CNA Requirements in Wisconsin: 75-Hour Training

How to become a CNA in Wisconsin: a 75-hour state training minimum, the Headmaster competency exam — verified from Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS).

Source-verified

Requirements below are drawn from Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), Division of Quality Assurance — Nurse Aide Training and Testing, which maintains the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry. No board of nursing is involved. Day-to-day testing and registry operations run on a state contractor's system: DHS states that 'Wisconsin TestMaster Universe (TMU) houses the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Testing and Registry system. Headmaster hosts our registry.' (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: Wisconsin issues no nurse aide licence, no certificate and — since it stopped printing them — no card. What it maintains is a REGISTRY, and being on it is the status. DHS says it in its own words on three separate pages: 'We include every CNA (certified nurse aide) in our state on the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry'; 'The Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry lists the names of CNAs who meet federal and/or state requirements'; and, on the question of a physical credential, 'Wisconsin no longer issues nurse aide cards. To verify your status on the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry, log in to your account on TMU.' The rule gives the registry its legal weight: 'The registry shall serve as an official record of persons who are qualified by training and testing, or experience, to work as a nurse aide or a medication aide' (Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.09(4)). WHO OPERATES IT: the Department of Health Services, through its Division of Quality Assurance, using a contractor's software — 'Wisconsin TestMaster Universe (TMU) houses the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Testing and Registry system. Headmaster hosts our registry.' The statutory hook is the employment bar, not a licence: Wis. Stat. § 146.40(2) provides that a hospital, nursing home, intermediate care facility, home health agency or hospice 'may not employ or contract for the services of an individual as a nurse aide, regardless of the title under which the individual is employed or contracted for' unless the individual has completed an approved instructional program and an approved competency evaluation program, or qualifies under one of the narrow alternatives in the same subsection.
The ordinary route in: DHS lists three steps for a new student: 'Complete a state approved Nurse Aide Training Program. See the map of training programs. Review the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Candidate Handbook (PDF). Pass the competency exam, which includes a written knowledge test and a skill test.' Both halves must be state-approved — 'The state of Wisconsin must approve both programs.' Your training program registers you in the testing system: the candidate handbook states that 'All nurse aide candidates must be registered with D&SDT-HEADMASTER by their training program or alternate registration route in the TestMaster Universe (TMU) software at wi.tmutest.com', and that 'To schedule the Wisconsin competency examination, candidates must have completed a DHS-approved nurse aide training program or have a DHS-issued approval-to-test letter.' A ONE-YEAR CLOCK ATTACHES TO THE TRAINING: 'A newly trained nurse aide candidate must pass the knowledge and skill exams within one (1) year of successfully completing a training program', and 'After one year, you must complete another DHS-approved training program.'
Alternative routes that skip the training program: Wisconsin publishes six of them, each with its own document list. STUDENT NURSE — currently enrolled in a Wisconsin Board of Nursing approved pre-licensure nursing program (or an approved program in another state) AND has 'successfully completed a fundamentals of nursing course or equivalent and can provide a transcript'; apply on a Nursing Student Training Requirement Waiver 1101 Application with the transcript attached. GRADUATE NURSE WHO HAS NOT PASSED THE NCLEX-RN OR NCLEX-PN — same waiver application, same fundamentals-of-nursing transcript. PRACTISING RN OR LPN — 'If you are a Licensed Practical Nurse or Registered Nurse in good standing in Wisconsin, you may apply for approval to take the Wisconsin Nurse Aide competency examinations for inclusion on the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry', attaching a copy of the Wisconsin licence. MILITARY VETERAN — 'Complete military training, education, and experience that satisfies all nurse aide training requirements. Complete at least 16 hours of hands-on clinical experience. Submit Military Training Verification, F-00657', plus service school academic reports, certificates of training, a training document signed by the unit's training non-commissioned officer, and 'A written narrative explaining how your military education, training, and experience has prepared you to be a nurse aide' — and then 'Pass the competency exam on the first attempt', a stricter rule than any other Wisconsin route carries. OUT-OF-STATE ACTIVE and OUT-OF-STATE INACTIVE are the two transfer routes described under reciprocity. Wis. Stat. § 146.40(2)(am) is the statutory basis for the military route, requiring a demonstration 'to the satisfaction of the department that the education, training, instruction, or other experience is substantially equivalent to an instructional program that is approved under sub. (3).'
