How to get a Nurse Aide license in Nebraska

Nebraska nursing assistant licenses

Nebraska issues 2 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 every Nebraska nursing assistant license on this page, so they are shown once here. Each license's own section lists only what differs.

Fees

The board's pages we cite do not list the exam fee.

Who needs a Nurse Aide license

Works in a nursing home, is active on the nurse aide registry, and helps nurses by assisting with personal care and comfort measures.²

Other rules on who may do this work:

• Federal rule: a nursing facility may use a nurse aide who is not yet on the registry for up to 4 months full time while in training/competency evaluation.⁶

Requirements for a Nurse Aide license

The rules this license shares with every other level are under Applies to every license level.

Minimum age

16 years old²

Education or training

At least 75 clock hours²
Complete at least 75 hours of training approved by the State of Nebraska (or a 21-hour basic resident care course for intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled), plus one hour of Nebraska-specific abuse/neglect/misappropriation training. Federal minimum: 75 clock hours including at least 16 hours of supervised practical training.⁶
Who may teach it: Training must be approved by the State of Nebraska; DHHS publishes the list of approved nurse aide courses.²

Exam

Nebraska nurse aide competency exams (State-approved written/oral exam and clinical/skills competency exam)²
Passing score: 70 percent or greater on the written/oral exam and on each of the six skills; mandatory steps must be performed correctly, and failing any one skill fails the skills exam.²
Written/oral exam: 50 multiple-choice questions²
Skills exam: demonstration of six skills²
Retakes: Three opportunities to pass each exam (written/oral and skills); after three failures you must retake the 75-hour nurse aide course.²
Exam waived: Training (and, in some cases, the exams) can be met another way: nursing students send a cover letter and a certified transcript or instructor letter, and need the State exams only if any required course grade is below 70 percent; foreign-trained nurses send the CGFNS Credentials Evaluation Service Professional Report and must pass the State exams; inactive or lapsed RNs/LPNs send a cover letter and need the exams only if more than 24 months have passed since their license was active. All except previously-registered lapsed nurses also need the Nebraska abuse/neglect/misappropriation training.⁷

Background check

You must not have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude that is rationally related to the position of a nurse aide. Registry status becomes Ineligible on a finding of conviction, abuse, neglect or misappropriation.²
You can ask the board to review your record before you apply²

Social Security number

The interstate endorsement application requires a Social Security Number; registry requests by nursing students, foreign-trained nurses and lapsed nurses must give a social security number or I-94.⁷

Also required

Able to speak and understand English or a language understood by a substantial portion of the nursing home residents.²

How to apply

1. Complete at least 75 hours of State-approved nurse aide training (or the 21-hour ICF/DD course) and the one-hour Nebraska abuse/neglect/misappropriation training.²
2. Pass the State-approved written/oral exam (50 questions) and the skills exam (six skills), each with 70 percent or more; you have three tries at each.²
3. DHHS places you on the Nurse Aide Registry (no application, no fee), usually about three weeks after the exams. Your employer files the Registry Form when you are hired; print your own wallet card from the registry search.²

Processing time

About three weeks after passing the exams to be made active on the registry; interstate endorsement forms take up to 30 days.²

Renewal and continuing education

When it expires

No renewal application or fee. You stay active if you have worked as a nurse aide in a paid position, in a DHHS-approved employer setting, within 24 months of your last nurse aide job; otherwise your status becomes Lapsed.²

If it expires

Lapsed status: reactivate by retaking the written/oral and clinical exams with a post-secondary education provider approved for re-competency testing (both may be taken the same day; records take about three weeks to update). Aides grandfathered onto the registry after a 30-hour course taken before 1989 cannot retest and must take the 75-hour course.⁷
If you work for an out-of-state employer, submit the DHHS Employment Verification Form so the work counts toward staying active.²

Moving to Nebraska with a license from another state

These are the routes DHHS publishes for the Nurse Aide license.

Medication Aide

Gives only routine medications to another person, following the Five Rights (right person, drug, amount, time and route), charts the medications given, and works under the direction and oversight of a competent individual, caretaker or licensed health care professional. Routine routes are oral, inhalation, topical and instillation into the eyes, ears and nose.³

Requirements

Minimum age

18 years old⁴

Education or training

40 clock hours⁴
Two levels. Medication Aide - 40 hour (can work in any setting): pass a 40-hour medication aide course and a state exam and know the 10 competencies and basic routes. Medication Aide (settings other than nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and ICF/DD): show the 10 competencies and the basic routes; no course is required.³

Exam

Medication aide competency assessment (10 competencies and basic routes, documented by a licensed health care professional); Medication Aide - 40 hour level also passes a state exam⁵

Background check

The application asks about any conviction other than speeding and requires court documents for each; a conviction is not necessarily a disqualification for placement on the Registry.⁵
You can ask the board to review your record before you apply³

Residency or citizenship

Attest lawful presence in the United States (U.S. citizen or qualified alien, with USCIS documentation) under Neb. Rev. Stat. 4-108 to 4-114.⁵

Social Security number

Social Security Number is asked on the application and marked required on the renewal notice.⁵

Also required

Good moral character.⁴

Also required

Your registry level must fit your workplace: only Medication Aide - 40 hour may work in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and ICF/DD; the basic Medication Aide works in other settings.³

Fees

How to apply

1. Show the 10 competencies and basic routes to a licensed health care professional; to work in a nursing home, assisted-living facility or ICF/DD, also pass the 40-hour course and the state exam.³
2. Mail or bring the Application for Medication Aide Registration to the DHHS Licensure Unit with the $18 non-refundable fee (check, money order or exact cash; no cards).⁵ Form (PDF, dhhs.ne.gov)³
3. Applications are processed in the order received; the registry shows "Pending" while yours is reviewed.³

Application form

Form (PDF, dhhs.ne.gov)³

Temporary or provisional license

If you have never been a medication aide or on the registry, you may work for up to 30 days pending your exam results and/or registry placement, once all criteria are met (including taking the exam).³

Renewal

How often

Every 2 years⁴

When it expires

Registration is renewed every two years based on competency. On the renewal notice a licensed health care professional documents your competency assessment; include the $18 fee and submit at least 30 days before the expiration date. If you have already expired, use the reapplication form ($18) instead.⁸

Renewal fee

$18⁸

Late renewal

Reinstatement fee: $18³ (to make active or to reactivate an expired status)

Renew online

dhhs.ne.gov³

The rules this license shares with every other level are under Applies to every license level.

City and county rules

Medication Aide (Medication Aide Registry)No local license: medication aides are listed on the statewide DHHS Medication Aide Registry.⁹

Nurse Aide (Nurse Aide Registry)No local license: nurse aides are placed on the statewide DHHS Nurse Aide Registry.¹⁰

Check a license or report a problem

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

Look up a license

nebraska.gov¹

File a complaint

dhhs.ne.gov²

Laws and rules

The requirements above come from these laws and board rules.

• 42 CFR 483.35(d), 483.151-483.156 (nurse aide training, competency evaluation and registry)

Common questions

Certified nursing assistant (CNA) licenses in other states

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