CNA Certification in Delaware: 91-Hour Training

How to become a CNA in Delaware: a 91-hour state training minimum, the Prometric competency exam — verified from Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS).

Source-verified

Requirements below are drawn from Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) — Division of Health Care Quality (DHCQ), CNA Registry and Office of Long Term Care Residents Protection (official site) and last verified August 16, 2026. Boards change fees and rules often — confirm before acting.

Requirements at a glance

What the credential is: A state certification, with a state-owned registry that a contractor runs. The Delaware Code defines the credential holder: 'Certified nursing assistant' means a duly-certified individual under the supervision of a licensed nurse, who provides care that does not require the judgment and skills of a licensed nurse. The care may include, but is not limited to, the following: bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, ambulating, transferring and feeding, observing and reporting the general well-being of the person or persons to whom they are providing care' (16 Del. C. 3001A(1)). The state agency is the Department of Health and Social Services (3001A(2)), and the operating unit today is its Division of Health Care Quality — the name that appears on the Department's own current CNA reciprocity application (revised November 24, 2025), its Application for Deemed Certification, and its 11/2025 nurse aide training program application. The testing and registry work is contracted out, and the state-approved candidate bulletin states the arrangement: 'The Delaware Division of Long Term Care Residents Protection (DLTCRP) is responsible for the training and testing program for certified nurse aides (CNA)s and the CNA Registry... The DLTCRP has contracted with Prometric Inc. to develop and administer its Nurse Aide Competency Exam and to manage the CNA Registry.' Two things follow: the certificate is a genuine credential rather than a bare registry listing, and the division name has moved on since that bulletin was written — reciprocity, deemed certification and training-program approval are all handled today by the Division of Health Care Quality, while examination applications and fees go to the contractor.
Where the credential is required: The regulation defines the settings by reference to Delaware's facility licensing chapter: 'Facility' means a Nursing Facility, Assisted Living Facility or Intermediate Care Facility for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities licensed pursuant to 16 Del.C. Ch. 11' (16 DE Admin. Code 3220, 1.0), and 'Delaware CNA certification is required prior to being employed as a CNA in the State' (3220, 2.2.1). The candidate bulletin frames the same duty from the federal side: 'If you work in a federally certified nursing facility providing nurse aide care to residents, federal and state laws/regulations require that you must meet specific training and testing requirements to become a certified nurse aide.'
The standard route — approved program, then both tests: The regulation sets the sequence: 'To be eligible to take the examination for certification for CNA, the applicant must be a graduate of a Department approved program for CNA' (3220, 2.1.1); 'A certificate of completion must be issued from the approved program before filing an application for testing' (2.1.2); 'The certificate of completion must be dated within 24 months of the testing date' and 'Certificates of completion older than 24 months are no longer valid' (2.1.2.1-2.1.2.2); 'An application for testing shall be filed, along with a non-refundable fee, with the test vendor approved by the Department' (2.1.3); and 'Students must take and pass both the written and clinical portions of the competency test to become certified' (2.1.4).
The routes that skip the training: Delaware publishes seven eligibility routes through its testing contractor and grounds them in the regulation. ROUTE 1 — NEW NURSE AIDE, DELAWARE TRAINED: an approved program completed within the last 24 months. ROUTE 2 — NURSING STUDENT: 'enrolled in a licensed nursing program' having 'successfully completed a Fundamentals/Basic Nursing course that includes no less than 75 hours of clinical instruction in a long term care setting', with a school letter required; the regulation states the underlying rule and defers the hour figure — a nursing student is deemed to meet the CNA educational requirements if the student has completed a Fundamentals/Basic Nursing course and 'a specific number of hours of supervised clinical practicum', where 'The total clock hours of clinical training required for certification shall be determined by the Department through written order signed by the Secretary' (3220, 2.1.6). ROUTE 3 — LAPSED NURSE AIDE. ROUTE 4 — OUT-OF-STATE CERTIFICATION: a CNA certified elsewhere (or a Geriatric Nurse Aide in Maryland) 'who does not have three months of full-time employment' may test without a Delaware program. ROUTE 5 — RN OR LPN GRADUATE MORE THAN 24 MONTHS AGO: 'deemed qualified to meet the DLTCRP's nurse aide training program requirements and are eligible to take the Competency Exam' on a sealed diploma. ROUTE 6 — RECIPROCITY and ROUTE 7 — RN OR LPN GRADUATE WITHIN 24 MONTHS both skip the exam entirely: 'If you meet the requirements of route 6 or 7, you are not required to take an exam. You are eligible to apply with the DLTCRP to be placed directly on the registry.' FOREIGN-TRAINED NURSES have their own path to the exam: a certificate of licensure from the licensing agency where the nursing program is located, a certificate from the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools or another Board of Nursing approved agency, and 'official English translations of all required credentials' (3220, 2.1.8).