The six curriculum areas every program must cover: DHS lists them for programme applicants: 'A training program must include classroom and lab in at least the following six core areas: Interpersonal communication and social interaction; Basic nursing skills; Personal care skills; Basic restorative skills; Rights of clients; Dementias.' Those are the same six the rule sets out at Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.07(1)(a) through (f), and they are also the areas the written examination must draw from. DEMENTIA IS A NAMED CORE AREA IN ITS OWN RIGHT in Wisconsin, which is not true of every state, and the competency examination reflects it — the rule requires 'A minimum of 5 questions in the area of dementias' (DHS 129.08(2)(f)6.).
Sixteen hours of classroom before you touch a resident: DHS: 'The training program must provide classroom instruction of at least 16 hours prior to a trainee's direct contact with a resident or client. It must include: Communication and interpersonal skills; Infection control; Safety / emergency procedures; Promoting residents' independence; Respecting residents' rights.' That mirrors 42 CFR 483.152(b)(1), which requires 'At least a total of 16 hours of training in the following areas prior to any direct contact with a resident' and lists the same five, adding 'including the Heimlich maneuver' to the safety item. Note that these 16 classroom hours are a separate obligation from the 16 hours of supervised clinical training.
Clinical conditions the rule sets: Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.07(2)(c): before a student begins a clinical rotation 'the primary instructor shall evaluate and document that the student successfully demonstrated the ability to perform a skill'; 'Students may not give hands-on care to a resident who is not assigned to the student unless the student is under the direct supervision of the primary instructor'; 'The length of the clinical day may not exceed 8 hours'; 'A health care facility may serve as the site of clinical instruction for up to 2 nurse aide training programs at the same time'; 'The program shall not be used as a substitute for staff orientation or staff education programs'; and 'A ratio of 6 to 8 students per instructor is considered to be adequate in most circumstances.' Instructors and students alike 'shall wear clothing that is in compliance with program policy and that is appropriate for performing resident care', including a nametag showing the program name and whether the wearer is a student or an instructor.
Who may teach: Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.06(1)(a): 'The primary instructor for a training program shall be a registered nurse licensed to practice in Wisconsin, who has at least 2 years of experience working as a registered nurse, of which at least one year of experience shall be actual work experience in providing care in a nursing home.' Hospital-based and home-health-agency-based programs substitute one year in that setting (129.06(1)(b) and (c)). The primary instructor must also complete a department-approved train-the-trainer course, which 'shall be a minimum of 16 hours in length' (129.06(3)(b)); DHS publishes the list of approved train-the-trainer providers and marks which are open to the public.
Background screening — a separate Wisconsin programme, run by the employer: Wisconsin screens caregivers through its Caregiver Program rather than through a registry application. The candidate handbook describes it: 'Facilities must complete a caregiver background check for employees who have access to, and are responsible for, the safety and security of vulnerable residents/clients and their property. Caregivers with convictions of serious crimes or a history of improper behavior may be barred from working in facilities regulated by the Department of Health Services.' A person barred by a conviction or by a misconduct finding 'may request a Rehabilitation Review to give clear evidence' of fitness. The consequences of a substantiated finding are severe and split federal from state: 'Under federal regulations, nurse aides with a finding of misconduct are permanently barred from working in federally certified nursing homes and, in certain situations, may be barred from working in federally certified intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ICFs/IIDs). State regulations bar all caregivers with a finding of misconduct from working in facilities regulated by DHS unless approved under the Rehabilitation Review process.' Findings are recorded on the registry itself (Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.09(1)(L)), together with 'a brief rebuttal statement provided by the affected nurse aide' if the aide disputes the finding.
No minimum age is published: No Wisconsin source read on 2026-08-16 sets a minimum age for a nurse aide — not Wis. Stat. § 146.40, not Wis. Admin. Code ch. DHS 129, not the DHS nurse aide pages, and not the candidate handbook. The eighteen-year minimum that appears in the handbook belongs to the MEDICATION AIDE credential, and the sixteen-year minimum belongs to the FEEDING ASSISTANT. The handbook in fact contemplates candidates still in secondary school, publishing an 'EXCEPTION FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ONLY' that lets a current-year high school identification card with a photo plus a secondary form of identification stand in for a government-issued photo ID. This record therefore states no age requirement.

