CNA Certification in Arkansas: 90-Hour Training

Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) — Division of Provider Services and Quality Assurance, Long-Term Care Facility Nursing Assistant Training Program and Certified Nursing Assistant Registry administers certified nursing assistant licensing in Arkansas. Every figure below is verified against the board’s own official pages and dated. Who must personally hold a credential — the contractor, the business, or the individual worker — is set out under Requirements.

What it’s called

Arkansas uses ‘certified nursing assistant’ and ’nursing assistant’ in its rules, ’nurse aide’ in its registry and testing materials, and both appear in the same documents — the rules are titled for the ‘Long-Term Care Facility Nursing Assistant Training Program’ while the register is the Arkansas Nurse Aide Registry, abbreviated ARNAR by the state’s contractor. DHS’s own page heading is ‘Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) Training Program’ in the page title and ‘Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Training Program’ in the body — the state does not settle on one form. WHAT ARKANSAS ISSUES IS A CERTIFICATE, and the rules also call the credential a ’licensure’ in the military and out-of-state sections (‘Certified Nursing Assistant licensure’), so both words appear in state text; there is no separate Arkansas nurse aide licence. ‘STNA’ is Ohio’s term and ‘LNA’ belongs to some New England states; neither appears in Arkansas material. NAMES THAT ARE NOT THIS CREDENTIAL: a PERSONAL CARE AIDE, whose 40 hours of training the rules say expressly ‘do not meet the ninety-hour requirement’; a HOME HEALTH AIDE, which is a separate federal credential that can qualify a person to sit the Arkansas exam but is not the same certificate; and a NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATOR, licensed by the same DHS unit under a different programme. ‘TMU’ or ‘TestMaster Universe’ is the contractor’s software, not a credential, and ‘ARNAR’ is the registry. No Arkansas nurse aide source read on 2026-08-16 mentions a medication aide or medication assistant credential in connection with this registry.

License types & fees

Who does NOT need this license — exemptions

Arkansas’s carve-outs are narrow and every one of them is time-limited or conditional. (1) THE FOUR-MONTH WINDOW, codified as 20 CAR § 403-201: ‘A facility must not use any individual working in the facility as a nursing assistant for more than four (4) months (meaning one hundred twenty (120) calendar days) unless that individual has successfully completed a training program and competency examination approved by the Department of Human Services as required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.’ The rules restate it with its start date — ‘Effective July 1, 1989, a facility must not use any individual working in the facility as a nursing assistant for more than four (4) months’ — and Arkansas layers a floor underneath it: a trainee may only work on the floor after completing lessons 1 through 11, sixteen hours of coursework, and may not be counted in the staffing ratio while actively in classroom instruction. (2) NOT AVAILABLE TO AGENCY STAFF: ‘Nursing assistants who are employed or leased through a temporary hiring service must have completed an approved training program and passed the stat[e examination].’ (3) TRAINING WAIVERS THAT ARE NOT EXAM WAIVERS: the nursing student and graduate route, the home health aide route, the out-of-state training route and the out-of-state untested route all skip the Arkansas course and none skips the Arkansas examination. (4) HISTORICAL DEEMED-EQUIVALENCE WAIVERS, all closed decades ago but still printed in the rules: a programme of at least 60 hours before July 1, 1989 with up to 15 hours of supervised practical training or in-service education; a course of at least 100 hours completed and found competent before January 1, 1989; or service as a nursing assistant at facilities of the same employer for at least 24 consecutive months before December 19, 1989. Even those come with a condition that still bites: ‘Individuals will not qualify for these waivers if they have not provided nursing or nursing-related services for a period of twenty-four (24) months or longer since completing training. They will be required to complete a new training program and state examination.’ Aides working in Arkansas nursing facilities as of July 1, 1989 could certify by examination alone, but ‘After October 1, 1990, nursing assistants must now complete the ninety-(90) hour training requirements to qualify to take the state examination, regardless of past employment status on July 1, 1989.’ (5) WHO IS FLATLY EXCLUDED: personal care aides, whose ‘40 hours do not meet the ninety-hour requirement’; anyone trained by a programme DHS has not approved, including hospital, EMT, medical assistant, correspondence, independent study, on-the-job and in-service training; nurses whose licences were suspended, revoked or surrendered under discipline; and anyone carrying a disqualification on the employment clearance registry. WHAT THIS RECORD DOES NOT CLAIM: the rules are written for LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES throughout — the four-month rule, the clinical sites, the in-service duty and the training-programme approvals all speak to that setting — while the work that keeps a listing alive counts ‘in any setting’. No Arkansas source read on 2026-08-16 states whether a hospital, home health agency or assisted living facility may employ an uncertified aide, so nothing is asserted either way.