No education, age or background-check prerequisite is published: None of the Delaware sources read for this record — 16 Del. C. ch. 30A subchapter I in full, 16 DE Admin. Code 3220 in full, the Department's 11/2025 training program application, its 11/24/2025 reciprocity application, its deemed-certification application, or the state-approved candidate bulletin and examination application — sets a minimum age, a high school diploma or GED requirement, or a criminal background check as a condition of CNA certification. Two screening obligations DO appear and are different things: the reciprocity route requires a sealed National Practitioner Data Bank self-query and a declaration of no pending or substantiated abuse findings on any state's registry, and the training program regulation imposes immunization and tuberculosis screening on students before clinical training (3220, 3.14-3.15), adopting 14 DE Admin. Code 804 and 16 DE Admin. Code 4202 by reference and providing that 'Students that do not meet the minimum vaccination requirements shall not be permitted to participate in clinical training.'
Who may teach, and in what ratios: 'All training must be done by or under the general supervision of an RN' with 'a minimum of two years of RN experience, at least 1 year of which must be in the provision of nursing home facility services that meets federal skilled nursing home requirements' (3220, 3.2-3.2.1). Instructors must have completed a Department-approved course in teaching adults, or have experience teaching adults in a group classroom or clinical setting, or in high school programs meet Department of Education teaching requirements (3.3). 'LPN instructors can assist the supervising RN instructors in laboratory skills, but are otherwise limited to instruction of students during the clinical phase', need at least three years of LPN experience, and work under RN supervision (3.4). RATIOS ARE IN BOTH THE STATUTE AND THE REGULATION AND THEY AGREE: 'A student-to-teacher ratio of no greater than 24 students to 1 registered nurse instructor for the classroom portion' and 'no greater than 8 students to 1 registered nurse instructor or 8 students to 1 licensed practical nurse having at least 3 years experience and working under the supervision of a registered nurse for all clinical phases' (16 Del. C. 3003A(1)-(2)); 'Classroom ratios of student to instructor shall not exceed 24:1' and 'Clinical and laboratory ratios of student to RN or LPN instructor shall not exceed 8:1' (3220, 3.8-3.9). The statute also requires every course to 'meet the requirements of 42 C.F.R. Ch. IV 483.152' (3003A).
The employer may have to pay the training and testing costs back: Delaware writes the federal reimbursement rule into its own regulation: 'If a CNA who is not employed, or does not have an offer to be employed as a CNA, becomes employed by, or receives an offer of employment from a federally certified nursing facility not later than 12 months after completing a nurse aide training and competency evaluation program, the federally certified nursing facility shall reimburse all documented personally incurred costs in completing the CNA Training program' (3220, 4.1.3). Costs covered are 'tuition, tests taken and fees for textbooks or other required course materials', reimbursed 'in equal quarterly payments with full reimbursement to coincide with the CNA's completion of one year of employment including the orientation period.' The candidate bulletin warns where it does not apply: 'You are also not eligible for reimbursement if you are employed in a health setting other than a Medicare/Medicaid federally certified nursing home, such as a temporary agency, assisted living facility, hospital or a private home', or if employment starts more than 12 months after training and testing. The bulletin's practical instruction: 'You are responsible for saving all receipts.'
Orientation is mandatory, and it is not the same as training: Every CNA hired into a facility must complete an orientation whose length the Department sets by written order: 'All CNAs hired to work in a facility shall undergo a minimum number of clock hours of orientation. The requirements for certified nursing assistant orientation shall be specified by the Department in a written order signed by the Secretary' (3220, 4.1.1). Orientation counts twice over: 'Any CNA undergoing orientation may be considered a facility employee for purposes of satisfying the minimum facility staffing requirements. Orientation may also be considered as part of the 64 hour work requirement for certification renewal' (4.1.2). The content list runs from a tour of the facility and fire and disaster plans through the plan of care for each assigned resident, resident rights and abuse reporting, transfer techniques and vital signs (4.2.1). AGENCY STAFF ARE TREATED DIFFERENTLY: a CNA placed by a temporary agency in a facility where they have not worked in the previous six months must have 'a minimum of 2 hours of orientation prior to beginning their first shift', and that CNA 'shall not be considered a facility employee for purposes of satisfying the minimum facility staffing requirements' (16 Del. C. 3004A(c); 3220, 4.3).

