CNA Certification in Nevada: 75-Hour Training

Nevada State Board of Nursing (the Board issues the CNA certificate itself; Nevada has no separate nurse aide registry agency and no outside registry contractor). The Board describes itself as ‘a government agency established by Nevada law to protect the public from unsafe practice by nurses’ and notes that it ‘is funded from license fees collected from our licensees’ and ‘does not receive funds from the State General Fund.’ administers certified nursing assistant licensing in Nevada. 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

Nevada’s statutory noun is NURSING ASSISTANT, and what the Board grants is a CERTIFICATE — NRS 632.2852 is titled ‘Qualifications of applicant for certificate; certification by examination or by endorsement; issuance of certificate.’ The Board itself uses ‘CNA’ constantly in its own document titles (‘Certified Nursing Assistant by Exam Certification Requirements’, ‘CNA Renewal FAQs’, ‘CNA Skills Guidelines’), so unlike the registry-only states, ‘CNA’ is the state’s own abbreviation here and not just the public’s. ‘CNA license’ is nonetheless slightly off: Nevada issues nurses a LICENSE and nursing assistants a CERTIFICATE, and its statutes and fee schedule keep the two words apart — though the Board’s own certificate instructions slip between them, telling CNA applicants that ‘Your application for licensure is valid for one year’ and that ‘Nevada does not issue hard card licenses.’ FOUR NEIGHBOURING TERMS ARE NOT SYNONYMS: NURSING ASSISTANT TRAINEE is a statutory status with a four-month employment ceiling, not a credential; MEDICATION AIDE - CERTIFIED (MAC) is a separate certificate with its own statutes; iCNA is the code the Board’s public verification tool uses for a nursing assistant instructor, alongside iMAC for a medication aide instructor; and NATP — Nursing Assistant Training Program — is the Board’s abbreviation for the school, not for the person. ‘Nurse aide’ is not Nevada’s word for its own credential holders, but the Board uses it when addressing other states: its endorsement form is directed ‘To be completed by your original state nurse aide registry only’, and its FAQ for facility-based programs refers to ’the training of nurse aides.’

License types & fees

Who does NOT need this license — exemptions

Nevada’s certification requirement is drawn around the OCCUPATION, not around a facility type, so there is no list of exempt settings the way trade licences have exempt work. The prohibition reaches anyone who practises or offers to practise as a nursing assistant ‘in this State’ (NRS 632.285(1)-(2)). THE ONE REAL CARVE-OUT IS THE TRAINEE, and it is time-boxed by criminal statute: a nursing assistant trainee is excepted from the certification requirement, and it is unlawful for any person ‘To be employed as a nursing assistant trainee for more than 4 months’ (NRS 632.285(2)(c)). A trainee’s scope is also narrower — in a facility-based program the trainee ‘may only perform those tasks he or she has successfully completed in the training program, and must perform those tasks under the direct supervision of a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse’ (NRS 632.2856(4)). A SECOND EXCEPTION IS CROSS-REFERENCED BUT NOT EXPANDED HERE: NRS 632.285(2)(b) opens with ‘Except as otherwise provided in NRS 629.091’ before barring an uncertified person from performing or offering to perform basic nursing services. That section sits in a different chapter, its text was not read as of August 16, 2026, and nothing in this record rests on it. WHAT NEVADA DOES NOT SAY: no Nevada source read on 2026-08-16 — NRS chapter 632 in full, NAC chapter 632 in full, the Board’s examination and endorsement instructions, its renewal FAQs and its training-program FAQs — exempts a nursing student, a home care worker, a personal care attendant or a family caregiver from this certificate, and none states that the certificate is required of them either. That silence is left as silence. SEPARATELY, the Board may place a nondisciplinary condition, limitation or restriction on a certificate (NRS 632.307), and grounds for denial, revocation or suspension are at NRS 632.347.

Fees

$50 to the Board, twice: ‘$50’ for ‘CNA by examination’ and ‘$50’ for ‘CNA by endorsement’ among Initial Application Fees, and ‘$50’ for CNA among Renewal Application Fees (Nevada State Board of Nursing Fee Schedule, dated 1/2023). The Board repeats the figure in the application instructions — ‘a fee of $50 (MasterCard, Visa, Discover, or American Express debit or credit card). Fees are not refundable’ — and refuses refunds after submission: ‘once your renewal application is submitted you cannot cancel your application or get a refund. Your application will remain valid for one year should you choose to complete all renewal requirements.’ THE STATUTE SETS A RANGE AND THE BOARD SITS AT THE TOP OF IT: NRS 632.345 authorises ‘Application for a certificate to practice as a nursing assistant or medication aide - certified’ at not less than $15 and not more than $50, and a ‘Biennial fee for renewal of a certificate’ at not less than $20 and not more than $50. A duplicate certificate is priced in the same statute at $5 to $30. NO LATE FEE APPLIES TO CNAs — the schedule’s late fee line reads ‘Late fee – RN/LPN only (Nevada has no grace period) $100’, so a CNA pays no penalty but also gets no grace period. OTHER BOARD CHARGES ON THE SAME SCHEDULE: verification of a CNA certification to another jurisdiction, $25 (RN and LPN verifications go through Nursys instead); and fingerprinting, $40 for a hard copy card mailed to the Board, with fingerprints submitted through a private vendor listed as ‘Varies’. A 50% DISCOUNT EXISTS AND IS EASY TO MISS: ‘If you are an active United States military member or the spouse of an active United States military member, a United States military veteran or the spouse or the surviving spouse of a veteran you will qualify for a 50% reduced application fee as long as a copy of your/your spouses military ID or other form of documentation is submitted with your application.’ NOT PAID TO THE BOARD: the examination fee, which the candidate pays to the testing service under NAC 632.168 and which the Board’s fee schedule therefore does not list; and training tuition, which the state neither sets nor publishes.

