Application Process for CNA certification

In order to become a nurse aide, you need to get trained from a school or a college that provides you with kind of program and also has been accredited by the state. Each state has made it mandatory for such programs to include minimum number of hours for the instruction of the nurse aides. After you complete this course, you will be eligible to take the competency exams and clear it.

To pass the competency exams, you will have to clear both the written test and the skills test of the competency exams. You will get your result within a couple of weeks of appearing of the test in most of the states. After you clear the test, you will have to complete a background check to show that you do not have any criminal background. For this, you will have to send your fingerprint cards to the authorities. This card should be printed electronically and should be accompanied by an authorized letter along with the signature of the authority.

The state test provider sends the fingerprint card to the FBI for screening. If the FBI clears that the candidate does not have any criminal background, the candidate will have passed one level of background screening. In most if the states, the candidates have to send a certificate from the school or college that provided them with training stating that they have completed their training from that school successfully. Most of these schools have a criterion for completion, like attendance, passing an internal exam and so on.

The candidates have to complete a form to get their CNA certification and send it to the authorities that issue certificate and get their names placed on the nurse aide registry of the state. The forms require the candidates to fill in the section in which they have to specify of they have ever been convicted of a crime. This is an important part of CNA certification application. Candidates who have been accused of substance abuse also are not eligible to get their certification.

Some states also make it mandatory for the candidates to be at least 18 years of age and to have at least a high school diploma to get their certification. Those who have to get their CNA certification renewal also have to get a background clearance. If your license has expired your name will be removed from the registry of nursing and if an employer wants CNA certification verification done, your name will not be there on the list.

The application process for CNA certification does not take more than a few weeks in most of the states. You can either mail the form or apply for your certificate online. The fees for processing the certificate in every state may vary, but is nevertheless important for you. You can only practice as a nurse aide after you get certified as a nurse aide.