TWO agencies share this credential, and Maine says so on its own page. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Licensing and Certification, operates the Maine Registry of Certified Nursing Assistants and Direct Care Workers - the statute directs that ‘The Department of Health and Human Services shall maintain the registry and make it accessible through a public website portal’ (22 M.R.S. 1812-G(1)) - and DHHS also approves the training programs (32 M.R.S. 2104(4)). The Maine State Board of Nursing writes the curriculum and the eligibility rules: ‘The State Board of Nursing shall adopt rules … defining eligibility requirements for listing on the registry as a certified nursing assistant’ (22 M.R.S. 1812-G(3)), and the statutory definition of a certified nursing assistant turns on ’the eligibility requirements established by the State Board of Nursing for listing on the registry’ (22 M.R.S. 1812-G(1-B)(B)). The public lookup sits on a third system, the state’s Regulatory Licensing and Permitting service (ALMS), under the regulator name ‘CNA AND DIRECT CARE REGISTRY’. administers certified nursing assistant licensing in Maine. 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
Maine’s own term is CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANT, abbreviated CNA, and the state issues both a CERTIFICATE OF TRAINING (from the approved program) and a LISTING with a CNA number (from the Department of Health and Human Services). The register’s full name is the MAINE REGISTRY OF CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANTS AND DIRECT CARE WORKERS - the direct care worker half is a different population and appears on the register mainly through disqualifying notations. ‘Nurse aide’ is the federal vocabulary and shows up in Maine’s rule headings (’nursing assistant training programs’) and in the national directory the Department links; ‘certified nursing assistant’ is what Maine uses in statute, rule and on every public page. ‘Maine CNA license’ is a folk term - Maine issues no nurse aide licence, and its public lookup lists the profession as ‘Certified Nurse Aides’. FOUR MAINE CREDENTIALS THAT ARE ROUTINELY CONFUSED WITH THIS ONE. (1) CNA-M, Certified Nursing Assistant-Medications - an experienced CNA who completed the Board’s Standardized Medication Course and may ‘administer selected noninjectable medications to patients who are 4 years of age and older’, working only in named settings under a nurse’s on-site supervision. (2) CRMA, Certified Residential Medication Aide - ‘a trained person who is certified to provide medication administration in a residential setting’; the Department’s own comparison chart says a CRMA is trained to transcribe physician orders and complete medication administration records, ‘Works without the direct on-site supervision of a registered professional nurse’ and ‘May work only in a residential care facility’. (3) PSS, Personal Support Specialist - an unlicensed assistive person with ‘A minimum of 50 classroom hours of training’ who supports consumers in assisted living, residential care, adult day services and home care. (4) UAP, unlicensed assistive person - a statutory category that expressly excludes a CNA working as a CNA. One more naming quirk: the online application and the public lookup both file this credential under ‘board number 6719’ and the regulator label ‘CNA AND DIRECT CARE REGISTRY’ on the state’s Regulatory Licensing and Permitting service, even though the regulator is the Department of Health and Human Services rather than a licensing board.
