CNA Certification in Connecticut: 100-Hour Training

Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) — Practitioner Licensing and Investigations Section, Nurse’s Aide Registry administers certified nursing assistant licensing in Connecticut. 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

Connecticut’s statutory noun is ’nurse’s aide’ — with the apostrophe — and the credential is a REGISTRATION (Conn. Gen. Stat. 20-102aa(3)), which is why DPH’s own page is headed ‘Nurse Aide Registration’ and its route page is headed ‘New CNA - Route 1’. The state uses ‘registration’ and ‘certification’ interchangeably in its own text: DPH writes ’nurse’s aide registration (certification)’ in a single phrase, and the contractor-run system is called the Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) Registry. ‘Certified nursing assistant’ is the national term most job postings use and appears on the Connecticut examination application (‘Connecticut Certified Nursing Assistant Examination Application’), while the statute and the Public Health Code never use it. ‘Connecticut CNA license’ is a folk term — Connecticut issues no nurse aide licence, and 20-102ff makes clear the registration authorizes nothing for which a licence is required. Do not confuse this credential with the MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION CERTIFICATE, a separate DPH credential handled by Facility Licensing, or with a NURSE AIDE TRAINEE working inside the 120-day window, who is not registered. ‘STNA’ is Ohio’s term and ’nurse assistant’ with no possessive is the usual informal spelling; neither is Connecticut’s.

License types & fees

Who does NOT need this license — exemptions

Connecticut’s carve-outs are mostly time-limited, and two are permanent. THE 120-DAY WINDOW is the general one: ’no person shall be employed for more than 120 days as a nurse’s aide in a licensed chronic and convalescent nursing home or rest home with nursing supervision unless such person has successfully completed a training and competency evaluation program approved by the department and has been entered on the nurse’s aide registry maintained by the department’ (Public Health Code 19-13-D8t(l)(1)) — with the untrained worker restricted to tasks they have demonstrated competence in, under licensed nursing supervision, and barred from counting toward staffing (19-13-D8t(l)(1)(F)), and the trained-but-untested worker allowed to count toward staffing for 120 days or less (19-13-D8t(l)(1)(G)). A SEPARATE 120-DAY WINDOW FOR OUT-OF-STATE AND FOREIGN-TRAINED NURSES: ‘a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse licensed in a state other than Connecticut whose license has been verified by the chronic and convalescent nursing home or rest home with nursing supervision as in good standing in the state in which he or she is currently licensed, or a registered nurse trained in another country who has satisfied the certification requirements of the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools, may be utilized as a nurse’s aide in Connecticut for not more than a single one hundred-twenty (120) day period’, and such a nurse ‘shall be deemed to have completed a nurse’s aide training and competency evaluation program approved by the commissioner’ (19-13-D8t(l)(8)). TWO PERMANENT EXCLUSIONS SIT IN THE DEFINITION ITSELF: the term ’nurse’s aide’ ‘does not include an individual who is a health professional otherwise licensed or certified by the Department of Public Health, or who volunteers to provide such services without monetary compensation’ (Conn. Gen. Stat. 20-102aa(2)) — so an unpaid volunteer and an already-licensed DPH practitioner are outside the requirement rather than exempted from it. DEEMED COMPLETION OF TRAINING, which is a waiver of the course but not of the exam: a person who completed the state-sponsored Nurse Assistant Training Program through the State Department of Education or the Connecticut Regional Community College system before January 1, 1989 is deemed to have completed an approved program (19-13-D8t(l)(4)), and so is a person who completed ’not less than one-hundred hours of theoretical and clinical instruction in the fundamental skills of nursing in a practical nursing or registered nursing education program approved by the department’ (19-13-D8t(l)(5)) — the statutory basis for DPH’s Route 2. AND A LIMIT RUNNING THE OTHER WAY: ‘Nothing in subsection (c) of section 19a-14 or sections 20-102aa to 20-102ff, inclusive, shall authorize any person to engage in any activity for which a license is required pursuant to chapter 378’ (Conn. Gen. Stat. 20-102ff) — the registration does not license nursing practice.