Legal basis

Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) — Division of Health Care Quality (DHCQ), CNA Registry and Office of Long Term Care Residents Protection administers certified nursing assistant licensing in Delaware. 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

Delaware uses ‘certified nursing assistant’ and ‘CNA’ in its statute and its regulation — 16 DE Admin. Code 3220 is titled ‘Training and Qualifications for Certified Nursing Assistants’ — so the national term and the state term match here, which is not true in most states. The state’s testing contractor uses ’nurse aide’ throughout, so a candidate meets both words in the same process: the Delaware Nurse Aide Competency Exam certifies a certified nursing assistant, and the state’s own reciprocity form is headed ‘DELAWARE NURSE AIDE APPLICATION FOR CERTIFIED NURSE AIDE RECIPROCITY’. What Delaware issues is a CERTIFICATION with a two-year term, not a licence, so ‘Delaware CNA license’ is a folk term. ‘NURSING ASSISTANT’ WITHOUT ‘CERTIFIED’ IS A DIFFERENT LEGAL STATUS IN DELAWARE, not a casual shortening: it means a person who has finished training and is waiting for certification (16 Del. C. 3001A(3)), and it expires after 90 days. ‘Senior certified nursing assistant’ is a further statutory designation for a CNA with three years in good standing plus 50 more hours and another competency test. ‘GNA’ — Geriatric Nursing Assistant — is Maryland’s credential, and Delaware names it only to say that a Maryland applicant must hold it to use reciprocity. ‘STNA’ is Ohio’s term. Do not confuse the CNA with the CENTRAL SERVICE TECHNICIAN, a separate credential certified under subchapter II of the same Delaware Code chapter.

License types & fees

Type	Notes	Who Its For
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certification — a two-year state certificate	Delaware issues a real certificate with a term: 'CNA certification shall be granted, for a period of 2 years (24 months) to all CNAs who meet the requirements', and it 'shall be effective for 2 years following the date of issue and shall expire 2 years following such date, unless it is suspended, revoked, or surrendered prior to the expiration date' (16 DE Admin. Code 3220, 2.1.9 and 2.3.1). Certification comes first and employment second: 'Delaware CNA certification is required prior to being employed as a CNA in the State' (3220, 2.2.1).	A person who wants to work as a nursing assistant in a Delaware nursing facility, assisted living facility, or intermediate care facility for persons with intellectual disabilities licensed under 16 Del. C. ch. 11.
Nursing assistant — the statutory status of someone who has trained but is not yet certified	Delaware gives this status its own statutory definition — 'Nursing assistant' means an individual who has completed the requisite training to become a certified nursing assistant but is awaiting certification' (16 Del. C. 3001A(3)) — and a hard 90-day clock: 'Nursing assistants must receive certification within 90 calendar days of completion of the training program. Nursing assistants who do not receive certification within 90 calendar days may not work as a nursing assistant' (16 Del. C. 3004A(a)). While in that window the person must complete a facility-specific orientation and 'shall have direct physical contact with residents only while under the visual observation of a certified nursing assistant or licensed nurse employed by the facility.' NOTE A TENSION BETWEEN TWO OFFICIAL DELAWARE SOURCES, recorded rather than resolved: the regulation states flatly that 'A student may not work in a facility as a CNA until he/she has completed a CNA training program and passed the CNA competency test' (3220, 3.13), while the statute contemplates the trained-but-uncertified nursing assistant working under observation for up to 90 days. The statute is the later enactment.	A person who has completed the required training and is waiting for certification.
Senior Certified Nursing Assistant — a statutory step up, not a separate occupation	16 Del. C. 3005A: 'Any certified nursing assistant may pursue designation as a senior certified nursing assistant, and shall be so designated if such individual meets the following requirements: (1) Has been a certified nursing assistant in good standing for a minimum of 3 years; (2) Has successfully completed an additional 50 hours of instruction in an approved program featuring a curriculum specified by the Department; and (3) Has passed a competency test issued pursuant to the guidelines delineated by the Department.' The designation is defined in the Delaware Code, but 16 DE Admin. Code 3220 — the CNA regulation — contains no implementing provision for it, and the Department's own senior-CNA curriculum and competency-test guidelines could not be read as of August 16, 2026. Nothing further is claimed about it here.	A certified nursing assistant with three years of good standing who wants the senior designation.
Central Service Technician — a SEPARATE Delaware credential, not covered by this record	Delaware puts both credentials in the same statutory chapter — 16 Del. C. ch. 30A is titled 'Training and Certification Requirements for Certain Nurse Assistants and Central Service Technicians', with nursing assistants in subchapter I and central service technicians in subchapter II. Only subchapter I is described in this record.	Not covered here.

