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

West Virginia nursing assistant licenses

West Virginia 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 West Virginia nursing assistant license on this page, so they are shown once here. Each license's own section lists only what differs.

Renewal

How often

Every 2 years²⁴

Who needs a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) license

Provides nursing or nursing-related services for hire to residents of nursing homes and hospital extended-care units after completing a state-approved training and competency evaluation program. A nursing facility may not use anyone as a nurse aide full-time for more than four months unless they have completed an approved training and competency evaluation program.¹

Other rules on who may do this work:

• Registry status matters for federally certified nursing facilities; aides listed on the Abuse and Neglect Registry cannot work in nursing facilities, home health, hospice, assisted living and certain other providers.²

Requirements for a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) license

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

Education or training

At least 120 clock hours²
Complete a state-approved Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation Program (NATCEP): at least 120 clock hours, of which at least 55 are instructor-supervised clinical practice, over at least four weeks.³
Who may teach it: Programs must be approved by the OHFLAC Nurse Aide Program; OHFLAC publishes the list of NATCEP programs in West Virginia. If a nursing home employee attends a non-facility program that charges, the facility pays.²
Alternative: RN/LPN challenge: nursing students enrolled in an approved program, or who finished fundamentals of nursing in the past two years with a C average or better and at least 32 clinical hours in a certified nursing facility, may challenge (apply online, send sealed transcripts and an instructor letter); the competency test must then be passed within six months.²

Exam

West Virginia nurse aide competency evaluation: computer-based written (or oral) test and skills performance test²
Given by: Professional HealthCare Development, LLC (PHD), Ona, WV⁶
Passing score: Written 70 of 100; skills 225 of 300.²
When you can take it: After completing the approved program; test at the first available evaluation. Bring valid photo ID (or the vendor's Substitute for Photo ID form plus your Social Security card).²
Written knowledge test (computer-based; oral version available): 100 points, pass 70²
Skills demonstration: 300 points, pass 225; critical steps must be performed²
Retakes: Three attempts; after three failures you must complete another full training program, which gives three more attempts.²
Time limit: Within 24 months of graduating (six months for RN/LPN challengers); after 24 months you must retrain.²
Exam waived: Aides in good standing on another state's registry with substantially equivalent training and testing may be added by reciprocity without the West Virginia test.²

Background check

Background check required³
Fingerprints required⁷
WV CARES fitness determination from state and FBI records; a new check is needed after five years without covered employment. Aides with an abuse, neglect or misappropriation finding are placed on the Nurse Aide Abuse and Neglect Registry.⁷

Social Security number

Social Security number required on registry applications (W. Va. Code § 48-18-133 and 42 U.S.C. § 666).⁸

Also required

Keep your name, address, phone, employment and criminal-history information current with the Nurse Aide Program, and report abuse, neglect or misappropriation immediately (failure to report means one year on the Abuse and Neglect Registry for neglect).¹

How to apply

1. Clear a background screening and enroll in an OHFLAC-approved NATCEP (ask the facility about its age/diploma rules; OHFLAC can tell you about class dates at [email protected]).³
2. Finish the course (at least 120 hours) and pass the written and skills competency tests given by Professional HealthCare Development.³
3. OHFLAC enters you on the West Virginia Nurse Aide Registry; employers verify you online.² ohflac.wvdhhr.org⁹

Apply online

ohflac.wvdhhr.org³

Temporary or provisional license

Test-eligible nurse aides (trained, not yet tested) may work full-time in a nursing home for up to four months before passing the test.¹

Processing time

Passing results are entered on the registry within 30 days.²

Renewal and continuing education

When it expires

Re-register every two years with proof of at least eight hours of paid nurse aide work under RN supervision in a direct-care setting during the two years. OHFLAC sends a notice at least 60 days before expiry; staffing-agency and in-home aides need employer verification.²

Required topics

Work requirement: at least eight hours of paid nurse aide work in the two-year period.²

If it expires

Registry entries are removed after 24 consecutive months without nurse aide work. No reportable work for two to four years: take a refresher course (at least 16 hours) and pass the competency test (three attempts within six months of the class). No paid nurse aide work in the past five years: repeat the full course and test.²