License types & fees
| Type | Notes | Who Its For |
|---|---|---|
| Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) - active listing on the Maine Registry of Certified Nursing Assistants and Direct Care Workers | Maine calls this a CERTIFICATE and a listing at the same time, and both words are load-bearing. The statute defines a certified nursing assistant as 'an individual who has successfully completed an approved nursing assistant training program, holds a certificate of training and meets the eligibility requirements established by the State Board of Nursing for listing on the registry' (22 M.R.S. 1812-G(1-B)(B)), and the Department's own definitions page adds that a CNA 'is a person listed on the CNA Registry who performs selected nursing services under the supervision of a registered professional nurse.' The listing is what makes the work lawful: 'If you are not listed as "Active" on the Registry, you cannot work as a CNA in Maine.' The certificate runs 24 months and must be renewed. | A person who wants to work as a CNA in a Maine health care setting - hospitals, nursing facilities, home health agencies and assisted housing programs - performing selected nursing services under the supervision of a registered professional nurse. |
| Temporary listing for a nursing assistant trained in another jurisdiction - four months, no renewal | 'A nursing assistant who has received training in another jurisdiction, may request temporary listing on the MAINE REGISTRY OF CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANTS AND DIRECT CARE WORKERS, pending consideration for permanent listing ... Such temporary listing shall be in effect for a maximum of 4 months and shall not be renewed' (02-380 CMR ch. 5, sec. 5(B)). The Department's registry rule says the same thing and ties it to finishing a DHHS-approved program (10-144 CMR ch. 128, sec. 2(B)(1)(b)(ii)). Separately, the nursing facility licensing rule lets a facility hire before listing, for the same four months: the Department states that 10-144 CMR ch. 110 'does allow these facilities to hire CNAs prior to listing who have been granted reciprocity or has been deemed competent under Maine State Board of Nursing rules, for a period of no more than four months.' | Someone whose out-of-state training does not meet Maine's acceptance test but who wants to work while completing a Maine-approved program. |
| Certificate of Equivalent Training - the nursing-student route onto the Registry without further testing | 'The director of a nursing educational program preparing persons for admission to a licensure examination may issue a certificate of training to a currently enrolled student or to a former student who has terminated enrollment in the program when such individual has satisfactorily completed at least the equivalent of the Board's PRESCRIBED GENERALIST CURRICULUM FOR NURSING ASSISTANT TRAINING PROGRAMS' (02-380 CMR ch. 5, sec. 2(E)(2)). The Department's rule adds the consequence: such a student 'may be placed on the list of active C.N.A.s on the Registry. Further testing is not required if the Registry finds the individual is competent to function as a C.N.A.' (10-144 CMR ch. 128, sec. 2(A)(5)). The form is the Student Nurse Verification of Equivalent Training, signed by the school's director, and it must identify 'the classroom, clinical, and skills lab practice hours completed by the nursing student.' | A currently enrolled or former student of a Maine nursing program preparing people for the licensure examination, whose coursework already covers the CNA curriculum. |
| Certified Nursing Assistant-Medications (CNA-M) - a separate add-on credential, not covered by this record | Named here only because Maine runs it through the same Registry and the same Board rule, and because its course hours are frequently mistaken for the CNA course hours. It is governed by 02-380 CMR ch. 5, sec. 4 and requires active Registry listing, evidence of 1,200 hours of CNA employment in the last two years, a tenth-grade reading and writing competency level, and the Board's Standardized Medication Course. Its course is a DIFFERENT length from CNA training - see training_hours. | An experienced CNA who wants to administer selected medications under a nurse's on-site supervision. |
Who does NOT need this license — exemptions
Maine’s carve-outs are narrow and time-boxed rather than categorical. (1) THE FOUR-MONTH BRIDGES. A nursing assistant trained in another jurisdiction may hold a temporary Registry listing ‘in effect for a maximum of 4 months’ that ‘shall not be renewed’ (02-380 CMR ch. 5, sec. 5(B)), and a skilled nursing or nursing facility may, under 10-144 CMR ch. 110, ‘hire CNAs prior to listing who have been granted reciprocity or has been deemed competent under Maine State Board of Nursing rules, for a period of no more than four months’ (Department FAQ). Outside those windows the Department’s rule is flat: ‘If you are not listed as “Active” on the Registry, you cannot work as a CNA in Maine.’ (2) STUDENTS AND NURSES reach the Registry by an equivalence route rather than an exemption - a nursing student or former student with a Certificate of Equivalent Training may be listed without further testing if the Registry finds them competent, and a current LPN or RN is listed on production of the licence. Both still have to be listed. (3) OTHER OCCUPATIONS ARE NOT CNAs AND ARE NOT COVERED BY THIS RECORD. Maine says so about two of them directly: ‘Medical assistants perform tasks under the on-site delegation of a physician. A CNA is not a medical assistant’, and an unlicensed assistive person ‘does not include a certified nursing assistant employed in the capacity of a certified nursing assistant.’ The Personal Support Specialist is a separate credential with ‘A minimum of 50 classroom hours of training’, and the Certified Residential Medication Aide is a separate credential for residential settings. Direct care workers - a statutory list that runs from behavior specialists to community health workers - appear on the same Registry only when they carry disqualifying notations. (4) THE HARD BARS, which are exemptions in reverse. ‘An individual with a disqualifying offense, including a substantiated finding or a disqualifying criminal conviction, may not work as a certified nursing assistant, a direct care worker or an immediate supervisor, and an employer is subject to penalties for employing a disqualified or otherwise ineligible person’ (22 M.R.S. 1812-G(6)). A CNA barred from CNA work cannot side-step into unlicensed direct care either: ‘A CNA with employment restrictions is barred from employment as a Direct Care Worker.’ And fraud closes the door at the door: ‘An individual who practices fraud or deceit in obtaining a certificate of training as a nursing assistant shall not be eligible for listing’ (02-380 CMR ch. 5, sec. 6), with a petition for reinstatement possible only 12 months after the denial or removal and only where it rested on a single application or renewal.