Who does NOT need this license — exemptions

Delaware’s carve-outs are narrow, time-limited, and mostly waive the TRAINING rather than the certification. THE 90-DAY POST-TRAINING WINDOW is the only published way to do the work before certification: a nursing assistant who has completed a facility-sponsored training program ‘shall be required to complete an additional facility-specific orientation period in a skilled nursing facility or assisted living facility’, ‘shall have direct physical contact with residents only while under the visual observation of a certified nursing assistant or licensed nurse employed by the facility’, and ‘must receive certification within 90 calendar days of completion of the training program. Nursing assistants who do not receive certification within 90 calendar days may not work as a nursing assistant’ (16 Del. C. 3004A(a)). THE REGULATION IS STRICTER ON ITS FACE, and both texts are recorded here rather than reconciled: ‘A student may not work in a facility as a CNA until he/she has completed a CNA training program and passed the CNA competency test’ (16 DE Admin. Code 3220, 3.13). DEEMED QUALIFICATION replaces the course but usually not the test: an RN or LPN who graduated in the United States within 24 months before applying is ‘deemed qualified to meet the Department’s nurse aide training and competency evaluation program requirements and are eligible for certification upon submission of a sealed copy of their diploma’ — the one route that skips BOTH the course and the exam; an RN or LPN who graduated more than 24 months before applying is deemed to meet the training requirement only and ’eligible to take the competency test’ (3220, 2.1.7). Currently enrolled nursing students are deemed to meet the educational requirement on a Fundamentals or Basic Nursing course plus supervised clinical practicum, and ‘will be approved to take the CNA competency test upon submission of a letter from their school of nursing attesting to current enrollment status and a transcript’ (2.1.6). Foreign-trained nurses may sit the test on a foreign licensure certificate plus a Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools certificate and official English translations (2.1.8). WHAT IS NOT AN EXEMPTION: reciprocity and the temporary-agency two-hour orientation are procedures, not exemptions — the agency CNA must already hold Delaware certification, and ‘Delaware CNA certification is required prior to being employed as a CNA in the State’ (2.2.1). No Delaware source read for this record exempts any employment setting outside the facility definition in 16 DE Admin. Code 3220, 1.0 — nursing facility, assisted living facility and intermediate care facility for persons with intellectual disabilities licensed under 16 Del. C. ch. 11 — and no claim is made here about hospitals, home health agencies or private homes as employment settings.

Fees

EXAM FEES, paid to the testing contractor with the application (from the Delaware Nurse Aide Exam Application and the candidate bulletin, which agree): Written Test and Clinical Skills Test $115; Oral Test and Clinical Skills Test $115; Clinical Skills Test retake only $75; Written Test retake only $40; Oral Test retake only $40, and ‘You may select this option even if you previously took the Written test.’ RESCHEDULING — ‘An additional rescheduling/no show fee of $25 is required to reschedule an exam appointment with less than five business days notice, no-shows, late arrivals, or not allowed to test’, and the bulletin adds the other half of the rule: ‘$25 fee to reschedule up to five full working days before your test’ but ‘A full exam fee if you reschedule less than five full working days before your test.’ The bulletin also lists an Appeals/Handscore fee of $25. Payment is by American Express, Visa or MasterCard, or by money order or certified check payable to the contractor; ‘Personal checks and cash are not accepted’ and ‘Testing fees are nonrefundable and nontransferable.’ RECIPROCITY FEE, paid to the state: ‘The Reciprocity Processing fee is $30; please submit payment along with all other documents. Payment should be in the form of a check or money order, and made payable to: STATE OF DELAWARE. Please note that all fees made payable to the State of Delaware are non-refundable if your application is denied for any reason.’ The reciprocity route also requires a National Practitioner Data Bank self-query, for which ’there is a cost’ the Department does not state. RENEWAL FEE: $25.00, and it is paid at the state’s continuing-education website rather than to the Division. The Division of Health Care Quality states the amount on its own letterhead in two documents. Its Nurse Aide Certification Renewal notice (3/2023) reads: ‘In addition to the work requirement and the continuing education requirement, you must pay a $25.00 renewal fee. This must be paid online at https://decnarecert.academy.reliaslearning.com using a credit/debit card. Once you have completed all steps for recertification and your information is verified, your renewal will be processed; allow up to 48 hours for this process to be completed.’ Its notice of the January 2020 changeover reads: ‘As of January 1, 2020, CNAs will no longer be sending their payments or renewal forms to the Division of Health Care Quality. Both the $25.00 renewal fee and renewal form will be completed through the RELIAS website.’ The statute sets the fee’s legal footing and explains how the amount is arrived at: ‘Upon receipt of an application and fee, the Department shall verify the accuracy of the information set forth in the application and issue to the applicant a certificate of renewal for 2 years’ (16 Del. C. 3006A(b)); ‘The required renewal fee must accompany the application for renewal’ (16 DE Admin. Code 3220, 2.3.2.1); and the fee ‘shall approximate and reasonably reflect all costs necessary to defray the expenses of maintaining an educational website from which certified nursing assistants will receive the required educational credits’, ‘shall not be combined with any other fee or charge’, with ‘At the beginning of each biennial calendar year, the Department or any other state agency acting on its behalf, shall compute the appropriate fee for the coming 2 years’ (3006A(b)(2)). That design matches what Delaware actually charges: the $25.00 is paid at exactly the educational website the statute describes. Because the statute directs a biennial recomputation the figure can move, but the Department has published the same $25.00 from the January 2020 notice through the 3/2023 renewal form, and $25.00 is the published amount as of August 16, 2026. LATE RENEWAL PENALTY — a SEPARATE charge that happens to be the same number: a ‘$25 penalty fee’ on top of the $25.00 renewal fee, for a renewal filed within 30 days after expiry (16 Del. C. 3006A(c); 3220, 2.3.6.1). The two $25 amounts are coincidentally equal and are not the same charge; a CNA who renews late pays both. TRAINING COST is set by the approved program and is not published by the Department — but see the reimbursement rule above, under which a federally certified nursing facility that hires the new CNA within 12 months must repay documented tuition, testing and textbook costs.