Exam

Nevada runs two tests at two different stages, and the attempt rules are different for each. STAGE ONE, at the end of the course: ‘upon completion of the program, a nursing assistant trainee must pass a test in theory with an overall score of 80 percent and a test of skills on a pass or fail basis. The test of skills must be given by a registered nurse. If the nursing assistant trainee fails either of the tests, the nursing assistant trainee must repeat the training in the areas in which he or she was deficient before taking the certification examination’ (NRS 632.2856(3)). STAGE TWO, the state certification examination, which the Board calls ’the Clinical and Knowledge examinations’ in its own application requirements. THREE ATTEMPTS, AND FAILING ONE PART ONLY COSTS THAT PART: ‘Each trainee who graduates from an approved program or an approved program for medication aides - certified may take a competency evaluation test not more than three times’ (NAC 632.166); ‘A trainee who fails one component of a competency evaluation test is required to retake only that component. A trainee who fails one or both components of a competency evaluation test three times must repeat an approved program. Upon the successful completion of that program, the trainee may reapply to take the competency evaluation test’ (NAC 632.169). The statute states the same outcome: ‘If an applicant fails the examination three times, the applicant must repeat the training program prescribed in NRS 632.2856’ (NRS 632.2858(4)). HOW YOU GET TO THE EXAM: eligibility comes from the Board, not from the school — ‘The Board will notify the testing service administering the test of those persons who are eligible to take a competency evaluation test’, and the candidate then applies to the testing service directly and pays it (NAC 632.168). THE BOARD SETS THE PASS STANDARD EVEN THOUGH IT CONTRACTS THE TESTING (NRS 632.2858(2)), and it publishes CNA examination pass rates by program on its own site. NO QUESTION COUNT, TIME LIMIT OR NUMBER OF SKILLS IS PUBLISHED by the Board or in the statute or regulation; all four tiers were searched on 2026-08-16 and none states them, so none is given here.

