CNA Requirements in Mississippi — Training, Exam & Registry

How to become a CNA in Mississippi: the Headmaster competency exam — verified from Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH).

Source-verified

Requirements below are drawn from Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH), Bureau of Health Facilities Licensure and Certification — the agency its own rules call 'the licensing agency': 'Licensing Agency. Shall mean the Division of Licensure and Certification of the Mississippi Department of Health, which is the Mississippi Survey Agency' (Miss. Admin. Code Title 15, Part 3, Rule 54.3.16). BOTH THE TESTING AND THE REGISTRY ARE CONTRACTED OUT, AND MSDH SAYS SO IN ONE SENTENCE: 'Our CNA registry is managed by Headmaster/TMU.' The contractor states the same scope: 'D&SDT-Headmaster is honored to be approved by the Mississippi Department of Health to offer Certified Nurse Aide Testing and Registry Services to the Mississippi Health Care Community.' (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: MISSISSIPPI GRANTS A LISTING ON A REGISTRY, AND THE REGISTRY IS RUN BY A CONTRACTOR. The state-linked candidate handbook describes what the register is: 'The Mississippi Nurse Aide Registry (MSNAR) lists the names of nurse aides who, through training, testing, and experience, meet federal and/or state requirements to work as a nurse aide in Mississippi.' MSDH describes who runs it, in its own words and without hedging: 'Our CNA registry is managed by Headmaster/TMU. To use the TMU online system for certification and renewal, first create an account by calling 800-393-8664.' The contractor confirms the scope of what it was hired for — 'Certified Nurse Aide Testing and Registry Services' — which is broader than the testing-only contracts several other states run. WHAT THE STATE KEEPS FOR ITSELF is the enforcement half. Mississippi's own rule reserves adverse findings to the agency: 'Any aide that has been found by the licensing agency to have abused neglected, or misappropriated the property of a long-term care resident, shall be placed on the Nurse Aide Registry. Only the licensing agency may flag and/or place adverse findings against a nurse aide due to resident abuse, resident neglect, or misappropriation of resident property on the Nurse Aide Registry' (Rule 54.1.1), and it defines the person on the register as 'a certified nurse aide (CNA) who has met all requirements of the licensing agency and whose name appears on the Nurse Aide Registry' (Rule 54.3.9). So the noun Mississippi uses is CERTIFIED NURSE AIDE, the thing you get is a registry listing with an eligibility expiration date, and the day-to-day system you log into belongs to MSDH's contractor rather than to MSDH.
The route in: 'To become a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) you will need to enroll in a Mississippi state-approved nurse aide training program (NATP). Upon completion of the program, you are required to take the... exam' (MSDH). Your training program, not you, opens your testing record: 'Your training program will enter your initial registration information in D&SDT-HEADMASTER's Mississippi TestMaster Universe (TMU©) software.' You must then sign in and finish your own demographic details before you can test — 'Failure to do so may result in you being turned away from testing. You will be a no-show status for your event and forfeit your testing fees.' Testing fees must be paid before a test date can be scheduled, though 'Some training programs pre-pay testing fees for their graduating students.'
Testing deadlines — two different clocks: The ordinary clock: 'You have three (3) attempts within twenty-four months from your training completion date to take and pass both components of the competency exam (knowledge and skills).' The facility clock is much shorter: 'LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY TRAINED CANDIDATES: You have three (3) attempts within 120 days from your date of hire with a Long-Term Care Facility to take and pass both components of the competency exam.' The handbook explains why: 'Federal and State regulations allow healthcare facilities to employ students for up to 120 days from the day employment and training are offered in an approved facility-based nurse aide training and competency evaluation program. However, if you do not pass the knowledge and skills portions of the state competency exam within 120 days, the facility may no longer employ you to perform nurse aide duties.' Exhausting three attempts on either component costs you the whole program: 'you must complete a new Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) approved training program to become eligible to attempt the Mississippi NA examinations further.'
Keeping your contact details current is a condition, not a courtesy: Mississippi sends no paper: 'Renewal notifications/alerts are sent via email and text message 60 days before your certification expiration date. No renewal certifications are sent via USPS mail. It is important to keep your TMU© demographic information up to date to receive your renewal notification.' Name, date-of-birth and Social Security corrections require documentation and a separate demographic change application.
Misconduct findings and what they do: A substantiated finding ends employability in long-term care and is entered by the state, not the contractor. Mississippi's rules set out the process: the licensing agency investigates, notifies the aide, the facility administrator and the Nurse Aide Registry in writing 'within ten (10) working days of the investigation' (Rule 54.4.2); a requested hearing must be held and the record completed 'within 120 days from the date of receipt of the hearing request' (Rule 54.5.2), with 'Formal rules of evidence and procedure will not apply' and the agency's case needing to be 'proved by substantial evidence' (Rule 54.5.4); the hearing officer issues written findings within sixty days as 'the final agency decision' (Rule 54.5.5). If the finding is upheld, the notice must state 'that the aide is not eligible to work in a long-term care facility in Mississippi' and that an appeal lies 'on the record to the appropriate chancery court' at the aide's expense (Rule 54.5.7). The entry is permanent 'unless the findings was made in error, the individual was found not guilty in a court of law, or the State is notified of the individual's death' (Rule 54.6.3), and a criminal conviction or nolo plea substitutes for the hearing entirely (Rule 54.6.4). If the hearing officer finds against the agency, 'the disciplinary flag will be removed and the aide's name restored to full capacity on the Nurse Aide Registry' (Rule 54.6.5). A NEGLECT finding — and only neglect — can later be petitioned off: see lapse_rule.
Renewal is blocked by a misconduct restriction: 'Nurse aides with misconduct restrictions on the Registry are not eligible for renewal' (state-linked candidate handbook).