Exam

Two tests, both required: ‘The Delaware Nurse Aide Competency Exam consists of two separate tests that evaluate your nurse aide knowledge and skills. One test is a hands-on skills demonstration referred to as the Clinical Skills Test. The other test is a Written Test. First-time testers must register for both tests.’ WRITTEN TEST — ‘The Written test consists of 60 multiple-choice questions. You will have 90 minutes to take the test’, built on a published content outline weighted 18% Role of the Nurse Aide, 18% Promotion of Safety and 24% Promotion of Function and Health of Residents among its domains. ORAL FORM — the written test may be taken orally instead, selected on the application. CLINICAL SKILLS TEST — scored on five skills, three assigned plus Handwashing and Indirect Care, and ‘You must pass all five skills to pass the Clinical Skills Test.’ Candidates volunteer as the resident for another candidate, and the bulletin lists the twelve skills that may be performed on a resident actor; the evaluator ‘can stop the testing of a skill if the resident actor/volunteer is in danger.’ ATTEMPTS — THREE, and the regulation is the authority: ‘Students who fail to obtain a passing score may repeat the test two additional times’ and ‘Students who fail to obtain a passing score after testing three times must repeat the CNA training program before retaking the test’ (16 DE Admin. Code 3220, 2.1.5). The bulletin states the same limit with the deadline attached: ‘You have three attempts to pass the Written and Clinical Skills tests within 24 months of completing your training program.’ Only the failed test has to be repeated, and each attempt needs its own application and fee. LANGUAGE — ‘The Delaware 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 oral format is offered as the alternative and is not an ADA accommodation. WHERE — in-facility test sites scheduled by the nursing home or training program, or regional test sites in New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties, with the current list published by the contractor. IDENTIFICATION — two valid pieces, one a current government-issued photo identification, and the original admission letter must be presented. RESULTS — the written test returns an on-screen pass/fail report; the clinical skills report is handed over at the test site shortly after the test; scores ‘are confidential and will be revealed only to you and the state. Scores are not given out over the phone.’ NO NUMERIC PASSING SCORE is published in any Delaware source read for this record. ACCOMMODATIONS — documentation of a disability recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act is submitted with the application, thirty days’ advance notice is required, and ‘There is no additional charge for these accommodations.’ APPEALS — a signed written appeal must reach the contractor’s appeals committee within 60 days of the test date; ‘Faxed appeals will not be accepted because an original signature is required.’