Fees

ARKANSAS CHARGES NO STATE FEE FOR THE CERTIFICATE, AND SAYS SO ON ITS OWN PAGE AND IN ITS OWN RULE: ‘The Department of Human Services does not require an initial fee for this occupational license; however, there is a fee to take the state examination. The amount of the examination fee will be announced in a timely manner by the Department of Human Services or designated contractor.’ The rules add a conditional waiver in case a fee is ever introduced — per Arkansas Code Annotated § 17-5-104, an initial fee would not be charged to a person receiving Arkansas Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, TANF or Lifeline assistance, a person approved for unemployment within the last twelve months, or a person whose income does not exceed 200% of the federal poverty guidelines — with the express carve-out that ‘The waiver of the initial fee does not include fees for: a criminal background check; an examination or a test; or a medical or drug test.’ EXAMINATION FEES, paid to the contractor and current from 1 July 2026: ‘Knowledge Exam or Retake $30.00; Knowledge Exam - Spanish Version or Retake $30.00; Audio Version of Knowledge Exam -or- Audio Knowledge Retake $40.00; Audio Spanish Version of Knowledge Exam or Retake Spanish Version $40.00; Skill Test or Retake $95.00.’ Testing fees must be paid before a test date can be scheduled. REFUNDS: a request must be made within 30 days of payment and by a published deadline before the exam, on the contractor’s own form and never by telephone, and a qualifying refund is ‘a full refund of any testing fees paid minus a $35 refund processing fee.’ A TEST REVIEW costs a ‘$25 non-refundable test review request deposit’, returned only if the review goes the candidate’s way. WHO PAYS THE EXAM FEE IS THE POINT MOST CANDIDATES MISS: ‘The Department of Human Services will be responsible for paying the examination fee one (1) time for individuals who are employed by a Medicaid certified long-term nursing facility or those individuals that have a commitment (“letter of intent”) to be employed in a Medicaid certified nursing facility. Letters of intent to hire from Medicaid certified nursing facilities must be dated within twelve (12) months immediately preceding the date of the application to take the examination. Independent examination candidates who are taking the competency examination without an employment connection to a long-term care facility will be responsible to pay their own examination fee.’ The federal rule sits behind that: ‘In accordance with 42 C.F.R. § 483.154, no nurse aide who is employed by, or who has received an offer of employment from, a facility on the date on which the aide begins a nurse aide competency examination program may be charged for any portion of the program’, with pro-rata reimbursement where employment follows within twelve months. A RECIPROCITY PROCESSING FEE EXISTS BUT ITS AMOUNT IS NOT PUBLISHED — the Out-of-State Reciprocity Form 9110AR is filled online and submitted with a processing fee, and neither the DHS pages, the rules nor the candidate handbook states the figure.