Legal basis

Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH), Bureau of Health Facilities Licensure and Certification — the agency its own rules call ’the licensing agency’: ‘Licensing Agency. Shall mean the Division of Licensure and Certification of the Mississippi Department of Health, which is the Mississippi Survey Agency’ (Miss. Admin. Code Title 15, Part 3, Rule 54.3.16). BOTH THE TESTING AND THE REGISTRY ARE CONTRACTED OUT, AND MSDH SAYS SO IN ONE SENTENCE: ‘Our CNA registry is managed by Headmaster/TMU.’ The contractor states the same scope: ‘D&SDT-Headmaster is honored to be approved by the Mississippi Department of Health to offer Certified Nurse Aide Testing and Registry Services to the Mississippi Health Care Community.’ administers certified nursing assistant licensing in Mississippi. 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

MISSISSIPPI’S OWN NOUN IS CERTIFIED NURSE AIDE, ABBREVIATED CNA, and its rules define the person that way: ‘Aide. Shall mean a certified nurse aide (CNA) who has met all requirements of the licensing agency and whose name appears on the Nurse Aide Registry’ (Rule 54.3.9). MSDH’s page headings use both ‘Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs)’ and ‘CNA (Nurse Aide) Certification and Training’ — so ’nursing assistant’ and ’nurse aide’ are used interchangeably by the state itself. The register is the MISSISSIPPI NURSE AIDE REGISTRY, abbreviated MSNAR in the state-linked handbook. WHAT THE STATE ISSUES IS NOT A LICENCE, THOUGH MISSISSIPPI’S OWN WORDING BLURS IT: MSDH’s contact section refers to ‘questions about CNA licensing’, its registry page offers a download of ‘a list of revoked licenses’, and the handbook writes ‘If your license has been expired over 30 days, you will need to test to recertify’ — but no Mississippi licence document exists; what exists is a registry listing with an eligibility expiration date, granted after training and testing and kept alive by employer-verified work. TMU (TestMaster Universe) is the name of the CONTRACTOR’S SOFTWARE, not of the credential, and ms.tmutest.com is where every Mississippi nurse aide transaction happens. NATP means Nurse Aide Training Program — the school, not the worker. A FEEDING ASSISTANT is a separate Mississippi program run by the same MSDH coordinator and is not a nurse aide credential.