Renewal & continuing education

Every two years, on your birthday, with a work requirement and a continuing-training requirement. ‘The certificate of a nursing assistant or medication aide - certified must be renewed biennially on the date of the certificate holder’s birthday’ (NRS 632.342(1)), and the first cycle runs long or short depending on when you were certified: ‘An original license or certificate is valid for the period from the date of issuance to the licensee’s or certificate holder’s second birthday after issuance’ (NAC 632.192(5)). WHAT YOU MUST ATTEST TO: ‘To renew his or her certificate, a nursing assistant must submit to the Board an attestation, on a form provided by the Board, attesting that he or she has completed: (a) Twenty-four hours of continuing training in the immediately preceding 2 years; and (b) At least 40 hours of employment as a nursing assistant under the direct supervision of a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse during the 2 years immediately preceding the date of the renewal of the certificate’ (NAC 632.193(1)). The statute requires documentation of both (NRS 632.342(2)(b) and (d)) and adds that the applicant must not have ‘committed any acts which are grounds for disciplinary action.’ WHEN YOU CAN FILE: ‘Renewal applications can be submitted online within 60 days from your current expiration date. If you login to your account beyond the 60-day eligibility period you will not see the renewal links.’ The application must reach the Board ‘on or before the end of the business day on which the authorization to practice expires’ (NAC 632.192(1)). NO REMINDER IS SENT: ‘You will not receive notice of licensure expiration dates or certification renewal dates from the Board. You are responsible for knowing and tracking your certification expiration date.’ FINGERPRINTS MAY BE REQUIRED AGAIN: a notification arrives in the portal within 24 hours of the renewal being received, and ‘if you are required to fingerprint you will receive a six-month renewal and have a fingerprints required notice in your message center.’ AFTER FILING: ‘It may take up to 72 hours to see your new expiration date.’ Renewal takes effect on the latest of the filing date, the payment date, or the date all required information is submitted (NRS 632.342(4)). 24 hours of continuing training every two years — a real, audited requirement, unlike the registry-only states which impose none. ‘The Nevada Nurse Practice Act requires all renewing CNAs to complete 24 hours of CNA-related continuing training within the certificate renewal period. CNAs must also have practiced as a CNA under the direction of a licensed nurse for a minimum of 40 hours per renewal cycle’ (Board CNA Renewal FAQs), and the rule behind it is NAC 632.193(1)(a). WHAT COUNTS AS A TRAINING PROGRAM, from NAC 632.193(4): it ‘must relate to standards of care in nursing and must consist of one of the following: (a) Training in the facility in which the nursing assistant or medication aide - certified works; (b) An academic study or all of the courses required to obtain a license to practice as a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse, if a nursing assistant or medication aide - certified is pursuing such a license, or both; (c) A workshop conducted by a provider of continuing education that has been approved by the Board; or (d) An online course for nursing assistants or medication aides - certified.’ The Board also accepts a provider that ‘is an academic institution, has a Nevada continuing education provider number, is approved by another state nursing board or health-related board (includes Boards of Medical Examiners, Pharmacy, and social workers)’, or is recognised by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, the American Nurse Credentialing Center Commission on Accreditation, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Associates and Practitioners, or the National League for Nursing. HOW HOURS ARE COUNTED: ‘60 minutes of participation in CE equals one contact hour’; ‘One hour of participation in CNA in-service training equals one contact hour’; and college credit taken toward a higher nursing degree counts at ‘one credit (semester) equals 15 contact hours, one credit (quarter) equals 10 contact hours.’ WHAT THE CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION MUST SHOW, per NAC 632.193(3): participant name, training program name, number of hours, the instructor’s name and signature, and the date and location. YOU DO NOT FILE THE CERTIFICATES — YOU SWEAR TO THEM: ‘Rather than requiring CNAs to submit their continuing education/training certificates at the time of renewal, the renewal application asks applicants to affirm (swear) they are in compliance with the continuing education/training requirement and reminds them to retain copies of their certificates for four years in case of an audit. Then, the Board conducts random audits to ensure compliance. Failure to complete the continuing education within the renewal period, or failure to produce evidence of CE/training completion when audited, may result in disciplinary action.’ Audits run ’the first of each month’, and the 40-hour employment side is audited too — proof is ‘a letter written by the employer… on the stationery of the employer or on a form prescribed by the Board’ confirming at least 40 hours of paid, supervised service since the last renewal (NAC 632.193(6)). One course is encouraged but not required: ‘While the legislature didn’t mandate the bioterrorism course for CNAs, the Board highly encourages them to take it as part of their 24-hour continuing education/training renewal requirement.’

How to apply

Applications are handled by Nevada State Board of Nursing (the Board issues the CNA certificate itself; Nevada has no separate nurse aide registry agency and no outside registry contractor). The Board describes itself as ‘a government agency established by Nevada law to protect the public from unsafe practice by nurses’ and notes that it ‘is funded from license fees collected from our licensees’ and ‘does not receive funds from the State General Fund.’. Start at the official application page .

Verify a license in Nevada

Nevada State Board of Nursing (the licence lookup attached to the Nevada Nurse Portal system, hosted on the Board’s licensing-system domain rather than on a nv.gov address) publishes a public license search , searchable by last name plus first name, with an optional License Type filter and an option to search on maiden or other names, license number plus License Type or NCSBN ID. It covers Every credential the Board issues, with CNA, iCNA, MAC and iMAC each selectable as a separate License Type alongside RN, LPN, APRN and CRNA. The tool describes its own scope: ‘The verification system will verify whether an individual holds an active Nevada nursing license, CNA or MAC certificate and whether disciplinary action has been taken against an individual’s license / certificate. The information provided on this system is the most current information available regarding each individual’s license / certificate status.’ Partial names work — ‘if you do not know if CNA Jayne Doe spells her first name Jayne or Jane, you may type in J for the first name.’ THIS LOOKUP IS ALSO HOW A NEVADA CNA PROVES STATUS, because the Board issues no card: ‘Nevada does not issue hard card licenses. No license card will be mailed to you. You may print out a paper copy of your Nevada nursing license from the Board’s website.’ THREE THINGS TO EXPECT. First, the page asks you to confirm you are a person before returning results. Second, a search result has no web address of its own, so it cannot be bookmarked, emailed or cited, and anything watching this address automatically can only ever see the empty form. Third, the site states its own rule about automated access: ‘You are prohibited from accessing the License Verification Portal with any data mining or automated data gathering extraction tools.’ SENDING YOUR STATUS TO ANOTHER STATE IS A DIFFERENT SERVICE: RNs and LPNs go through Nursys, while ‘If you are a CNA, APRN or CRNA applying for licensure to another board of nursing and wish to request that your license information be sent to that board of nursing’, the Board publishes separate instructions and charges $25 for a CNA certification verification.

Records come from Nevada State Board of Nursing (the licence lookup attached to the Nevada Nurse Portal system, hosted on the Board’s licensing-system domain rather than on a nv.gov address)’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.