Legal basis

Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), Division of Quality Assurance — Nurse Aide Training and Testing, which maintains the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry. No board of nursing is involved. Day-to-day testing and registry operations run on a state contractor’s system: DHS states that ‘Wisconsin TestMaster Universe (TMU) houses the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Testing and Registry system. Headmaster hosts our registry.’ administers certified nursing assistant licensing in Wisconsin. 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

WISCONSIN USES ‘CNA’ AND ‘CERTIFIED NURSE AIDE’ ITSELF, WHICH MAKES IT UNUSUAL AMONG REGISTRY-ONLY STATES. Its own page is titled ‘Nurse Aide Program: Becoming a CNA in Wisconsin’ and opens ‘CNAs (certified nurse aides) work under the direct supervision of an LPN (licensed practical nurse) or RN (registered nurse)’ — so the term is the state’s, not just the public’s. Note the word order: Wisconsin says certified nurse AIDE, where most states say certified nursing ASSISTANT. The statutory and rule term, though, is plain ’nurse aide’ — Wis. Stat. § 146.40(1)(d) defines it as ‘an individual who performs routine patient care duties delegated by a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse who supervises the individual’, and the rule adds ‘regardless of the person’s title’ (Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.03(30)(a)). WHAT DOES NOT EXIST HERE IS A LICENCE, A CERTIFICATE OR A CARD. ‘Wisconsin no longer issues nurse aide cards’, and nothing in ch. 146 or ch. DHS 129 provides for issuing a nurse aide licence or certificate; what exists is the listing, and DHS refers to it in places as a ‘certification period’ and ‘work eligibility’ rather than as a document. The official name of the list is the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry, abbreviated WNAR in the candidate handbook. TWO SYSTEM NAMES GET MISTAKEN FOR THE REGULATOR: ‘Wisconsin TestMaster Universe’ (TMU) is the software at wi.tmutest.com, and ‘Headmaster’ or ‘D&SDT’ is the contractor that runs it; neither is a Wisconsin agency, and the agency is the Department of Health Services, Division of Quality Assurance. THREE OTHER WISCONSIN CREDENTIALS SHARE THE SAME REGISTRY OR THE SAME CHAPTER AND ARE NOT THIS ONE: the nursing home medication aide and the hospice medication aide, both defined as a nurse aide who may administer medications after a department-approved course (DHS 129.03(22) and (33)); and the feeding assistant, a separate and much narrower training programme. ‘WisCaregiver Careers’ is not a credential either — it is a state programme that ‘offers free training’ toward this one.

License types & fees

Type	Notes	Who Its For
Listing on the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry with FEDERAL work eligibility	This is what people mean by 'CNA' in Wisconsin, and it is a registry listing rather than a licence or a card. DHS: 'We include every CNA (certified nurse aide) in our state on the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry. This meets state and federal regulations. We include a nurse aide in the registry after they successfully complete both: A nurse aide training program, or basic nursing course for professional nurses or licensed practical nurses. A competency evaluation program.' Federal eligibility is what lets you work in a federally certified nursing home, hospice, home health agency or intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities, and it runs in 24-month periods.	Someone who has completed a Wisconsin-approved nurse aide training program (or an accepted alternative route) and passed both parts of the state competency examination, and who wants to work in a Medicare- or Medicaid-certified setting.
Listing on the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry with STATE eligibility only	Wisconsin splits the registry status in two, and this is the split most other states do not have. DHS: 'When an individual is placed on the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry, they are given two eligibilities: federal and state.' Losing the federal half does not remove you from the registry: 'If you don't maintain your federal eligibility, you can retain your status as a nurse aide. This allows you to work in: Hospitals, including critical access hospitals. Facilities that aren't certified as Medicaid providers.' Getting the federal half back means re-testing, not re-training.	A nurse aide already on the registry whose federal eligibility has lapsed because the 24-month paid-work requirement was not met.
Nursing home or hospice MEDICATION AIDE listing — a separate credential, not covered here	Named because the same registry lists both and people conflate them. To be listed as a medication aide a nurse aide must 'Be at least eighteen (18) years of age; Have a high school diploma, High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED), or a General Education Diploma (GED); Be listed on the Nurse Aide Registry, with current eligibility to work in federally certified facilities; Have at least 2000 hours of experience in direct patient care', complete a Wisconsin-approved medication aide course, and pass a test whose 'minimum passing score for the Medication Aide Challenge Examination is 85%.' Wis. Admin. Code ch. DHS 129 covers medication aide programs in a separate subchapter (DHS 129.21 through 129.31). This record documents the NURSE AIDE listing only.	A nurse aide already in good standing on the registry who wants to administer certain medications in a long-term care setting.
Feeding assistant — a separate, much smaller credential, not covered here	Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.03(16) defines a feeding assistant as 'a person at least 16 years old who has completed a state-approved feeding assistant training program' who performs that single nursing-related duty, and states plainly that 'Feeding assistant does not mean an individual who is a licensed health professional or registered dietician; volunteers without money compensation; or a nurse aide.' Subchapter III of ch. DHS 129 governs it.	Someone trained only to assist clients who have no feeding complications with eating and drinking.