License types & fees

Type	Notes	Who Its For
Listing on the Mississippi Nurse Aide Registry (MSNAR) — training-and-test route	MSDH states the sequence in two lines: 'To become a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) you will need to enroll in a Mississippi state-approved nurse aide training program (NATP). Upon completion of the program, you are required to take the... exam.' The state-linked candidate handbook states what listing depends on: 'Upon successfully completing training, passing both the knowledge and skills portions of the competency exam, and meeting federal and/or state requirements, a nurse aide candidate will be listed on the MSNAR.' There is no separate state application form and no state licence document — the registry entry, with its eligibility expiration date, is the credential.	A person who completes an MSDH-approved nurse aide training program (NATP) in Mississippi and passes both parts of the state competency exam.
Training waiver — nursing student	'LPN or RN students who have completed the basic nursing course (Introduction to Nursing, Fundamentals of Nursing, etc.) must provide a copy of their school transcript/document showing successful completion of the basic nursing course with a grade no lesser than a C within the past twenty-four months to qualify to take the state competency test.' The waiver is filed as its own application: 'Application to bypass the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) training requirement for students currently enrolled in an MSDH-approved pre-licensure program of nursing education.' It waives the TRAINING requirement, not the exam.	An LPN or RN student who has completed the basic nursing course.
Training waiver — graduate nurse	'LPN or RN program graduates who have completed a Mississippi-approved LPN or RN program within the past twenty-four months must provide a copy of their LPN or RN training completion certificate or diploma to qualify to take the state competency test.'	An LPN or RN program graduate who finished a Mississippi-approved program within the past 24 months.
Training waiver — out-of-state or foreign LPN or RN	This one requires MSDH itself to act first: applicants 'must provide a copy of their approval-to-test letter from the Mississippi State Department of Health, Bureau of Health Facilities Licensure and Certification,' obtained by calling MSDH at (601) 364-1100. Only then can the waiver application be filed.	An LPN or RN whose nursing program was completed outside Mississippi, including outside the United States.
Reciprocity placement (interstate transfer)	MSDH: 'Reciprocity allows a certified nurse aide from another state to qualify for certification in the state of Mississippi. An individual is only eligible for reciprocity if he or she has been entered on a nurse aide registry in a state other than Mississippi in accordance with the training and competency evaluation requirements of OBRA '87, as amended, and if the individual is currently listed on that state's nurse aide registry as active and in good standing.' Unlike most of Mississippi's nurse aide transactions, this one carries a stated charge — a $25 processing administrative assessment fee.	A nurse aide current and in good standing on another state's registry.
Reactivation by examination (and its out-of-state variant)	Two separate applications exist, and both carry the same hard limit: 'If your application is approved, you are only allowed one attempt to pass the Mississippi competency exam. If you fail either component (either the knowledge or the skills exam) on your first try, you will be required to complete a Mississippi Department of Health (MSDH)-approved nurse aide training program before being allowed to re-test as a new nurse aide.' The out-of-state variant also covers a live but unusable certification: 'You are currently certified in another state but do not have the required work history to renew, and your license is expiring within the next 60 days.'	Someone whose Mississippi listing has lapsed, or who was certified in another state and either let that certification lapse or cannot meet its work requirement.
Feeding assistant — a separate Mississippi program, not covered by this record	MSDH keeps a distinct 'Feeding Assistants' page and routes it to the same official: 'Should you have questions related to the Feeding Assistant Program in MS, please contact the Nurse Aide Training Program Coordinator at 601-364-2718 or 601-364-1100.' This record documents the nurse aide credential only.	Named only because MSDH runs it out of the same office and the public confuses the two.

Who does NOT need this license — exemptions

MISSISSIPPI PUBLISHES WAIVERS RATHER THAN EXEMPTIONS, AND THE DIFFERENCE MATTERS: each of them waives the TRAINING requirement, not the examination and not the registry listing. (1) NURSING STUDENT — an LPN or RN student who has completed the basic nursing course with a grade of at least C within the past 24 months may test without a nurse aide training program, on production of a transcript. (2) GRADUATE NURSE — an LPN or RN who completed a Mississippi-approved nursing program within the past 24 months may test on production of the completion certificate or diploma. (3) OUT-OF-STATE OR FOREIGN LPN OR RN — the same waiver is available, but only after obtaining ‘a copy of their approval-to-test letter from the Mississippi State Department of Health, Bureau of Health Facilities Licensure and Certification’ by calling MSDH at (601) 364-1100. All three are filed as their own applications in the TMU system and all three still end in the two-part competency exam. THE ONE GENUINE TIME-LIMITED CARVE-OUT is the federal 120-day facility window, which Mississippi states as a testing deadline rather than as a licence exemption: ‘Federal and State regulations allow healthcare facilities to employ students for up to 120 days from the day employment and training are offered in an approved facility-based nurse aide training and competency evaluation program. However, if you do not pass the knowledge and skills portions of the state competency exam within 120 days, the facility may no longer employ you to perform nurse aide duties.’ A MILITARY GRACE PERIOD operates as a renewal exemption rather than a certification one — up to 120 days after honorable discharge or return to the state, ‘without payment of any delinquent fees, retraining, and/or re-examination’, and expressly not a licence to work in Medicare- or Medicaid-participating facilities while expired. WHERE THE CREDENTIAL IS AND IS NOT REQUIRED: Mississippi’s nurse aide rules are written around long-term care. The definitions in Miss. Admin. Code Title 15, Part 3, Rule 54.3.17 reach ‘any resident of a skilled nursing facility (SNF) and/or nursing facility (NF)’, and the sanction for a substantiated finding is stated as ineligibility ’to work in a long-term care facility in Mississippi’ (Rule 54.5.7). Mississippi separately treats several settings as places where nurse aide work does NOT count toward keeping the credential — ‘private-duty aide, doctor’s office aide, laboratory aide, personal care home assisted living aide, or personal care home residential living aide’ — while accepting nursing home, hospital, hospice, home health agency and ICF/MR employment. No Mississippi source read on 2026-08-16 states a general prohibition on unlisted persons doing aide work outside long-term care, and this record claims none.

