⁰
3. The community college sends completion verification to the Board within 5 business days; the Board certifies you as a certified medicine aide.¹¹

Renewal

When it expires

Renew with your CNA certificate every 2 years; in addition complete a Board-approved 8-hour medicine aide CE program and 100 hours of practice as a CMA in the 2 years before renewal.⁶

Continuing education

8 hours each renewal period¹¹

Required topics

3-hour core (state rules for medicine aides; geriatric medications; new care procedures; resources), 3 hours on at least three topics (documentation, nutrition, geriatric physiology, de-institutionalization, other pharmacology), and 2 hours of assessment testing.¹⁰

More rules for this license are shared with other levels: group 1 and group 2 under Applies to every license level.

Certified Nursing Assistant-II (CNA-II)

Same CNA scope (nursing tasks delegated by an RN, LPN or APRN) but may not practice in a nursing facility or skilled nursing facility.⁹

Requirements

Also required

Upgrade to CNA-I: apply on the Board form with proof of completing an approved nursing assistant training program and passing the competency evaluation.³

How to apply

1. CNA-II cannot be applied for: since April 1, 2026 new CNAs are certified as CNA-I. Existing CNA-IIs renew in CHART.²³
2. To move up to CNA-I: complete an approved nursing assistant training program, pass the competency evaluation and apply on the Board form.³

Renewal

If it expires

No 16 hours of paid nursing-assistant work in 2 years: a CNA-II must complete a nursing assistant training program.¹⁴
30-day grace period after expiry to renew; practicing more than 30 days after expiry without renewing can bring a civil fine of up to $50.¹⁴
Reinstatement: the Board reinstates a non-renewed certificate if you meet the renewal requirements; after 1 year or more you must also complete a criminal history records check.¹⁵

From another state

More rules for this license are shared with other levels: group 1 and group 3 under Applies to every license level.

City and county rules

Certified Medicine Aide (CMA)No local license: certification is statewide through the Maryland Board of Nursing.¹⁸

Check a license or report a problem

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

Look up a license

mdchart.health.maryland.gov¹²

File a complaint

health.maryland.gov²⁴

Laws and rules

The requirements above come from these laws and board rules.

• Md. Code, Health Occupations §§8-6A-01 to 8-6A-16 (as amended by Chapter 416 of 2025, effective April 1, 2026)
• COMAR 10.39.01 Certified Nursing Assistants (.01-.11)
• COMAR 10.39.02.06 Nursing assistant training program curriculum
• COMAR 10.39.03 Certified Medicine Aides
• 42 CFR 483.35(d), 483.151-483.156

Common questions

Certified nursing assistant (CNA) licenses in other states

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