Who does NOT need this license — exemptions

THE BIG ONE IS THE FOUR-MONTH WINDOW FOR TRAINEES, and it is a permission to work rather than a permission to skip the credential. Wis. Stat. § 146.40(2)(c) allows a hospital, nursing home, home health agency, hospice or intermediate care facility to employ someone ’enrolled in an instructional program for nurse aides that is approved under sub. (3) or (3g)’ as a nurse’s assistant, home health aide or hospice aide ‘fewer than 120 calendar days’, on two conditions: the person ‘may perform only services for which he or she has received training and has been found proficient by an instructor under the instructional program’, and the facility ‘may not include the individual in meeting or complying with a requirement for nursing care staff and functions, including a minimum nursing staff requirement.’ DHS translates it for candidates: ‘Yes, you’re allowed to work if you’re currently enrolled in an approved nurse aide training program. You can provide direct nursing-related duties for up to four months from the start of your employment in a nursing home’ — as a full-time employee, trained and found proficient by the instructor on the skill being performed, and under general supervision of an RN or LPN — and ‘You must pass a nurse aide competency exam within 120 days of the start of your full-time employment as a nurse aide.’ WHO IS NOT A NURSE AIDE AT ALL. Wis. Stat. § 146.40(1)(d) excludes from the definition a feeding assistant, ‘an individual who is licensed, permitted, certified, or registered under ch. 441, 448, 449, 450, 451, 455, 459, or 460’ — the chapters covering nurses, physicians, chiropractors, pharmacists, dentists, psychologists and related professions — and ‘an individual whose duties primarily involve skills that are different than those taught in instructional programs for nurse aides.’ The rule repeats the exclusions and adds one more in a single sentence: ‘A volunteer is not a nurse aide’ (Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.03(30)(c)). Conversely, the rule’s definition SWEEPS IN people who never applied for anything, including ‘Any person providing nursing or nursing-related services to clients, regardless of the title under which the person is employed’, anyone ’employed within the last 24 months as a nurse aide by a health care provider’, and ‘Any student nurse on assignment for greater than 120 days’ (DHS 129.03(30)(a)). MILITARY EXPERIENCE is a route in rather than an exemption: § 146.40(2)(am) still requires the individual to pass an approved competency evaluation program, and DHS additionally requires ‘at least 16 hours of hands-on clinical experience’ and a first-attempt pass. NO EXEMPTION EXISTS FOR ASSISTED LIVING OR PRIVATE-DUTY WORK. Those settings sit outside the seven that renew federal eligibility, and DHS handles them by a paper verification route rather than by excusing the credential; self-employment and private duty do not count toward renewal at all. Tiers searched on 2026-08-16: Wis. Stat. § 146.40 in full, the DHS 129 chapter contents plus §§ 129.03, 129.07, 129.08 and 129.09, the four DHS nurse aide pages and the registry FAQ, and the candidate handbook.