Fees
MAINE CHARGES THE CNA NOTHING, and it says so twice. The Department’s FAQ: ‘Do I have to pay to be listed on the Registry? No. Federal CNA law prohibits Maine from charging an applicant or a CNA a fee to be listed on the Registry.’ The Department’s own rule makes it a standing prohibition covering renewal too: ‘No C.N.A. fee. The Department may not charge an applicant or a C.N.A. a fee related to the application and the biennial renewal for listing on the Maine Registry’ (10-144 CMR ch. 128, sec. 2(A)(1)). The two-page Application for Listing on the CNA Registry has no fee line, no payment instruction and no cheque-payable-to field. THE ONE FEE IN THE STATUTE IS CHARGED TO EMPLOYERS AND MAY NOT BE PASSED ON: ‘The department may establish a provider verification fee not to exceed $25 annually per provider for verification of a certified nursing assistant’s credentials and training. Providers may not pass the cost on to the individual certified nursing assistant’ (22 M.R.S. 1812-G(4-A)). Those receipts fund the Registry, ‘including but not limited to the cost of criminal history record checks.’ Whether the Department has actually established that fee, and at what amount, is not stated on any Department page read for this record - the statute is permissive. THE BACKGROUND CHECK IS ALSO NOT YOURS TO PAY: the training program ‘must secure or pay for a background check on each individual who applies for enrollment’ (22 M.R.S. 1812-G(6-A)(A)), and employers ‘shall secure and pay for a background check prior to hiring’ (6-A(B)). TUITION is set by each approved program and is not published by the state. Federal protections apply through Maine’s own rule: an individual employed by or holding an offer from a nursing facility on or before the day training or the competency evaluation begins ‘may not be charged for any portion of the program (including any fees for textbooks or other required course materials)’, and a CNA hired within 12 months of finishing ‘must be reimbursed by the nursing facility for the costs incurred’ (10-144 CMR ch. 128, sec. 2(B)(3)(a)-(b)). No fee is published for the competency test, the non-traditional test, a duplicate certificate or a reciprocity form in any Maine source read on 2026-08-16.
Exam
Two parts, both required, and Maine defines it in one line: ‘The Maine CNA competency test is a 2-part test including a written or oral examination, and a skills demonstration test’ (Department, CNA Definitions). THE RULE’S VERSION, with the attempt limit: ‘Each student must satisfactorily complete both parts of the competency evaluation test: 1. The student must pass a written or an oral examination; and 2. The student must demonstrate an ability to successfully complete skills listed on the MSBON curriculum checklist. 3. The student will be allowed no more than three attempts to pass the Maine C.N.A. test within 2 years from the completion date of training, in accordance with CFR title 42 483.154 (f)(2). If this criterion is not met, the C.N.A. training program must be retaken’ (10-144 CMR ch. 128, sec. 2(B)(1)(a)(ii)). THE ORAL OPTION is written into the test itself rather than granted on request, and the skills half is judged against the Board’s own checklist - ‘All skills must be demonstrated, and the student must perform return demonstrations satisfactorily, either in the clinical setting or in the skills laboratory’ (02-380 CMR ch. 5, sec. 2(A)(4)). THE NON-TRADITIONAL TEST is a separate examination with its own attempt rule: ‘If a non-traditional C.N.A. fails to pass the test on their first attempt, they will be allowed no more than two additional attempts to pass the test. If the C.N.A. does not pass the test within two years from the date of the first scheduled exam, the C.N.A. must complete and pass the full C.N.A. training program before being allowed to test again’ (10-144 CMR ch. 128, sec. 2(B)(1)(c)(iii)). Who may take it: ‘A C.N.A. trained in Maine who has not worked as a C.N.A. for at least 8 hours in the preceding 24 months; or an individual trained as a C.N.A., or its equivalent, while serving in the United States Armed Services who completed training that is at least equal to the Maine minimum of approved C.N.A. training required by these rules.’ NO PASSING SCORE FOR THE STATE COMPETENCY TEST is published in any Maine source read for this record. The 70 percent figure that does appear is the classroom pass mark inside the training program (‘A minimum passing standard of 70% is required in the class portion of the program’), not the cut score of the competency test - the two are different things and Maine never equates them. ONE ROUTE SKIPS THE TEST ENTIRELY: a nursing student holding a Certificate of Equivalent Training may be listed and ‘Further testing is not required if the Registry finds the individual is competent to function as a C.N.A.’ (10-144 CMR ch. 128, sec. 2(A)(5)).