Renewal & continuing education

Every two years, and it takes THREE things — an application with a $25.00 fee, 24 hours of approved continuing education, and 64 hours of paid work. All three are filed in one place: since January 1, 2020 the renewal form, the continuing education and the $25.00 payment are completed through the Relias site the Division names in its renewal notice, https://decnarecert.academy.reliaslearning.com , not by mailing anything to the Division — ‘As of January 1, 2020, CNAs will no longer be sending their payments or renewal forms to the Division of Health Care Quality. Both the $25.00 renewal fee and renewal form will be completed through the RELIAS website.’ The Division’s renewal notice also states the turnaround and how the result is confirmed: ‘Once you have completed all steps for recertification and your information is verified, your renewal will be processed; allow up to 48 hours for this process to be completed. Once completed, you will appear on the State of Delaware Registry as ‘ACTIVE’ for another two (2) years/(24 months). You may visit https://registry.prometric.com/publicDE to verify that your certificate is available as the state of Delaware does not provide certification cards.’ The statute sets the cycle: ‘Every certified nursing assistant shall recertify biennially by filing an application’, and on receipt of the application and fee the Department ‘shall… issue to the applicant a certificate of renewal for 2 years, provided that the applicant has successfully completed continuing education requirements as established by the Department’ (16 Del. C. 3006A(a)-(b)). The regulation adds the deadline and the work test: ‘CNAs must apply for certification renewal at least 30 days prior to the expiration date of the certification’ (16 DE Admin. Code 3220, 2.3.2), and ‘In order to qualify for recertification, a CNA must complete the following during each 24 month certification period and prior to certification expiration: 24 hours of Department approved continuing education which must include: Six (6) hours of dementia training and Two (2) hours of resident/patient abuse/neglect/mistreatment prevention training. Perform at least 64 hours of nursing related services for pay under the supervision of a nurse’ (2.3.4). Orientation hours count toward the work half: ‘Orientation may also be considered as part of the 64 hour work requirement for certification renewal’ (4.1.2). MILITARY DEFERRAL: the certification of a CNA ‘on active military duty with the armed forces of the United States and serving in a theater of hostilities on the date that recertification is due shall be deemed to be current and in full compliance… until the expiration of 30 days after such CNA is no longer on active military duty in a theater of hostilities’ (16 Del. C. 3006A(a); 3220, 2.3.7). A RENEWAL CANNOT BE BOUGHT WITHOUT THE WORK AND THE COURSES: ‘A certification renewal will not be issued to a CNA who has not completed the requirements for renewal… and/or has not submitted an application for renewal and/or has not submitted the renewal fee’ (2.3.3), and ‘A CNA who fails to complete the requirements… must take and pass the competency test again’ (2.3.5). A flagged registry record also blocks renewal: ‘If your record in the Delaware NA Registry is flagged for resident abuse or neglect, misappropriation of resident property or Medicaid fraud, your certification will not be renewed.’ 24 hours of Department-approved continuing education per two-year certification period, with two mandated subjects inside it: ‘Six (6) hours of dementia training’ and ‘Two (2) hours of resident/patient abuse/neglect/mistreatment prevention training’ (16 DE Admin. Code 3220, 2.3.4.1). The continuing education must be completed ‘during each 24 month certification period and prior to certification expiration’, and failing to do it is itself a disciplinary ground: ‘Failing to comply with the requirements for mandatory continuing education’ (3220, 5.1.13). Delaware closes the obvious loophole in terms: ‘A CNA, who is certified in Delaware, may not use the certification from another State for the purpose of applying for reciprocity to avoid Delaware’s continuing education requirements’ (2.3.10). The statute ties the renewal fee to the education infrastructure — the fee ‘shall approximate and reasonably reflect all costs necessary to defray the expenses of maintaining an educational website from which certified nursing assistants will receive the required educational credits’ (16 Del. C. 3006A(b)(2)). WHERE THE HOURS ARE TAKEN AND RECORDED: Relias. Every Delaware CNA has an account in it, and the Division of Health Care Quality says so on its own letterhead. Its Nurse Aide Certification Renewal notice (3/2023) reads: ‘All State of Delaware CNAs have been registered in the Relias system. Sign in and complete your continuing education units by visiting https://decnarecert.academy.reliaslearning.com . Log in by entering your email address and the temporary password which is ‘WELCOME1’. (The password is case sensitive so be sure to type W in uppercase, the remaining letters in lowercase, and the numeral 1 with no spaces in between.) If your email address does not work as a login, you must use your CNA Certificate Number.’ The same notice gives the help line: ‘If you need assistance, please call the RELIAS Helpdesk at 1-844-735-2223. Once logged in, please update any demographic information (i.e., name, address, etc.) and upload any supporting documentation (i.e., copy of photo ID, marriage license, divorce decree, etc.) if there are changes.’ The Division’s notice of the changeover explains how Delaware got here and what the platform does: ‘Currently, Delaware CNAs are required to take 24 hours of CEUs every two years through an online company named Elsevier. On January 1, 2020, the company that CNAs will be required to take online training from will be RELIAS’; ‘CNAs must obtain an individual e-mail address to create an account in RELIAS’; ‘CNAs will be taking their CEU classes that will be presented in a bundled package selected by DHCQ’; ‘There will be an option in RELIAS to upload transcripts for college nursing classes to receive General CEU credits’; and ‘RELIAS customer service operates Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.’ The 64-hour work requirement is documented inside the same platform: ‘CNAs will select the 64 hour Employment Verification Statement as a class and document their employment history. The DHCQ staff will verify this information. Falsifying information could result in a CNA’s certification being revoked.’ ONE CITATION IN THE OLDER CANDIDATE BULLETIN IS OUT OF DATE, NOT MYSTERIOUS: the bulletin (revised 07/18/2018) tells CNAs their hours ‘must be entered onto the new CE Site (www.cnadece.org ) by an approved education provider’. That address no longer exists — it is the superseded vendor site, replaced by Relias on January 1, 2020, and the bulletin simply predates the change. Follow the Division’s renewal notice, not the bulletin, on where the hours are taken and recorded.

How to apply

Applications are handled by Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) — Division of Health Care Quality (DHCQ), CNA Registry and Office of Long Term Care Residents Protection. Start at the official application page .