Fees

MSDH PUBLISHES NO STATE APPLICATION OR LISTING FEE — every published dollar figure in Mississippi’s nurse aide system is charged by MSDH’s contractor inside the TMU system, and the federal rule bars charging for the registration itself: ‘The State may not impose any charges related to registration on individuals listed in the registry’ (42 C.F.R. 483.156(b)(4)). EXAMINATION FEES, from the state-linked candidate handbook’s payment table: knowledge exam $35.00, skill exam $100.00, both together $135.00 — and the same figures apply to a retake of either component. The audio version of the knowledge exam adds $10 ($45 total). Payment is by Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card inside TMU, and ‘Testing fees must be paid before you can schedule a test date.’ OTHER PUBLISHED CHARGES, from the applications list on the Mississippi TMU system and the handbook: CNA Reciprocity Form $25.00, described in the handbook as a ‘processing administrative assessment fee of $25’; Non-Employer Renewal $25.00, the route used ‘for out-of-state work or if your employer no longer exists to qualify for renewal on the Mississippi nurse aide registry’; Out-of-State Certification Reactivation by Examination $25.00; Test Review Request $25.00, non-refundable unless the review finds in your favour; and a $35 refund processing fee deducted from any refund of testing fees paid. A separate $100.00 application fee applies to becoming an RN Test Observer / Test Administration Services Entity, which is a testing-staff role rather than a candidate cost. WHAT IS NOT PUBLISHED: MSDH does not publish tuition for approved training programs, and the ordinary employer-verified registry renewal shows no fee on the applications list.

Exam

TWO PARTS, BOTH REQUIRED: ‘The examination has two parts: a multiple-choice knowledge test and a skill test. Candidates must pass both parts to be identified and listed on the Mississippi Nurse Aide Registry.’ KNOWLEDGE TEST — ‘The Knowledge Test consists of 70 multiple-choice questions’, ‘You will have 60 minutes to complete the exam’, and ‘You must have a score of 73% or better to pass the knowledge portion of the exam.’ The candidate is told when fifteen minutes remain and may not ask what a question means. The published Mississippi blueprint distributes those 70 questions as: Basic Nursing Skills 11, Infection Control 10, Safety 9, Communication 6, Disease Process 5, Personal Care 5, Resident Rights 5, Role and Responsibility 5, Data Collection 4, Mental Health 4, Aging Process and Restorative Care 3, Care Impaired 3. AN AUDIO VERSION EXISTS AND COSTS EXTRA: ‘An audio (oral) version of the knowledge exam is available. However, there is an extra $10 charge for the audio version ($45 total), and you must request an Audio version before you submit your testing fee payment’ — questions are heard through wired headphones or earbuds, and ‘Bluetooth-connected devices are not allowed.’ A REMOTELY PROCTORED knowledge exam is also offered, taken from home on a personal computer with Google Chrome and a reliable connection. SKILL TEST — the first task is always drawn from a fixed mandatory set with hand washing built in (assisting with a bedpan and measuring urine output; catheter care for a female resident on a manikin; a don-PPE, empty-urinary-drainage-bag, doff-PPE sequence; or perineal care for a female resident on a manikin), and ‘You will also receive an additional two (2) or three (3) randomly selected tasks from the Skill Task listing,’ each with a scenario read aloud by the RN Test Observer. Failing the skill test does not change the structure: ‘If you fail the Skill Test, there will always be one of the first mandatory tasks to start each Skill Test.’ RESULTS — NEXT BUSINESS DAY, AFTER 7:00PM CENTRAL, AND ONLY ONLINE. The Mississippi candidate handbook (version dated January 2026) states the state’s own rule: ‘After you have completed both the Knowledge Exam and Skill Test components of the competency exam, your test results will be officially scored and double-checked by D&SDT-HEADMASTER scoring teams. Official test results will be available after 7:00PM (CT) on the business day after your test event by signing in to your TMU© account. D&SDT-HEADMASTER cannot release test results over the phone.’ Two things follow that catch people out: ‘D&SDT-HEADMASTER does not send postal mail test results letters’, and ‘Sign in to your TMU© account at ms.tmutest.com to view your test results.’ IGNORE ANY PAPER-TEST TIMELINE YOU SEE ON THE CONTRACTOR’S GENERAL PAGES — they cover several states, and Mississippi is not one of the paper ones: ‘All test sites in Mississippi utilize electronic TMU© testing using Internet-connected computers.’ A three-to-five-business-day paper turnaround cannot happen here. A CANDIDATE CAN CHALLENGE A RESULT, FOR A DEPOSIT: ‘There is a $25 non-refundable test review deposit fee’; if the review goes the candidate’s way the deposit is refunded, and if not ’the $25 test review deposit will stand, and the fee is non-refundable.’ TEST-DAY BASICS: full clinical attire (scrubs) with no open-toed shoes, and photo ID re-presented at both the knowledge room and the skills lab if testing on the same day.