Fees

THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH CHARGES NOTHING — no application fee and no renewal fee appears on any DPH nurse aide page read for this record, and DPH states the renewal side in terms: ‘There is no fee for renewal.’ Every dollar in this credential is paid to the testing contractor. TWO OFFICIAL FIGURES FOR THE SAME EXAM, AND THEY DISAGREE. DPH’s Route 1 and Route 2 pages state: ‘The fee for the examination is $118.’ The current Connecticut Certified Nursing Assistant Examination Application published on the Connecticut nurse aide exam page prices the same first-time combination at $125: ‘Written Test and Clinical Skills Test $125’, ‘Written Test (Spanish) and Clinical Skills Test (English) $125’, ‘Oral Test and Clinical Skills Test $125’, ‘Oral Test (Spanish) and Clinical Skills Test (English) $125’. The candidate handbook agrees with the application at $125. Both figures are recorded here and attributed; the application is the form a candidate actually submits with payment, and the $118 appears only in DPH’s page text. THE REST OF THE SCHEDULE, from the current application: re-test Clinical Skills Test only $77; re-test Written Test only $48 (English or Spanish); re-test Oral Test only $48 (English or Spanish), and ‘You may select this Route even if you previously took the Written test’; Route 5 (trained and took the state exam in the last 24 months) $55; Route 7 (reciprocity) $55; ‘Rescheduling/No Show $20’, which ‘is required to reschedule an exam appointment with less than five business days’ notice, no-shows, late arrivals, or not allowed to test.’ The candidate handbook’s older schedule differs on that last line — it lists a ‘$25 to reschedule up to five full working days before your test’, ‘A full exam fee if you reschedule less than five full working days before your test’, plus an Appeals/Handscore fee of $25 and a Processing Fee of $20 — so the reschedule charge is one of the points where handbook and live form part company. DUPLICATE CERTIFICATE $15, stated by both DPH (‘There is a $15 fee for this service’) and the handbook; updating a name or address on the registry itself is free, and only a replacement certificate costs the $15. OPTIONAL PRACTICE MATERIAL, priced by the contractor and required by nobody: the Nurse Aide Practice Exam contains 50 questions at ‘$10’ each, and Clinical Skills Readiness tests run ‘$5 to $7 with a super pack of all skills available for $25.’ PAYMENT RULES: ‘Fees are non-refundable and non-transferrable’, personal checks and cash are not accepted, and ‘Applications received without proper payment will be returned.’ TRAINING COST is set by the approved program and is not published by DPH.

Exam

Two tests, and neither is a prerequisite for the other: ‘The Connecticut Nurse Aide Exam consists of a Clinical Skills Test and a Written (Knowledge) Test. You are not required to pass one test before taking the other. First-time testers must register for both tests.’ WRITTEN (KNOWLEDGE) TEST — ‘The Written test consists of 60 multiple-choice questions. You will have 90 minutes to take the test’, delivered on computer with a mouse and no computer experience needed. The published content outline weights it: Role of the Nurse Aide 18%, Promotion of Safety 18%, Promotion of Function and Health of Residents 24%, with the remaining domains set out in the handbook’s outline. ORAL FORM — ‘The Written Test may be taken in an oral form. During an oral test, you will hear the questions read to you while reading and answering questions on the computer. You may replay questions as many times as needed’, and the choice must be made on the application: ‘This request cannot be made on the day of testing.’ Candidates taking the oral form ‘do not need to apply for ADA accommodations.’ CLINICAL SKILLS TEST — computer-assigned and timed: ‘For your test, you will be scored on five skills. While performing three assigned skills, you will also be scored on two additional skills — Handwashing and Indirect Care’, where Indirect Care is ‘care related to resident rights and preferences, communication with the resident, resident safety, comfort and needs, and infection control.’ ‘The time allowed for the Clinical Skills test ranges from 31 minutes to 40 minutes based on the skills you are asked to perform.’ ‘To pass the Clinical Skills Test, you must pass all five skills. To pass a skill, you are not required to perform the skill perfectly, but you are required to demonstrate competency of the skill.’ Corrections are allowed mid-skill if announced and actually performed, but not after the skill ends and not where a safety issue has occurred. Candidates are asked to act as the resident for another candidate, and the handbook lists the twelve skills that may be performed on a resident actor. LANGUAGE — THE STATE’S TWO OWN DOCUMENTS DISAGREE AND BOTH ARE RECORDED. The candidate handbook (revised August 21, 2019) says: ‘The Connecticut Nurse Aide Competency Exam is offered only in English. Translators are not permitted and translation dictionaries may not be used during the exam administration.’ The current Connecticut Certified Nursing Assistant Examination Application, by contrast, offers four first-time combinations including ‘Written Test (Spanish) and Clinical Skills Test (English)’ and ‘Oral Test (Spanish) and Clinical Skills Test (English)’, and Spanish re-test options at the same price as English. The application is the live form a candidate fills in; the handbook is the older document. ATTEMPTS — no cap inside the eligibility window: DPH states ‘There are no limits as to how many times a candidate can take the examination within the 24 month period’, and the handbook confirms ‘You must take and pass both the Clinical Skills Test and Written Test within a two-year eligibility period. A testing fee and application are required each time you take a test. You are only required to retake the test you failed.’ RESULTS — the written test produces an immediate pass/fail score report on screen; the skills score report is handed over at the test site shortly after the test. ‘If you pass both parts of the exam, your Connecticut Nurse Aide Certificate will be mailed to you and your name will be added to the Connecticut CNA Registry. People who are successful typically are listed on the registry within 48 hours.’ The certificate is mailed within 15 business days of testing. NO NUMERIC PASSING SCORE for the written test is published in any Connecticut source read for this record. APPEALS — a written, signed appeal about exam content, registration, scheduling or administration must reach the contractor’s Appeals Committee within 60 days of the exam date; ‘Faxed appeals will not be accepted because an original signature is required.’ ACCOMMODATIONS — documentation of a disability recognized under the ADA is submitted with the application, ‘Thirty days’ advance notice is required for all testing arrangements’, and ‘There is no additional charge for these accommodations.’