Verify a license in Delaware

Prometric, under contract to the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services — the contract covers both the competency exam and management of the 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 Delaware nurse aide registry status. The state-approved candidate bulletin points to it — ‘You can verify the status of a certified nurse aide online at www.prometric.com/exams/nurseaide-de , or by calling the Delaware Registry at 302.577.6661’ — and the search page carries the employer duty on its face: ‘The Dept of Health requires that all employers search the registry prior to employing a Nurse Aide.’ The registry is also where discipline shows up: the Department’s published sanctions include a ‘Flag on the CNA Registry’ and ‘Placement on the Adult Abuse Registry’, and reimbursement of a new CNA’s training costs by a nursing facility is recorded there too — ‘Notice of such reimbursement shall be entered in the CNA Registry database and information regarding such reimbursement shall be available to facilities upon request.’ PRACTICAL LIMITS: the search page opens with a security check — a code that has to be typed and verified before the search boxes unlock — so it cannot be checked automatically and has to be worked by hand in a normal web browser, and results come from 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.

Records come from Prometric, under contract to the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services — the contract covers both the competency exam and management of the 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.

Frequently asked questions

How many hours of training does Delaware require to become a CNA?

91 hours — 75 in the classroom and 16 in clinical — according to the Division of Health Care Quality’s own current application form for training programs, dated 11/2025: ‘The program must be a minimum of 91 hours divided between clinical (16 hours) and classroom (75 hours) instruction. Additional hours may be in either of these two areas or both.’ The number is not in the statute or the regulation, and that is deliberate: both say the total ‘shall be determined by the Department through written order signed by the Secretary’ and that ‘At no time may the number of clock hours be less than those required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.’ Because the figure lives in a Secretary’s order rather than in the code, it can change without any change to the law — which is exactly why the older 150-hour figure still circulating on unofficial sites is not what Delaware’s current forms require.

Who gives the Delaware CNA exam and what does it cost?

Prometric, under contract to the Department, which hired it ’to develop and administer its Nurse Aide Competency Exam and to manage the CNA Registry.’ The regulation refers to it only as ’the test vendor approved by the Department’, so the vendor can change without a rule change. First-time testing costs $115 for the Written and Clinical Skills tests together, or $115 for the Oral and Clinical Skills combination. Retakes are priced separately: $75 for the Clinical Skills test alone and $40 for the Written or Oral test alone. A $25 rescheduling or no-show fee applies inside five business days. Fees are ’nonrefundable and nontransferable’, and personal checks and cash are not accepted.

How many times can you fail the Delaware CNA exam?

Twice — the third failure sends you back to class. The regulation is explicit: ‘Students who fail to obtain a passing score may repeat the test two additional times’ and ‘Students who fail to obtain a passing score after testing three times must repeat the CNA training program before retaking the test.’ There is a clock as well as a count: the certificate of completion ‘must be dated within 24 months of the testing date’, and ‘Certificates of completion older than 24 months are no longer valid.’ You only have to repeat the test you failed, and each attempt needs its own application and fee.

How do you renew a Delaware CNA certification?

With three things, and it is one of the stricter renewals in the country. File the application with the renewal fee ‘at least 30 days prior to the expiration date’; complete ‘24 hours of Department approved continuing education which must include: Six (6) hours of dementia training and Two (2) hours of resident/patient abuse/neglect/mistreatment prevention training’; and ‘Perform at least 64 hours of nursing related services for pay under the supervision of a nurse’ during the 24-month period. Orientation hours at a new facility can count toward the 64. Miss any of it and ‘A certification renewal will not be issued’ — and ‘A CNA who fails to complete the requirements… must take and pass the competency test again.’ The renewal fee is $25.00, and since January 1, 2020 the fee, the form and the continuing education are all handled through the Relias site the Division names in its renewal notice (https://decnarecert.academy.reliaslearning.com ) rather than by mail to the Division. Allow up to 48 hours after the last step for the renewal to process. Note that the $25.00 renewal fee is a different charge from the $25 late-renewal penalty — the two amounts are coincidentally equal, and a CNA renewing after expiry pays both.

What happens if a Delaware CNA certification expires?

There is a 30-day grace window, and after that you retest. A CNA who actually completed the work and the courses but filed late ‘may still renew the certification up to 30 days past the certification’s expiration’ by paying ‘a $25 penalty fee’ on top of the renewal fee. Past that, ‘The certification of a certified nursing assistant who fails to renew on time or during the 30-day late renewal period is considered lapsed and the certified nursing assistant is not permitted to work until the certified nursing assistant submits an application and takes and passes the certified nursing assistant test.’ Retraining is not automatically required — the lapsed CNA retests — unless they then fail three times, at which point the training program has to be repeated.

Can a CNA certified in another state work in Delaware?

