CNA Certification in Utah — Requirements & Fees

Utah Nursing Assistant Registry (UNAR) — defined in Utah Admin. Code R432-45-2(23) as ’the Utah Nursing Assistant Registry and is the state agency that … certifies nurse aides who have completed a NATCEP and passed the competency evaluation’, maintains the nurse aide registry and the abuse registry, approves training programs and test sites, grants reciprocity, and renews certifications. The rule sits in the Health and Human Services, Health Care Facility Licensing title (R432), and the state survey agency that enforces UNAR’s standards and investigates abuse is the Office of Licensing (OL) in the Division of Licensing and Background Checks within the Department of Health and Human Services (R432-45-2(20), R432-45-6(4)-(5)). The Medication Aide credential is a SEPARATE licence issued by a different agency — the Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) in the Department of Commerce. administers certified nursing assistant licensing in Utah. 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

Utah’s own noun is ‘certified nurse aide’ in the rule and ‘Certified Nursing Assistant’ in everything the public sees, and the two are used for the same credential — R432-45-2(4) defines ‘CNA’ as ‘certified nurse aide’, while UNAR’s pages say ‘CNA is an acronym for Certified Nursing Assistant.’ What Utah issues is a CERTIFICATE, not a licence: the document is an ‘official Proof of Certification certificate with a wallet card’, and UNAR is explicit that ‘Certified Nursing Assistants are not licensed healthcare providers.’ ‘Utah CNA license’ is therefore a folk term — Utah’s licensing division does not issue one. Four Utah-specific naming traps. (1) UNAR is BOTH the agency and the registry: the rule uses ‘UNAR’ for the state agency and ‘NAR’ for the register it maintains — ‘NAR means the nurse aide registry that lists each individual who has completed the Utah certification requirements and holds active certification in Utah’ (R432-45-2(10)). (2) NATCEP is the training program, not the credential — ’the UNAR-approved nurse aide training and competency evaluation program’ (R432-45-2(11)). (3) NAPP is the skills log, not a test — ’nurse aide proficiency performance … a record maintained by the NATCEP for each candidate nurse aide to document each candidate’s successful demonstration of competence’ (R432-45-2(9)). (4) TMU is the software, not the regulator: ‘TMU is the software program that is used by UNAR to provide certification testing and maintain registry records.’ Two further distinctions the public routinely collapses: a MEDICATION AIDE is a separate DOPL licence with its own MACE examination, for which a current UNAR certification is a prerequisite; and the abuse registry is a distinct, permanent list maintained alongside the certification register, not a status on it. Finally, Utah runs no national vendor examination, so ‘NNAAP’, ‘Credentia’ and ‘Prometric’ name nothing in this state’s process.

License types & fees

Who does NOT need this license — exemptions

Utah draws the boundary by DEFINITION and by SETTING rather than with a list of exempt trades. WHO IS NOT A NURSE AIDE AT ALL — R432-45-2(14): ‘(a) “Nurse aide” means any individual who provides nursing or nursing-related services to residents in a nursing care facility. (b) “Nurse aide” does not mean an individual who: (i) is a licensed professional; or (ii) who volunteers to provide services without monetary consideration.’ So a licensed nurse doing aide work is outside the scheme, and so is an unpaid volunteer. WHERE THE REQUIREMENT BITES — the certification duty is written against Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing facilities: ‘A nurse aide performing nursing or nursing-related services in a Medicare or Medicaid certified nursing facility shall meet necessary requirements and become certified within 120 days of the first date of employment’ (R432-45-3(1)), and ‘Nursing care facility’ means ‘a skilled nursing facility, or an intermediate care facility, that provides long-term, 24-hour inpatient care and services’ (R432-45-2(15)). UNAR states the employment consequence plainly — ‘You must be certified to work in a long-term care facility’ — while also describing a much broader labour market for the credential: ‘CNAs are in very high demand and work under the direction of a licensed nurse in a variety of healthcare settings. Settings include, but are not limited to, long-term care facilities, assisted living, home health and hospice, hospitals, doctor’s offices, clinics, and more.’ No Utah source read on 2026-08-16 states that certification is legally required in those other settings, and none states that it is not; this record therefore reports what the rule requires (nursing care facilities) and does not extend it. A GRANDFATHER CLAUSE STILL ON THE BOOKS: ‘An individual who was certified as a nurse aide on or before July 1, 1989, meets the OBRA requirement upon completion of the approved in-service training on intellectual disabilities and mental illness’ (R432-45-3(2)). A CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION: a candidate ‘may not be an inmate, in accordance with Subsection 64-13-48(8)’ (R432-45-3(3)(d)), and an entity’s NATCEP ‘may not include an educational program offered to an incarcerated inmate’ under the same subsection (R432-45-5(1)(b)). Utah Code Subsection 64-13-48(8) is cited by the rule; its own text was not read as of August 16, 2026, so nothing beyond the rule’s cross-reference is claimed about it. TITLE PROTECTION IS THE OTHER HALF OF THE BOUNDARY: ‘If you have not become certified or have allowed your certification to expire, you may not work as a CNA or identify yourself as a CNA.’ And the scope limit that keeps a CNA inside the aide role: ‘Certified Nursing Assistants are not licensed healthcare providers. CNAs must work under the direction of a licensed nurse … Nursing tasks must be delegated by a licensed nurse.’