Exam

Two parts — a knowledge test and a skills demonstration — and both must be passed. The rule: ‘The competency examination shall consist of two (2) components, a written (or oral) examination and a skills demonstration. Each examination candidate will be allowed to choose between a written or oral examination. The oral examination will be read from a prepared text in a neutral manner.’ KNOWLEDGE TEST, from the current candidate handbook: ‘You will have a maximum of 60 minutes to complete the 75-question knowledge exam. The multiple-choice questions will be presented to you, one at a time, on the computer screen to select answers A, B, C, or D… You must have a score of 76% or better to pass the knowledge exam.’ A Spanish version and an audio (oral) version are offered, the audio version must be requested before the testing fee is paid, and it is delivered through wired earbuds — ‘Bluetooth-connected devices are not allowed.’ A remotely proctored knowledge exam is available. LANGUAGE SUPPORT AND ITS LIMITS: the rules provide that ‘The examination will be in English. Translation of this examination will be offered, if needed’, and set a strict condition on paper dictionaries — ‘Foreign language translation dictionaries must be shown to the registered nurse test observer at check-in and to the Knowledge Test Proctor when entering the knowledge test room. No electronic dictionaries are allowed. No definitions or instances of writing are allowed in the translation dictionary. If there are any definitions or instances of writing, the translation dictionary will not be permitted to be used during testing.’ SKILLS TEST — AND HERE THE RULE AND THE CURRENT HANDBOOK DISAGREE, SO BOTH ARE GIVEN. The rules say ‘The skills demonstration shall consist of five (5) randomly selected questions drawn from a pool of tasks ranked based on the level of difficulty.’ The candidate handbook in force from 1 July 2026 says the candidate performs three or four: ‘Each of your randomly selected 3 or 4 tasks will have scenarios associated with them… You will be allowed a maximum of 30 minutes to complete your three or four tasks. After 15 minutes have elapsed, you will be alerted that 15 minutes remain.’ The scoring standard is the handbook’s: ‘You must correctly perform all key steps (in bold font) and 80% of all steps on each assigned task to pass the Skill Test.’ The skills test runs ‘in a facility (not disqualified by criteria specified in Section V, item B.) or laboratory setting’ with an RN test observer. ATTEMPTS AND THE CLOCK: ‘All candidates will be allowed up to three (3) attempts, within a twelve month period, to successfully complete all portions of the competency examination. Failure after three (3) attempts will require retraining in order to qualify to sit for the competency examination. An individual has twelve (12) months to successfully pass the test after retraining.’ A trainee employed by a long-term care facility who fails three times ‘is prohibited from providing nursing services to residents in a long-term care facility’, though employment may be kept by re-enrolling — completing the first 16 hours again before any direct resident contact and taking only duties already deemed competent while working through the remaining 90 hours. A TEST REVIEW may be requested for a $25 non-refundable deposit, refunded only ‘If, after investigation, the review finding is in your favor.’

Renewal & continuing education

EVERY 24 MONTHS, AND THE WORK TEST IS THE LOWEST IN THIS CLUSTER — EIGHT HOURS. The rule: ‘The initial certification period is valid for twenty-four (24) months. Each certificate contains an expiration date… The renewal process will require the nursing assistant to document having worked as a nursing assistant for monetary compensation during the prior two (2) years. This provision shall be defined by at least one (1) documented day (meaning, eight (8) hours) of employment providing nursing or nursing-related services for monetary compensation in any setting.’ Note ‘in any setting’ — Arkansas does not restrict the qualifying work to nursing homes. The contractor’s handbook states the same test as ‘at least eight (8) consecutive hours during the previous 24 months.’ HOW IT IS FILED: online, by the aide, with employer verification. ‘Each certified nursing assistant shall be responsible for renewing their certification online approximately sixty (60) calendar days before the expiration of their certification’, and certifications ‘may not be renewed more than sixty (60) calendar days prior to the expiration date.’ In the system, ‘sign in to your TMU account… and record your work hours and the location where you were employed. An email verification link will be sent to the employer contact you choose from the list of employers. When the employer verifies your work experience, your eligibility will be extended an additional 24 months.’ Reminders go out 60 days ahead ‘via email and text message. No renewal certifications are sent via USPS mail.’ PRIVATE-DUTY AIDES HAVE A SPECIAL PROOF: ‘Certified Nursing Assistants who provide services for private pay clients must include a check stub and a notarized letter from the employer, which should include Certified Nursing Assistant duties performed within the twenty-four-month period.’ WHEN THE AIDE IS NOT CURRENTLY WORKING: ‘Nursing assistants who are currently employed as a nursing assistant at the time of their renewal will be renewed for twenty-four (24) months. Nursing assistants who are not currently employed will be renewed for twenty-four (24) months beginning with the last day employed as a nursing assistant’ — so an unemployed aide’s new term is back-dated to the last day worked rather than starting fresh. WHO CANNOT RENEW: aides on the employment clearance registry with a disqualification for a substantiated finding of abuse, neglect or misappropriation, or a disqualifying criminal record under Arkansas Code § 20-38-101 et seq.; and ‘Failure to fully complete the renewal or provide false or inaccurate information shall constitute the basis for denial of certification renewal.’ Nothing in the renewal is a fee. NO CONTINUING EDUCATION IS REQUIRED OF THE AIDE TO RENEW — the renewal test is work, not education. What Arkansas requires instead is an in-service duty on the FACILITY, and it is monthly rather than annual: ‘All facilities will continue to provide ongoing in-service training on a routine basis both in groups and as necessary in specific situations on a one-to-one basis. Each nursing assistant must receive one (1) hour of in-service training per month.’ The facility must also ‘complete a performance review of each nursing assistant at least once per year and provide regular in-service training based on the outcome of these reviews’, addressing ‘areas of weakness’ and ‘be sufficient to ensure the continuing competence of the nursing assistants’, plus ’the special needs of residents as determined by each facility’. In-service may be delivered on the unit ‘as long as it is directed toward skills improvement, provided by appropriately trained staff, and documented (for example, skills demonstration with return demonstration recorded on a check list).’ A NAMED, ENCOURAGED-BUT-NOT-MANDATORY TOPIC: ‘Effective July 1, 2006, facilities are strongly encouraged to offer in-service training for nursing-home-employed Certified Nursing Assistants who were certified in Arkansas prior to July 1, 2006, that covers the Barbara Broyles Alzheimer and Dementia Training that is included in Arkansas LTCF Nursing Assistant Training Curriculum’, and the same training is ‘strongly encouraged’ for aides who came in by reciprocity or by challenging the examination. THE ONE PLACE CONTINUING EDUCATION IS NAMED AS A RENEWAL CONDITION is the military and out-of-state provisions, which speak of extending ‘any continuing education requirements’ for a deployed service member or spouse by 180 days, and require a person granted automatic occupational licensure to meet ‘all renewal requirements of the occupational licensure, including without limitation a criminal background check and continuing education hours.’ Those clauses are drafted from a general occupational-licensing template; no continuing education hour figure for nurse aides appears anywhere in the rules, the curriculum or the candidate handbook, and the renewal process the state actually operates asks only for eight hours of paid work.