Renewal & continuing education

Every two years, renewed on WORK rather than on a fee or a course. DPH: ‘To renew a nurse aide certificate, nurse aides must have worked at least one 8-hour shift of paid employment as a nurse aide or in a position providing nursing related services prior to their nurse aide certificate expiring.’ The clock is set by the work, not by the calendar: ‘Renewals will be effective two years from the last date of reported/verified employment.’ ‘There is no fee for renewal.’ HOW IT IS FILED: the aide downloads the Nurse Aide Employment Verification Form, completes the nurse aide section, and has the employer complete the employer section, which asks for the facility or agency name and address, the date of hire and the ‘Last Reported Date of Employment’, with a signed certification by an employer representative. The completed form goes to the Nurse Aide Registry ‘by fax at (860) 707-1983, email to [email protected] or mailed to the address located at the bottom of the employment verification form.’ Facilities renewing several aides at once ‘may use the multiple nurse aides verification form.’ The form has a check box for Facility/Agency, Private Duty or Out of State employment, and a private-duty or physician’s-office aide must attach ‘a description of the specific nurse aide or nursing related duties performed.’ WHAT RENEWAL DOES NOT PRODUCE, in the words of Prometric’s Connecticut candidate handbook rather than of DPH: ‘You will not receive another certificate at time of renewal. Your original testing certificate is your official certificate.’ WHAT BLOCKS RENEWAL: ‘If your certificate is flagged for resident abuse, neglect, misappropriation of resident property or Medicaid fraud on the Connecticut Nurse Aide Registry, your certification will not be renewed and you are prohibited from working in a licensed chronic convalescent nursing home.’ NO CONTINUING EDUCATION IS REQUIRED to renew a Connecticut nurse’s aide registration. Renewal is documented paid work — one eight-hour shift in the two-year cycle — and nothing else; no DPH nurse aide page read for this record mentions in-service or continuing education as a renewal condition. The Department’s own list of ‘License Types with Continuing Education Requirements’ names 33 professions, from Acupuncturist to Veterinarian, including Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Nurse, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse and Nursing Home Administrator — and NURSE AIDE IS NOT AMONG THEM. Neither Conn. Gen. Stat. 20-102ee, which sets the training requirement, nor the nurse’s aide provisions of Public Health Code 19-13-D8t(l) imposes a recurring education duty on the individual aide. The two-hour post-traumatic stress and suicide-prevention component added by P.A. 21-46 is part of the 100-hour INITIAL training program, not a renewal obligation.

How to apply

Applications are handled by Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) — Practitioner Licensing and Investigations Section, Nurse’s Aide Registry. Start at the official application page .

Verify a license in Connecticut

Prometric, under contract to the Connecticut Department of Public Health, which contracted with it ’to manage the Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) Registry’ publishes a public license search , searchable by Certificate number, Name — first name, middle name and last name, with date of birth (MM/DD/YYYY) or Employer Code (optional, and only for registered employers: ‘If you are an employer, you should enter your employer identifier in order to receive credit for the search’). It covers Connecticut nurse aide registry status. DPH links this lookup from four of its own nurse aide pages, describing it as the way to ‘Search the CT Nurse’s Aide Registry Online’ and to ‘verify a nurse aide certificate expiration date’, and the Nurse Aide Employment Verification Form prints the address on its face. The registry reports whether an aide is active or lapsed and whether a negative finding has been entered — ‘Once a nurse’s aide’s name is on the registry it is never removed. The nurse’s aide will be identified as active or lapsed. It will also identify whether there has been a negative finding against their certificate for resident abuse, resident neglect and/or misappropriation of resident property.’ The lookup also carries an employer duty on its face: ‘The Dept of Health requires that all employers search the registry prior to employing a Nurse Aide.’ PRACTICAL LIMITS: the search page opens with a security check — a code that must be typed and verified before any search box becomes usable — so the lookup cannot be reached by an automated check and must be worked by hand in a normal web browser. Results are produced by submitting the form, so a result cannot be bookmarked or linked to. The field list above was read from the live search form’s own inputs as of August 16, 2026. One address detail worth knowing: DPH’s employment verification form prints the shorter address registry.prometric.com/publicCT, while its web pages link registry.prometric.com/registry/publicCT; the longer one is the form that answered.

Records come from Prometric, under contract to the Connecticut Department of Public Health, which contracted with it ’to manage the Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) Registry’’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.