Renewal & continuing education

EVERY TWENTY-FOUR MONTHS, AND YOUR EMPLOYER HAS TO CONFIRM IT. The state-linked handbook states the rule and the qualifying work in one paragraph: ‘To maintain eligibility to work, you must renew your eligibility every twenty-four months. To be eligible to renew, you must work for pay as a nurse aide performing nursing or nursing-related services at least eight (8) consecutive hours during the previous twenty-four months. Nurse aides with misconduct restrictions on the Registry are not eligible for renewal. You are allowed 30 days after your certification expires to renew. If your license has been expired over 30 days, you will need to test to recertify.’ HOW IT WORKS: ‘To renew, sign in to your TMU© account at ms.tmutest.com and list your work hours and where you were employed (nursing home, hospital, hospice, home health agency, or ICF/MR facility). 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 twenty-four months.’ AGENCY STAFF HAVE A SPECIFIC INSTRUCTION: ‘If you are working for an employment agency, you must have the long-term care facility where you are placed listed as your employer… Employment agencies are not listed in the list of employers and cannot verify your employment.’ WORK THAT DOES NOT COUNT, listed by Mississippi itself: ‘Employment as a private-duty aide, doctor’s office aide, laboratory aide, personal care home assisted living aide, or personal care home residential living aide does not qualify for recertification.’ If you are not currently working as an aide, ‘you will choose your last nurse aide employer from the list of employers.’ A NON-EMPLOYER ROUTE EXISTS for out-of-state work or a defunct employer, filed as its own $25 application. MILITARY EXTENSION: ‘Any person in the armed services of the United States holding a valid nurse aide certificate and who is out-of-state due to military service at the time their nurse aide certification expires may renew at any time within 120 days after being honorably discharged from such military service or upon returning to the State, without payment of any delinquent fees, retraining, and/or re-examination,’ on production of a military ID (front and back) and orders — with the caution that this ‘does not allow individuals with expired certification to work as certified nursing assistants in long-term care facilities that participate in Medicaid and Medicare.’ NOTICE: renewal alerts go by email and text 60 days before expiry, and nothing is mailed. NONE. Mississippi conditions continued registry eligibility on paid nurse aide work and on employer verification of it, not on continuing education: the handbook’s renewal rule is ‘you must work for pay as a nurse aide performing nursing or nursing-related services at least eight (8) consecutive hours during the previous twenty-four months’, and the renewal transaction consists of listing work hours and having the employer confirm them. No continuing-education, in-service or refresher requirement for the aide appears anywhere in the Mississippi Nurse Aide Candidate Handbook (version 3.0, January 2026), on MSDH’s CNA (Nurse Aide) Certification and Training page, on MSDH’s Nurse Aide Training Courses page, in Miss. Admin. Code Title 15, Part 3, Chapter 54 (Minimum Standards for Certified Nurse Aides), in Chapter 45 (Minimum Standards for Institutions for the Aged or Infirm), or on the Mississippi TMU applications list — all read on 2026-08-16. Note the distinction that catches people out in every state: federal law puts an in-service training duty on the FACILITY, not on the aide, and nothing in Mississippi’s published nurse aide material converts that into a personal renewal condition.