How to apply

Applications are handled by Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) — Division of Provider Services and Quality Assurance, Long-Term Care Facility Nursing Assistant Training Program and Certified Nursing Assistant Registry. Start at the official application page .

Verify a license in Arkansas

Arkansas Department of Human Services, through its Nurse Aide Registry contractor D&S Diversified Technologies / Headmaster (TestMaster Universe) publishes a public license search , searchable by Name, Social Security Number, Registration Number, Misconduct or Download Misconduct List (a published list, separate from the individual search). It covers Arkansas nurse aide registry status, and the same list carries misconduct findings — the rules merge the two by design: ‘The nursing assistant registry shall be incorporated into the long-term care facility employment clearance registry which shall include substantiated administrative findings of abuse, neglect, or misappropriation of resident property.’ What a registry record holds is set out in rule: full name, date of birth, the name and date of the completed state-approved training programme, the certification number and date of issuance, current active or inactive status, and the most recent recertification date. The state guarantees the hours: information ‘shall be made available to the public and open for inquiries twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week, except for scheduled maintenance or at times of technical problems.’ WHAT EMPLOYERS MUST DO IS STRICTER THAN A CASUAL LOOKUP. ‘A facility must inquire of the registry as to information in the registry concerning any individual to be used as a nursing assistant. A facility may not use an individual as a nursing assistant until registry inquiry and clearance is obtained. Registry inquiries shall be performed within five calendar days of the offer of employment and prior to any resident contact’, documented in the personnel file, and the system keeps ‘an internal log of each inquiry made by Arkansas nursing facilities using a numeric code (registry identification number) assigned to each facility’ which DHS monitors for compliance. The state warns employers off name searches: clearances ‘require the nursing assistant’s Social Security Number and date of birth… Name searches are possible on the online system but accuracy is not assured’, and a name search made by telephone to DHS ‘do[es] not generate a verification log of the clearance.’ PRACTICAL LIMITS: the search is submitted as a form and is protected by an automated-traffic check, so it has to be run by a person in a normal web browser and a result cannot be bookmarked, linked to or shared. The web address DHS publishes for the public search, ar.tmuniverse.com, redirects to the ar.tmutest.com address recorded here.

Records come from Arkansas Department of Human Services, through its Nurse Aide Registry contractor D&S Diversified Technologies / Headmaster (TestMaster Universe)’s own system. LicensingAtlas does not hold license records and cannot confirm any individual’s status — the date on this page refers to the requirements described above, not to anyone’s credential.