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

Who needs a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) license

Nursing or nursing-related care in nursing homes (residential health care facilities); nursing homes must verify registry status before employing or using anyone.²

Other rules on who may do this work:

• A nursing home may use a trainee who is enrolled in an approved program and finishes training and testing within 120 days of employment; the trainee needs 16 classroom hours (communication, infection control, safety, independence, residents' rights, abuse reporting) before any direct care, and works under direct nurse supervision.⁵
• A trainee who has finished an approved program may work while waiting to test, but must pass within three consecutive attempts within 4 months of first employment or program completion, whichever comes first.⁵
• Graduates of an approved nursing program (New York or another state) may work as nurse aides after passing the New York competency examination.⁵

Requirements for a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) license

Minimum age

17 years old⁶

Education or training

At least 100 clock hours²
Complete a state-approved nurse aide training program of at least 100 hours (classroom plus clinical), including at least 30 hours of supervised practical experience in a nursing home. NYSED-approved adult programs run at least 120 hours (90 classroom + 30 clinical); high school programs 432 hours.³
Who may teach it: Programs are approved by DOH (nursing homes and other sponsors, free to trainees) or by the State Education Department (schools, BOCES, colleges, proprietary schools; these may charge tuition). Every program must teach the DOH curriculum.²
Alternative: Completing an approved Personal Care Aide or Home Health Aide program (on or after 1/1/2006) exempts you from repeating the "Basic Core" units, but all clinical skills must still be shown.²

Exam

New York State Nursing Home Nurse Aide Competency Examination (clinical skills exam and written or oral exam)³
Given by: Prometric (DOH testing contractor)⁶
When you can take it: After completing the approved program; the program schedules your first exam within 10 days of the last day of training.²
Clinical skills exam given by a registered-nurse Nurse Aide Evaluator not associated with your employer or training facility³
Written or oral exam, taken after passing the clinical skills exam³
Retakes: Three opportunities to pass the clinical skills exam, then three opportunities to pass the written or oral exam.³
Time limit: up to 4 months⁵

Background check

Background check required⁴
Fingerprints required⁴
Convictions or sustained findings of resident abuse, neglect, mistreatment or misappropriation are entered on the Registry and bar nursing home employment in any capacity; a neglect finding can be petitioned for removal after one year.¹

Social Security number

The registry record includes your Social Security number.⁷

How to apply

1. Choose a state-approved nurse aide training program: free DOH-approved programs (often run by nursing homes) or SED-approved schools (DOH and NYSED program lists are linked from the DOH Nurse Aide Registry page).²
2. Complete at least 100 hours (30 of them supervised clinical hours in a nursing home).³
3. Take the clinical skills exam and then the written or oral exam (Prometric); your program schedules the first test within 10 days of finishing.²
4. When you pass the written or oral exam you are certified and listed on the Registry. Since 8/1/2026 there are no paper certificates; employers check the Registry directly.³
5. Your nursing home employer runs the Criminal History Record Check (Live Scan fingerprints) before hire.⁴

Application form

Form (PDF, prometric.com)⁸

Temporary or provisional license

No temporary certificate; trainees may work in a nursing home for up to 120 days while enrolled, or up to 4 months while awaiting testing.⁵

Renewal and continuing education

How often

Every 2 years³

When it expires

Recertify every two years by the end of your certification month, showing at least 7 hours of paid work as a health care nurse aide in the previous 24 months; the nursing home where you work or last worked provides the documentation.³

Required topics

Work requirement: at least 7 hours paid work as a health care nurse aide in the previous 24 months.³

If it expires

After 24 consecutive months without paid nurse aide work in a nursing home: aides trained on or after 7/1/1989 retake both exams; all others must retrain and retest.³

Renew online

prometric.com⁸

Moving to New York with a license from another state

These are the routes the New York State Nurse Aide Registry publishes for the Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) license.

City and county rules

No local license: nurse aide certification is a statewide NYS Department of Health registry.¹

Check a license or report a problem

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

Look up a license

registry.prometric.com¹

Laws and rules

The requirements above come from these laws and board rules.

• 10 NYCRR 415.26(d) (nurse aide certification, training, competency evaluation and recertification)
• 10 NYCRR 415.13(d) (who may work as a nurse aide in a nursing home)
• 10 NYCRR 415.31 (New York State RHCF nurse aide registry)
• N.Y. Public Health Law 2803-j (nursing home nurse aide registry), as cited in 10 NYCRR 415.13 and 415.31
• 42 CFR 483.150-483.158 (nurse aide training, competency evaluation and registry)

Rule changes since January 2024

• August 1, 2026: DOH stopped issuing paper CNA certificates; nursing homes must verify status directly on the New York State Nurse Aide Registry.⁹

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
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Texas
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• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wyoming