Yes, through reciprocity, but Delaware asks for more evidence than most states. You need a current, active, good-standing certificate from the state where you practise (Maryland applicants must hold the Geriatric Nursing Assistant certificate), no pending or substantiated abuse, neglect, exploitation or misappropriation findings on any state’s registry, and either 420 clock hours of paid CNA work in the last 24 months — Delaware’s way of expressing ’three months of full-time experience’ — or completion of an approved training and competency evaluation program ‘of at least 75 total clock hours.’ The paperwork includes notarised employer or training verification, a copy of the current certificate, photo identification, a sealed unopened National Practitioner Data Bank self-query, and a $30 processing fee payable to the State of Delaware. A CNA certified elsewhere who lacks the three months of experience can instead sit the Delaware exam without taking a Delaware course.

Can a nurse or nursing student skip Delaware's CNA training?

Yes, and one route skips the exam too. An RN or LPN who graduated in the United States within the past 24 months is ‘deemed qualified to meet the Department’s nurse aide training and competency evaluation program requirements and are eligible for certification upon submission of a sealed copy of their diploma’ — course and test both waived. A graduate more than 24 months out is deemed to meet only the training requirement and still has to pass the competency test. A currently enrolled nursing student is deemed to meet the educational requirement after a Fundamentals or Basic Nursing course plus a supervised clinical practicum, and is approved to test on a letter from the school confirming enrolment and a transcript. Foreign-trained nurses may sit the test with a foreign licensure certificate, a Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools certificate and official English translations.

Can you work as a nursing assistant in Delaware before certification comes through?

The statute allows a narrow window and the regulation reads more strictly, so this is one to check with the employer. Delaware Code 3004A(a) contemplates a trained but uncertified ’nursing assistant’ completing a facility-specific orientation, having ‘direct physical contact with residents only while under the visual observation of a certified nursing assistant or licensed nurse employed by the facility’, and receiving certification ‘within 90 calendar days of completion of the training program’ — after which ‘Nursing assistants who do not receive certification within 90 calendar days may not work as a nursing assistant.’ The regulation, meanwhile, states that ‘A student may not work in a facility as a CNA until he/she has completed a CNA training program and passed the CNA competency test’, and that ‘Delaware CNA certification is required prior to being employed as a CNA in the State.’ The statute is the later enactment; both texts are quoted here rather than reconciled.

Does a Delaware employer have to pay back CNA training costs?

A federally certified nursing facility does, if it hires you soon enough. Delaware’s regulation provides that where a CNA who was not employed ‘becomes employed by, or receives an offer of employment from a federally certified nursing facility not later than 12 months after completing a nurse aide training and competency evaluation program, the federally certified nursing facility shall reimburse all documented personally incurred costs’ — tuition, tests taken, and fees for textbooks or other required course materials — ‘in equal quarterly payments with full reimbursement to coincide with the CNA’s completion of one year of employment including the orientation period.’ Keep the receipts: facilities must accept ‘canceled checks, paid receipts, written verification from a training program or other written evidence.’ It does not apply if you work for a temporary agency, an assisted living facility, a hospital or a private home, or if you start more than 12 months after finishing.

What is a Senior Certified Nursing Assistant in Delaware?

A statutory step up from the CNA certificate. Delaware Code 3005A provides that ‘Any certified nursing assistant may pursue designation as a senior certified nursing assistant, and shall be so designated if such individual meets the following requirements: (1) Has been a certified nursing assistant in good standing for a minimum of 3 years; (2) Has successfully completed an additional 50 hours of instruction in an approved program featuring a curriculum specified by the Department; and (3) Has passed a competency test issued pursuant to the guidelines delineated by the Department.’ The designation is defined in the Code, but Delaware’s CNA regulation contains no implementing rules for it, and the Department’s senior-CNA curriculum and competency-test guidelines are not published in any source read for this record.

How do you check whether a Delaware CNA certification is valid?

Through the Delaware State Nurse Aide Registry lookup at registry.prometric.com/registry/publicDE, run by the Department’s contractor, or by phoning the Delaware Registry on 302.577.6661. It can be searched by certificate number, or by first, middle and last name with date of birth. The registry is also where discipline appears — the Department’s published sanctions include a flag on the CNA Registry and placement on the Adult Abuse Registry — and where a facility’s reimbursement of a CNA’s training costs is recorded. The page opens with a security check that has to be completed by hand, so it has to be used in a normal web browser and a result cannot be saved as a link. Employers are reminded on the page itself that the state requires a registry search before hiring a nurse aide.

See every license and certification LicensingAtlas covers in Delaware.

Sources & verification

Last verified against these sources: August 16, 2026.

We re-fetch every cited source on a weekly schedule: see what changed at the agencies, or every correction we have ever made.

LicensingAtlas states licensing and certification requirements categorically from official sources. It is a reference, not legal or career advice, and requirements change frequently — confirm details with the issuing board before you act.