Renew online

ohflac.wvdhhr.org¹⁰

Moving to West Virginia with a license from another state

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

Approved Medication Assistive Personnel (AMAP)

Under an authorized RN, gives oral, inhaled, topical and other non-injectable medications to stable residents in nursing homes, assisted living residences, ICF/IIDs, behavioral health group homes or private residences; no injections (except prefilled insulin pens outside nursing homes), no verbal orders, no Schedule I-II drugs, buprenorphine or benzodiazepines in nursing homes; health maintenance tasks are prohibited in nursing homes.⁴

Requirements

High school diploma or GED

Required⁴

Education or training

Complete the OHFLAC AMAP training (curriculum based on a national model for certified medication aides) given face-to-face by the facility's authorized RN, plus resident-specific training. CPR and first aid certification required.⁴
Who may teach it: Training is given by the facility through an authorized RN who has passed the OHFLAC trainer/instructor course; the facility's AMAP program must be approved by the OHFLAC Director first.⁴

Experience

At least 1 year⁵
Nursing homes only: at least one year of full-time experience as a nurse aide (in a long-term care facility). No experience requirement for other facility types.⁴
License you must hold first: Nursing homes: nurse aide with no abuse/neglect/misappropriation finding on the West Virginia registry.⁴

Exam

Nursing homes: national Medication Aide Certification Examination (MACE); other facilities: OHFLAC AMAP competency test given by the authorized RN⁵
Given by: Professional HealthCare Development (contracted AMAP testing vendor); the facility pays testing fees.⁴
When you can take it: After training and a WV CARES eligibility fitness determination.⁴
Retakes: Non-nursing-home track: two attempts with different tests; a third only after repeating training; after a third failure wait six months before restarting.⁴

Background check

Background check required⁴
Fingerprints required⁷
WV CARES fitness determination; no convictions for crimes against persons or drug-related crimes.¹¹

Also required

Nursing-home AMAPs must display the title "Approved Medication Assistive Personnel"; non-nursing-home facilities must carry liability insurance covering AMAPs.⁴

How to apply

1. Work for a facility with an OHFLAC-approved AMAP program; get a WV CARES fitness determination, CPR/first aid and (nursing homes) one year as a nurse aide.⁴
2. Complete the face-to-face AMAP training with the facility's authorized RN.⁴
3. Pass the competency test (national MACE for nursing homes, arranged through the contracted vendor; the facility pays).⁴
4. The facility keeps your training and testing records; to work at another facility you must be re-evaluated by that facility's authorized RN.⁴

Renewal

When it expires

Retrain every two years (four-hour course by the authorized RN using the OHFLAC curriculum); health-maintenance-task competencies are reassessed yearly by the employer.⁴

Required topics

OHFLAC AMAP retraining curriculum.⁴

Approved courses

The facility's authorized RN.⁴

From another state

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

City and county rules

Approved Medication Assistive Personnel (AMAP)No local license: statewide OHFLAC program.⁴

Check a license or report a problem

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

Look up a license: Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) — registered nurse aide on the West Virginia Nurse Aide Registry

ohflac.wvdhhr.org⁹

File a complaint

ohflac.wvdhhr.org³

Look up a license: Approved Medication Assistive Personnel (AMAP)

ohflac.wvdhhr.org¹²

Laws and rules

The requirements above come from these laws and board rules.

• 71 CSR 18 Nurse Aide Abuse and Neglect Registry (effective May 28, 2025; formerly 69 CSR 6)
• 71 CSR 15 Nursing Home Licensure (effective May 1, 2026), § 71-15-10.8 staff development
• 71 CSR 11 West Virginia Clearance for Access: Registry and Employment Screening (WV CARES)
• 42 CFR Part 483 (Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities), listed by OHFLAC as the governing federal rule
• W. Va. Code §§ 16B-14-1 et seq. (Medication Administered by Unlicensed Personnel in Nursing Homes, 2024 SB 300)
• W. Va. Code §§ 16B-10-1 et seq. (Medication Administration by Unlicensed Personnel)
• 71 CSR 17 Delegation of Medication Administration and Health Maintenance Tasks to Approved Medication Assistive Personnel (effective May 1, 2026)
• W. Va. Code § 16B-10-9 and § 16B-14-8

Common questions

Certified nursing assistant (CNA) licenses in other states

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