Fees

UNAR publishes a single fee list on its home page, and it contains NO initial application fee and NO on-time renewal fee — the cost of first certification is the two exam fees. The published list: ‘Competency Exam: Manual Skills Exam (each attempt) $55; Competency Exam: Written Knowledge Exam (each attempt) $55; Duplicate Certificate with Wallet Card (digital and mailed) $15; Duplicate Certificate with Wallet Card (mailed) $10; Expired Certificate Competency Exam Fee $110; Name Change $15; Reciprocity Application $50; Renewal Late Fee (1 day - 6 months late) $40; Skills Exam Results Review Fee $20.’ So a first-time candidate who passes both parts on the first attempt pays $110 in state fees, and each retest costs $55 for the part being retaken — ‘The test candidate is responsible for paying the current testing fee for any retests that may be needed.’ HOW PAYMENT WORKS: testing fees are paid inside the candidate’s TMU account before an appointment can be scheduled; late fees and approved application fees are paid through a secure link UNAR emails after processing. UNAR restricts the instruments it will take: ‘UNAR does not accept cash, personal checks, money orders, or cashier’s checks as payment for late fees. These will be returned to you and will delay the processing of your renewal form or application.’ Payment on an approved application must be made within three weeks ‘otherwise your application will be denied and deleted from our system.’ REFUNDS: ‘Unused testing fees are refundable up to six (6) months after payment is made. After that 6-month period, unused testing fees are non-refundable. Unused testing fees will remain available in your TMU account.’ Renewal late fees are non-refundable; Skills Exam Results Review fees are refunded automatically ‘if the review is found in the testing candidates favor’; application fees are refundable only before staff have processed the application. NOT A STATE FEE: tuition — ‘Each CNA training program is run independently and sets their own program fees’, and some programs ‘are able to offer financial assistance, grants, or scholarships.’ Searched on 2026-08-16 across UNAR’s home page fee list, its Common Questions page, its Become a CNA page, the UNAR State Certification Handbook and Utah Admin. Code R432-45, and NOT found: any application fee for initial certification, any fee for an on-time renewal, and any fee schedule inside the administrative rule itself.