How to apply

Applications are handled by Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH), Bureau of Health Facilities Licensure and Certification — the agency its own rules call ’the licensing agency’: ‘Licensing Agency. Shall mean the Division of Licensure and Certification of the Mississippi Department of Health, which is the Mississippi Survey Agency’ (Miss. Admin. Code Title 15, Part 3, Rule 54.3.16). BOTH THE TESTING AND THE REGISTRY ARE CONTRACTED OUT, AND MSDH SAYS SO IN ONE SENTENCE: ‘Our CNA registry is managed by Headmaster/TMU.’ The contractor states the same scope: ‘D&SDT-Headmaster is honored to be approved by the Mississippi Department of Health to offer Certified Nurse Aide Testing and Registry Services to the Mississippi Health Care Community.’. Start at the official application page .

Verify a license in Mississippi

D&S Diversified Technologies (D&SDT)-Headmaster, under contract to the Mississippi State Department of Health. MSDH links it from its own CNA page as the ‘Mississippi CNA Registry’ and states ‘Our CNA registry is managed by Headmaster/TMU.’ publishes a public license search , searchable by name, Social Security number, registration number or misconduct. It covers Mississippi nurse aide registry entries. MSDH describes the tool as a way to ‘Find details on a registered Mississippi CNA using their name or registration number’, and adds a bulk option most states do not publish: ‘Misconduct list: You can also download a list of revoked licenses from the registry search page’ — the page itself offers a ‘Download Misconduct List’ action alongside the search. The four search modes above are the ones the live search form itself offers. A LIMITATION READERS SHOULD KNOW: the registry is not on a Mississippi state web address — it is on the contractor’s system — and a search result is drawn into the page after you submit the form rather than living at its own web address, so a result cannot be linked to or bookmarked and an automated check cannot confirm an individual record. An aide can also check their own status and eligibility expiration date by signing in: ‘You can check your registry status and eligibility expiration date at any time on any Internet-capable device at ms.tmutest.com.’.

Records come from D&S Diversified Technologies (D&SDT)-Headmaster, under contract to the Mississippi State Department of Health. MSDH links it from its own CNA page as the ‘Mississippi CNA Registry’ and states ‘Our CNA registry is managed by Headmaster/TMU.‘’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

Who runs the Mississippi CNA registry?

A contractor, and the state says so on its own page: ‘Our CNA registry is managed by Headmaster/TMU.’ D&S Diversified Technologies (D&SDT)-Headmaster holds a contract from the Mississippi State Department of Health for ‘Certified Nurse Aide Testing and Registry Services’, which means the testing, the scheduling, the renewals, the waivers and the public registry search all live in the contractor’s TMU system at ms.tmutest.com rather than on a Mississippi state web address. What MSDH keeps for itself is enforcement: under Mississippi’s own rule, ‘Only the licensing agency may flag and/or place adverse findings against a nurse aide due to resident abuse, resident neglect, or misappropriation of resident property on the Nurse Aide Registry.’

How many training hours does Mississippi require for a CNA?

Mississippi does not publish a number. MSDH requires you to ’enroll in a Mississippi state-approved nurse aide training program (NATP)’ and publishes a list of approved programs, but no total hour count, and no classroom or clinical split, appears on any MSDH nurse aide page, in Mississippi’s Minimum Standards for Certified Nurse Aides, in its nursing home standards, or in the state-linked candidate handbook. What does apply is the federal floor every state’s programs must meet: a program must ‘Consist of no less than 75 clock hours of training’ and ‘Include at least 16 hours of supervised practical training.’ Ask the specific program for its hour count — Mississippi does not publish one for you to check it against.

What does the Mississippi CNA exam cost, and what is on it?