Renewal & continuing education
Every 24 months, and Maine requires three things at once rather than one. The Department: ‘There are three requirements to stay active. (1) You must complete a minimum of at least 8 hours of qualified employment every 24 months; (2) You must have no disqualifying annotations; and (3) you must renew your CNA Registry listing every 24 months. Failure to meet any one of these requirements bars you from working as a CNA in Maine.’ THE EIGHT HOURS ARE NARROWLY DEFINED: ‘Qualified employment is employment in a health care setting, under the supervision of a registered professional nurse, that can be applied to meet the minimum work requirement of 8 hours within 24 consecutive months that is needed to stay on the Registry. Failure to work the minimum hours will result in removal from the Registry.’ The rule adds that the work must be paid and in the CNA capacity: ’the C.N.A. must submit documented proof of qualified employment for monetary compensation for a minimum of eight hours within the last 24 consecutive months under the supervision of a registered professional nurse in a health care setting, in the capacity of a C.N.A. on a full or part-time basis’ (10-144 CMR ch. 128, sec. 2(A)(2)(b)). ‘Health care settings include hospitals, nursing facilities, home health agencies, and assisted housing programs’ (Department definitions); the state’s CNA Employment Verification Form offers Hospital, Assisted Housing, Residential Care, Corrections, Home Health Agency, Hospice, Nursing Home and Ambulatory Surgical Center as the facility types, and asks whether the CNA was in a contracted position. WHO SIGNS: the employer, never the CNA. The verification form states that ‘Authorized Personnel is the facility’s management/HR staff NOT the CNA,’ and the signature attests ’that the work requirements above have been met.’ THE REMINDER AND THE DEADLINE: ‘The Division of Licensing and Certification will send out a renewal form approximately 45 to 60 days prior to the expiration of a current CNA certificate,’ returnable by mail or through the online portal. The rule is unforgiving about timing: ‘To remain on the Registry, a C.N.A. must submit a completed renewal form and the required documents on or before their current expiration date,’ and ‘Failure to submit a timely completed renewal form and required documentation shall result in immediate removal from the Registry and bars future employment as a C.N.A. until the C.N.A. takes appropriate action pursuant to this rule to be reinstated’ (10-144 CMR ch. 128, sec. 2(A)(3)(a)-(b)). Because the reminder is posted, ‘Please make sure the Registry always has your current address.’ NO CONTINUING EDUCATION IS REQUIRED OF THE CNA TO RENEW. Maine renews on paid work plus a clean record plus a filed form; no course requirement appears in 10-144 CMR ch. 128, in 02-380 CMR ch. 5, in 22 M.R.S. 1812-G, or on any Department CNA page read on 2026-08-16. WHAT EXISTS IS AN EMPLOYER DUTY IN NURSING FACILITIES, and the Department answers the question in exactly those terms: ‘Are there annual training requirements to stay active on the Registry? Nursing facilities must provide CNAs with no less than 12 hours per year of in-service education.’ The rule repeats it and adds the paperwork: ‘Nursing facilities must provide C.N.A.s with no less than 12 hours per year of in-service education (OBRA ‘87). Documentation of completed in-service education is given to the C.N.A.’ (10-144 CMR ch. 128, sec. 2(B)(3)(c)). The Department tells CNAs to hang on to that documentation: ‘Keep this information with your important papers. You will need it when you renew your listing on the Registry.’ That is a duty on the facility rather than a condition the Registry itself tests at renewal - the three renewal conditions the Department publishes are the eight hours, no disqualifying annotations, and the filed renewal form. FOR CNA-Ms the maintenance obligation is different again and is set by the employer: ‘A health care facility applying for Board approval to conduct the medication course shall provide a mechanism for maintaining competency’ (02-380 CMR ch. 5, sec. 4(H)(1)), and the Department tells CNA-Ms to ‘comply with the mechanism for maintaining competency provided by the health care facility that employs you.’