Exam

Two parts, both required: a written knowledge exam and a manual skills exam. WRITTEN — the UNAR State Certification Handbook gives the shape exactly: ‘The written knowledge exam consists of 75 multiple-choice questions. To pass the written knowledge exam test candidates must receive a minimum score of 75%. This means test candidates must answer a minimum of 57 questions correctly to pass this portion of the competency evaluation. Test candidates have up to two (2) hours to complete the exam.’ The published blueprint totals 75 questions: Intro to Healthcare and Residents Rights 13, Basic Nursing Skills 13, Personal Care 13, Infection Prevention and Control 8, Safety 8, Mental Health/Illness and Cognitive Impairment 9, Body Systems 7, Rehabilitation and Restorative Care 4. The rule states the same pass mark from the registry side: the registry identifies each individual who ‘passed the written competency evaluation with a score of 75’ (R432-45-6(1)(b)). SKILLS — ‘UNAR requires that each student completing a nursing assistant training program learns, and is able to demonstrate, the ability to competently and safely perform more than 70 skills … Of the 70+ skills learned, 20 have been identified for inclusion in the skills exam by the UNAR Test Advisory Committee … test candidates will be expected to demonstrate five (5) random skills during the evaluation with a skills observer at a UNAR approved test site. To pass the skill exam, test candidates must receive a minimum score of 80% for each skill performed, including 100% of key steps, and complete testing within 45 minutes.’ One skill is drawn from each of five categories the State Certification Handbook names in full: Vital Signs Skills, Oral Care/Feeding Skills, Ambulate/Positioning/Transfer Skills, Toileting Skills, and Miscellaneous Skills - the last of which is ‘Handwashing, Anti-Embolism Stocking (One Leg), Dressing Resident: Affected Arm, Empty Down Drain Bag and Record Urine Output, Occupied Draw Sheet Change’, so handwashing is a testable skill in its own right and not only a step inside another one. The rule matches: the registry lists those who ‘passed the skills competency evaluation with a score of 80% for each skill performed, including 100% of the required key steps’ (R432-45-6(1)(c)). ATTEMPTS — three per exam, then retraining: ‘Test candidates have three (3) chances to pass each exam’, and the rule requires UNAR to inform each candidate ’that after three failed attempts on the written, audio, or skills component of the competency evaluation, the candidate shall complete re-training with an approved NATCEP’ (R432-45-4(9)(d)). There is no cooling-off period — ‘There is no waiting period before you can reschedule if you fail either your manual skills exam or written knowledge exam’ — but the one-year window from program completion still applies to every retest. LANGUAGE AND AUDIO — ‘An audio version of the written knowledge exam is available to all students and is not considered an ADA accommodation’, selected in the candidate’s TMU profile before scheduling; the rule requires it (’each written test is available with audio narration’, R432-45-4(2)(a)). ‘The official language for the competency evaluation is English. Test candidates must be able to read, write, communicate, and document in English. The written knowledge exam does have a Spanish translation feature included with each test question.’ Word-to-word translation dictionaries are allowed if checked by site staff; third-party online translation tools are not. SCHEDULING AND NO-SHOWS — ‘All candidates may cancel or reschedule an existing exam appointment in TMU by 4 pm two (2) business days prior to the scheduled exam day’, and ‘If you fail to arrive for your scheduled testing appointment, you will be considered a no-show and will forfeit your testing fee.’ A cell phone or smart watch in view is treated as cheating: ‘Absolutely not. Having your cell phone out or smart watch in view is considered cheating and you will be denied certification.’ CHALLENGING A RESULT — only the skills exam can be challenged: ‘If you believe your manual skills exam was scored inaccurately, you may request a review of your exam by submitting a completed Skills Exam Results Review Form within 14 days of your testing event … There is no method of challenging your written knowledge exam.’ The review fee is refunded if the review goes the candidate’s way.

Renewal & continuing education

Every two years, and the renewal test is documented PAID WORK rather than coursework. The rule sets the standard: ‘Renewal means the process UNAR conducts every 24 months to verify that each CNA has provided at least 200 hours of compensated nursing or nursing-related services under the direction of a licensed nurse’ (R432-45-2(18)), and ‘UNAR shall process renewals for each CNA who has performed a paid service for at least 200 hours of nursing or nursing-related services under the direction of a licensed nurse during the 24 months following the completion date of the NATCEP or certification renewal’ (R432-45-6(3)). HOW IT IS DOCUMENTED: ‘Your Renewal Notice Form must be signed by a licensed nurse, an authorized human resources representative, or an administrator, to verify you have worked 200 paid hours under the direction of a licensed nurse. Return the signed form to the UNAR office before your expiration date’ (UNAR State Certification Handbook). If one employer cannot account for all 200 hours, ‘print off as many Renewal Forms as you need’ and submit them together. WHERE THE FORM COMES FROM: ‘Renewal Notice Forms are available in your TMU account 90 days prior to your expiration date and six (6) months after your expiration date.’ NOTICE: ‘Reminder notifications are emailed and sent to your TMU account 90, 60, and 30 days prior to your expiration date. A Renewal Notice Form will be mailed to the address on file 45 days prior to your expiration date’ — but a CNA who has ticked ‘Unlisted from Phone and Mailing Lists’ in TMU ‘will not receive these notifications and must keep track of your renewal due date.’ WHAT DOES NOT COUNT: ‘Hours used to renew your CNA certificate must be paid hours. Volunteer hours, nursing school clinical hours, and out of country missionary work do not count toward the 200 paid hour requirement.’ Hours worked in another state can be used only if ‘you must have an active certification, and be in good standing, in the state where you are currently working.’ A CNA on the abuse registry cannot renew at all: ‘Individuals listed on the Abuse Registry are not eligible for renewal.’ AFTER RENEWING: ‘Your new CNA Certificate with Wallet Card will be mailed out within a week following the day you were recertified’, and processing a renewal takes 7-10 business days. Submission is by email to UNAR or by post — ‘UNAR does not have a fax machine.’ A CNA leaving on a religious mission is told to call the office before departing if the certificate will expire while away. NONE. Utah requires no continuing education, no in-service hours and no refresher course as a condition of keeping a CNA certificate — the renewal condition is 200 paid hours of nursing or nursing-related work under a licensed nurse in the preceding 24 months, and nothing else. R432-45-2(18) and R432-45-6(3) state the work requirement and contain no education element; R432-45 contains no continuing-education provision anywhere in its eight sections; and UNAR’s answer to ‘What is required to renew my certificate?’ lists only the federal work rule, the 200-hour Utah rule, and a renewal form signed by an LPN, RN or NP. Tiers searched on 2026-08-16: Utah Admin. Code R432-45 in full, UNAR’s Common Questions page including its entire Renewing Your Certificate section, UNAR’s Become a CNA page, and the UNAR State Certification Handbook (3rd Edition V3, November 2024) including its Renewal Requirements and Expired Certificates articles. The one education-shaped obligation that recurs in Utah’s rule runs to the TRAINING PROGRAM rather than to the certified aide: a NATCEP’s program director must be able to ‘provide at least three hours consulting time per month at renewal application for an existing NATCEP’ (R432-45-5(11)(a)(iii)), and UNAR reapproves each program ‘at least every two years’ (R432-45-7(2)). Federal in-service training obligations that fall on nursing facilities are not addressed by R432-45 and are not a condition of a Utah CNA’s certification; no Utah source read states one, so this record claims none.

