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

Utah nursing assistant licenses

Utah 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

Nursing or nursing-related services to residents of a nursing care facility (licensed professionals and unpaid volunteers are not nurse aides).¹

Work that does not need this license:

• Not a nurse aide: a licensed professional, or a volunteer providing services without pay.¹

Other rules on who may do this work:

• Utah rule: a nurse aide in a Medicare/Medicaid certified nursing facility must be certified within 120 days of first employment (the federal rule limits full-time use of an uncertified aide to 4 months).¹

Requirements for a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) license

Minimum age

16 years old¹

Education or training

At least 100 clock hours¹
Complete a UNAR-approved Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation Program (NATCEP) of at least 100 hours of supervised, documented training by a licensed nurse, including at least 24 hours of supervised practical training in a nursing care facility (up to 8 of those may be in a Type II assisted living facility with UNAR approval). Skills on the NAPP record must be completed before facility training.¹
Who may teach it: Only UNAR-approved NATCEPs (nursing care facilities, secondary or post-secondary schools, private businesses) may train; programs are re-approved at least every two years.¹
Alternative: Waiver of NATCEP (competency evaluation only) for: nursing students who completed the first semester within the past two years with a passing nurse fundamentals grade; nurses with an expired license from any state or territory that was in good standing; and Utah CNAs expired fewer than 24 months (or short of the 200-hour work requirement) with no abuse-registry findings.¹

Exam

UNAR competency evaluation (written or audio-narrated exam plus skills demonstration)¹
Given by: Utah Nursing Assistant Registry (UNAR develops and validates the exam; testing only at UNAR-approved testing centers)¹
Passing score: Written: score of 75. Skills: 80% on each skill performed, including 100% of required key steps.¹
When you can take it: After completing a UNAR-approved NATCEP (the NATCEP reports completers to UNAR within five days), or on approval of a waiver-of-NATCEP application.¹
Written test (audio narration available) drawn from a question pool covering the required curriculum.¹
Skills test: five tasks randomly selected by testing software from the skills pool.¹
Retakes: Waiver-of-NATCEP candidates get three attempts to pass both parts; if they fail, they must complete a NATCEP. The rule gives no attempt limit for NATCEP graduates.¹
Time limit: Waiver candidates: within 12 months of the waiver application (nursing students, expired nurses) or two years (Utah CNAs expired under 24 months).¹
Exam waived: Aides certified on or before July 1, 1989 meet the OBRA requirement after the approved in-service training on intellectual disabilities and mental illness.¹

Background check

UNAR keeps an abuse registry of substantiated resident abuse, neglect or misappropriation findings; findings stay permanently except in listed cases, and reciprocity needs a clean registry record.¹

Also required

An inmate may not become certified through a NATCEP (Utah Code 64-13-48(8)).¹

How to apply

1. Enrol in a UNAR-approved NATCEP (age 16 or older) and complete at least 100 hours, including 24 hours of supervised practical training in a nursing care facility.¹
2. Your NATCEP reports your completion to UNAR within five days of the program end.¹
3. Take and pass the written and skills competency evaluation at a UNAR-approved testing center (written 75; skills 80% per skill and all key steps).¹
4. UNAR lists you on the nurse aide registry as a CNA; if working in a Medicare/Medicaid nursing facility, this must happen within 120 days of starting work.¹

Temporary or provisional license

No temporary certificate; an aide in a Medicare/Medicaid certified facility must be certified within 120 days of first employment.¹

Renewal and continuing education

How often

Every 24 months¹

When it expires

Renewal every 24 months: UNAR renews CNAs who worked at least 200 paid hours of nursing or nursing-related services under a licensed nurse in the 24 months after NATCEP completion or last renewal.¹

If it expires

Expired fewer than six months (requirements met before expiry): pay a late fee and be reinstated for the rest of the 24-month cycle.¹
Expired fewer than 24 months, or short of 200 work hours: may challenge the competency evaluation (three attempts within two years) without retraining.¹
Registry entries inactive for 24 consecutive months are removed (unless they carry abuse findings).¹

Moving to Utah with a license from another state

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

Medication Aide Certified (MAC)

Under RN supervision in a regulated long-term care facility: routine patient care and administering routine medications under the DOPL formulary and protocols (R156-31b-801).²

Requirements

High school diploma or GED

Required²

Education or training

At least 60 clock hours³
Complete a DOPL-approved MAC program of at least 60 clock hours of classroom training (NCSBN MA-C Model Curriculum) and 40 hours of practical training in a health care facility.²
Who may teach it: Program approved by DOPL with the Advisory Peer Education Committee; offered only by an educational institution, health care facility or health care association.³

Education or training

At least 40 clock hours³
Practical training: at least 40 hours in a health care facility.³

Experience

At least 2,000 hours of on-the-job training²
At least 2,000 hours working as a certified nurse aide in a long-term care facility (or other DOPL-designated facility) within the two years before applying; current CNA certification in good standing; letters of recommendation from a facility administrator and an RN.²
License you must hold first: Current Utah nurse aide certification in good standing from the Department of Health and Human Services.²

Exam

NCSBN Medication Aide Certification Examination (MACE)³
Given by: NCSBN (National Council of State Boards of Nursing)³
When you can take it: After completing the approved training program.³
Time limit: Must pass within one year of completing the training program.³

Also required

Physical and mental health to safely perform MAC duties; meet with the Board if asked.²

Fees

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

How to apply

1. Hold a current Utah CNA certification and work at least 2,000 hours as a CNA in a long-term care facility within two years.²
2. Complete a DOPL-approved MAC program (60 classroom + 40 practical hours).³
3. Pass the NCSBN Medication Aide Certification Examination within one year of finishing training.³
4. Apply to DOPL with the $50 application fee, diploma/equivalent proof and two letters of recommendation.²

Renewal

How often

Every 2 years³

When it expires

Two-year cycle; all MAC certifications renew on March 31 of odd-numbered years.⁴

Renewal fee

$42⁵

Continuing education

At least 8 hours each renewal period³

Required topics

All 8 contact hours must relate to medications or medication administration.³

Approved courses

"Approved continuing education" includes CE approved by a nationally or internationally recognized health CE approver or by any state board of nursing (R156-31b-102(5)); a contact hour is 60 minutes.³

From another state

City and county rules

Certified Nurse Aide (CNA), listed on the nurse aide registry kept by the Utah Nursing Assistant Registry (UNAR)No local license: the credential is issued statewide by UNAR.¹

Medication Aide Certified (MAC)No local license: the credential is issued statewide by DOPL.²

Laws and rules

The requirements above come from these laws and board rules.

• Utah Admin. Code R432-45 (Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation Program), effective 05/08/2025
• 42 CFR 483.35(d), 483.152, 483.156
• Utah Code 58-31b-302(3) (effective 5/6/2026)
• Utah Admin. Code R156-31b (Nurse Practice Act Rule), §§ 302g, 303, 802
• H.B. 8 (2026 General Session), Nursing fees lines 7918-7919
• Utah Code 58-1-302 (license by endorsement)

Rule changes since January 2024

• May 8, 2025: Current version of R432-45 took effect.¹

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
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
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• South Carolina
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• Washington
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• Wyoming