The knowledge exam is $35, the skill exam is $100, and both together are $135, paid by card in the TMU system before you can schedule a date; an audio version of the knowledge exam adds $10. The knowledge test is 70 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes and ‘You must have a score of 73% or better to pass.’ The skill test always starts with one of four mandatory tasks that have hand washing built into them, then adds ’two (2) or three (3) randomly selected tasks’, each introduced by a scenario read aloud by the RN Test Observer. Two of the possible mandatory tasks — catheter care and perineal care for a female resident — are demonstrated on a manikin.

How many times can you take the Mississippi CNA exam?

Three attempts, on two different clocks depending on how you trained. Coming out of an ordinary training program: ‘You have three (3) attempts within twenty-four months from your training completion date to take and pass both components.’ Trained by a long-term care facility that hired you: ’three (3) attempts within 120 days from your date of hire.’ Failing all three on either component means starting over — ‘you must complete a new Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) approved training program.’ The exception that catches people out is reactivation after a lapse, where you get one attempt only.

How do you renew a Mississippi CNA certification?

Every 24 months, by signing in to your TMU account, listing where you worked and for how long, and having your employer confirm it: ‘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 twenty-four months.’ You must have worked for pay as a nurse aide for at least eight consecutive hours during the previous 24 months, in a nursing home, hospital, hospice, home health agency or ICF/MR facility. Renewal alerts go out by email and text 60 days before expiry and nothing is mailed, so keeping your contact details current is part of the requirement.

What kind of work does NOT count toward Mississippi CNA renewal?

Mississippi lists it explicitly: ‘Employment as a private-duty aide, doctor’s office aide, laboratory aide, personal care home assisted living aide, or personal care home residential living aide does not qualify for recertification.’ Agency workers can still renew, but the paperwork has to name the facility rather than the agency: ‘you must have the long-term care facility where you are placed listed as your employer… Employment agencies are not listed in the list of employers and cannot verify your employment.’

What happens if a Mississippi CNA certification expires?

You get 30 days, then you test. ‘You are allowed 30 days after your certification expires to renew. If your license has been expired over 30 days, you will need to test to recertify.’ And the retest is unforgiving: ‘You are only allowed one attempt to pass the Mississippi competency exam. If you fail either component… on your first try, you will be required to complete a Mississippi Department of Health (MSDH)-approved nurse aide training program before being allowed to re-test as a new nurse aide.’ The route back is a Reactivation by Examination application in the TMU system.

Can you transfer a CNA certification from another state to Mississippi?

Yes, if it is current and in good standing. Mississippi’s reciprocity route requires that you ‘been entered on a nurse aide registry in a state other than Mississippi in accordance with the training and competency evaluation requirements of OBRA ‘87’ and are ‘currently listed on that state’s nurse aide registry as active and in good standing.’ You file a CNA Reciprocity Form in the TMU system with a $25 processing administrative assessment fee, and the contractor’s staff decide eligibility. If your out-of-state certification has already lapsed — or is current but expiring within 60 days because you lack the work history to renew it — reciprocity is not available and you use the Out-of-State Certification Reactivation by Examination route instead, which means testing, with one attempt.

Can a nursing student or a nurse skip CNA training in Mississippi?

They can skip the training, not the exam. Mississippi publishes three training waivers: a nursing student who has completed the basic nursing course with at least a C within the past 24 months; an LPN or RN who graduated from a Mississippi-approved program within the past 24 months; and an LPN or RN whose program was outside Mississippi or outside the country, who must first get ‘a copy of their approval-to-test letter from the Mississippi State Department of Health, Bureau of Health Facilities Licensure and Certification’ by calling (601) 364-1100. Each is a separate application in the TMU system, and each still ends in the two-part competency exam.

Can a finding of abuse or neglect be removed from the Mississippi registry?

Only neglect, and only one entry, and only after a year. ‘An individual with a finding of neglect placed on the nurse aide registry listing after January 1, 1995, may petition the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH), Bureau of Health Facilities Licensure and Certification (HFLC), for removal of the finding of neglect from their name one (1) full year after the finding is placed on the MS Nurse Aide Registry.’ A decision comes in writing within 45 days of a complete petition, and the process ‘should in no way be construed as a formal evidentiary hearing process.’ Findings of abuse and of misappropriation of resident property have no such route: under Mississippi’s rules the entry stays permanently ‘unless the findings was made in error, the individual was found not guilty in a court of law, or the State is notified of the individual’s death.’ While any misconduct restriction is on the registry, renewal is not possible at all.

See every license and certification LicensingAtlas covers in Mississippi.

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.