How to apply

Applications are handled by Utah Nursing Assistant Registry (UNAR) — defined in Utah Admin. Code R432-45-2(23) as ’the Utah Nursing Assistant Registry and is the state agency that … certifies nurse aides who have completed a NATCEP and passed the competency evaluation’, maintains the nurse aide registry and the abuse registry, approves training programs and test sites, grants reciprocity, and renews certifications. The rule sits in the Health and Human Services, Health Care Facility Licensing title (R432), and the state survey agency that enforces UNAR’s standards and investigates abuse is the Office of Licensing (OL) in the Division of Licensing and Background Checks within the Department of Health and Human Services (R432-45-2(20), R432-45-6(4)-(5)). The Medication Aide credential is a SEPARATE licence issued by a different agency — the Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) in the Department of Commerce.. Start at the official application page .

Verify a license in Utah

Utah Nursing Assistant Registry, on the Testmaster Universe (TMU) platform whose terms of use identify the software’s owner as Headmaster LLP publishes a public license search , searchable by name, Social Security number, certification number or misconduct. It covers Utah CNA certification records and the state abuse registry. The four search options above and the free-text ‘Look For’ box were read from the live search form’s own controls on 2026-08-16, not from a description of the tool. UNAR tells candidates and employers to use it in preference to phoning the office, and describes the result: ‘Click on “Search Utah Registry.” Choose to search by your Name, SSN, or Certificate Number and type the information in the “Look For” box … When you find your entry, click on “Detail View,” and then “Print Verification Page.” This is an official document of the Utah Nursing Assistant Registry and should be accepted by your employer in lieu of your certificate.’ What the rule requires the register to show: name, certification number, city/state/ZIP, certification status with issue and expiration dates, ‘history of misconduct that is publicly searchable indefinitely’, and ‘certification history publicly searchable while certification is active, plus two years’ (R432-45-4(9)(b)). The Handbook restates the visibility window: ‘Utah CNA certificate information is viewable by the public while a certificate is active and for 24-months after a certificate expires.’ The page also offers a ‘Download Misconduct List’ button, so the abuse-registry data is published in bulk as well as by lookup. TWO THINGS TO EXPECT BEFORE YOU CLICK. First, the search puts an automated are-you-a-person check between the form and the result. Second, a search runs as a form submission rather than as a web address, so a result page has no link of its own — you cannot bookmark, email or cite one, and you have to run the search yourself each time. Anyone who needs a document rather than a screen can print the Verification Page from the result, or apply to UNAR for an official Verification Letter.

Records come from Utah Nursing Assistant Registry, on the Testmaster Universe (TMU) platform whose terms of use identify the software’s owner as Headmaster LLP’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.