How to apply
Applications are handled by TWO agencies share this credential, and Maine says so on its own page. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Licensing and Certification, operates the Maine Registry of Certified Nursing Assistants and Direct Care Workers - the statute directs that ‘The Department of Health and Human Services shall maintain the registry and make it accessible through a public website portal’ (22 M.R.S. 1812-G(1)) - and DHHS also approves the training programs (32 M.R.S. 2104(4)). The Maine State Board of Nursing writes the curriculum and the eligibility rules: ‘The State Board of Nursing shall adopt rules … defining eligibility requirements for listing on the registry as a certified nursing assistant’ (22 M.R.S. 1812-G(3)), and the statutory definition of a certified nursing assistant turns on ’the eligibility requirements established by the State Board of Nursing for listing on the registry’ (22 M.R.S. 1812-G(1-B)(B)). The public lookup sits on a third system, the state’s Regulatory Licensing and Permitting service (ALMS), under the regulator name ‘CNA AND DIRECT CARE REGISTRY’.. Start at the official application page .
Verify a license in Maine
State of Maine Regulatory Licensing and Permitting service (ALMS), carrying the Department of Health and Human Services’ ‘CNA AND DIRECT CARE REGISTRY’ as the regulator - the Department links it from its CNA Registry page as the ’look-up tool’ publishes a public license search , searchable by last name, first name, license number (the CNA number), profession (Certified Nurse Aides or Direct Care Workers), city, state, county, ZIP code, country, active-only filter or prior-names option (the form labels it “Include prior names in search”). It covers Maine CNA Registry listings. The Department describes the tool plainly - ‘The Registry look-up tool allows employers and the public to search for individuals on the Registry by entering their name or certificate number’ - and tells new CNAs that once their listing is active ‘you will be able to view your listing on the Maine Registry here using either your full name OR CNA number.’ The field list above was read from the live search form’s own inputs and menus on 2026-08-16, not from a description of the tool. WHAT A REQUESTER IS ENTITLED TO SEE is set by rule, and it is more than a yes or no. The Registry must disclose ‘Whether the individual is on the list of active C.N.A.s and direct care workers on the Registry, without disqualifying annotation’; ‘The date the individual C.N.A. successfully completed the competency test’; ‘The date the individual was approved for placement on the Registry’; ‘Verification of employment as a C.N.A. during the preceding 24 months’; and whether the individual is annotated for criminal convictions or for substantiated complaints of abuse, neglect or misappropriation - in the latter case including ’the nature of the allegation, the evidence that led the State survey agency to substantiate the complaint, the date of the hearing, if any, and the C.N.A.’s statement disputing the allegation, if any’ (10-144 CMR ch. 128, sec. 2(E)(5)(a)). TWO THINGS A READER SHOULD EXPECT. First, results are produced after you submit the form, so a result has no web address of its own and cannot be bookmarked, emailed or cited; an automated watch on this address can only ever see the empty form. Second, the page hands out a session cookie before it will show you anything - a browser handles that invisibly, but a tool that does not keep cookies is bounced between the same two addresses indefinitely and never reaches the search. This is a different address from the one used to apply or renew; those run through the state’s online licensing service under the same 6719 regulator number.
Records come from State of Maine Regulatory Licensing and Permitting service (ALMS), carrying the Department of Health and Human Services’ ‘CNA AND DIRECT CARE REGISTRY’ as the regulator - the Department links it from its CNA Registry page as the ’look-up tool’’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.