Fees

WISCONSIN CHARGES NOTHING FOR THE REGISTRY ITSELF — no application fee, no listing fee, no renewal fee. No fee for placement on or renewal of the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry appears in Wis. Stat. § 146.40, in Wis. Admin. Code ch. DHS 129, on any of the DHS nurse aide pages, or in the candidate handbook, all searched on 2026-08-16. That is not a Wisconsin quirk but a federal prohibition: ‘The State may not impose any charges related to registration on individuals listed in the registry’ (42 CFR 483.156(b)(4)). WHAT DOES COST MONEY IS THE EXAMINATION, paid to the testing contractor. The candidate handbook’s fee table, which carries the note ‘EFFECTIVE JUNE 7, 2026: The testing fees have been increased’, reads: Knowledge Exam and Demonstration/Skills $144.70; Audio Version of the Knowledge Exam and Demonstration/Skills $150.15; Knowledge Exam Only $37.49; Audio Version of the Knowledge Exam Only $42.94 (itemised on the same page as ‘$37.49 Knowledge Exam Fee + 5.45 for an Audio Version’); Demonstration/Skills Only $107.21. Payment is by Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card online, or by money order, cashier’s cheque or facility cheque made payable to D&SDT on a paper payment form; ‘Personal checks and cash ARE NOT accepted from candidates.’ Rescheduling is free up to one business day before the test; a no-show forfeits the fee. MANY CANDIDATES PAY NOTHING AT ALL, and the rule that makes that so is federal: DHS states that ‘In accordance with 42 CFR 483.152(c) a nurse aide who is employed by a skilled nursing facility, or who has an offer of employment from a skilled nursing facility on the date they begin a nurse aide training program, cannot be charged for any portion of the program (including testing).’ There is also a look-back: ‘If a nurse aide becomes employed by a skilled nursing facility within 12 months after completing a nurse aide training and competency evaluation program, they are eligible to be reimbursed by the facility for their training and testing cost at a rate that is determined by Wisconsin Medicaid.’ DHS additionally points to WisCaregiver Careers (‘a free training program to become a nurse aide through employment with participating skilled nursing facilities’), FoodShare Employment and Training, and Job Center of Wisconsin WIOA and TAA funds. NOT A STATE FEE: tuition charged by a private training program, which Wisconsin does not set.

Exam

TWO PARTS — a knowledge test and a skills demonstration — and you must pass both. Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.03(9) defines the competency evaluation program as consisting of ‘A written or oral examination’ and ‘A skills demonstration examination’, and DHS tells candidates to ‘Pass the competency exam, which includes a written knowledge test and a skill test.’ KNOWLEDGE TEST, as the state-linked candidate handbook describes it: ‘The Knowledge Exam consists of 75 multiple-choice questions. Questions are selected from subject areas in accordance with the approved DHS test plan and include all required categories defined in Federal regulations.’ You get ‘sixty (60) minutes to complete the 75-question exam’, answers are A through D, you may navigate with previous and next buttons, and you are warned at the 45-minute mark that 15 minutes remain. ‘To pass the knowledge portion of the exam, you must score 71% or better.’ An AUDIO VERSION is offered, in which ‘The knowledge test questions and answers are read through the computer and listened to through headphones or earbuds while you read along.’ Testing is electronic, and results move fast: passing candidates reach the registry ’no later than the next business day.’ SKILLS TEST: the handbook says each candidate performs one mandatory task plus ‘an additional two (2) or three (3) randomly selected tasks’, with ’no more than thirty (30) minutes to complete your three (3) or four (4) tasks’ and a warning when 15 minutes remain. The four possible mandatory openers are assisting a resident with a bedpan (modified), catheter care for a female resident, donning an isolation gown and gloves with emptying a urinary bag and measuring output, and perineal care for a female resident; the catheter and perineal tasks are demonstrated on a manikin and the rest on a live resident actor, and ‘Handwashing is embedded in each mandatory task and must be demonstrated at the end of each.’ Scoring: ‘You must correctly perform all key steps (in bold font) and 80% of all non-key steps in each task assigned to pass the Skill Test’, and ‘All steps must actually be demonstrated. Steps that are only verbalized WILL NOT COUNT.’ A candidate may say they made a mistake and redo the step. ⚠ TWO OFFICIAL SOURCES GIVE DIFFERENT NUMBERS FOR THE SKILLS TEST, AND THIS RECORD DOES NOT PICK ONE. The administrative rule says ‘The skills demonstration shall consist of a demonstration of at least 5 randomly selected items drawn from a pool consisting of the tasks generally performed by nurse aides’ (Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.08(3)(b)), while the current Wisconsin Nurse Aide Candidate Handbook — the version dated June 2026 that DHS links from its own page — describes three or four tasks. Both are quoted here with their sources; the department has not published a reconciliation that was found on 2026-08-16. THE WRITTEN EXAM HAS A SIMILAR FLOOR-VERSUS-PRACTICE GAP that is not a conflict: the rule requires ‘A minimum of 50 written or oral questions’ with stated minimums per care area (at least 4 on interpersonal communication, 7 on basic nursing skills, 1 on personal care skills, 3 on basic restorative services, 5 on client rights and 5 on dementias), and the examination actually given runs 75 questions — above the floor, which is what a floor allows. ORAL TESTING IS AVAILABLE BY RULE for candidates with limited literacy skills, adapted from the written examination and including ‘a component to determine the aide’s ability to read basic, objective, job-related information, such as reading a client’s name band or a client’s flow sheet’ (DHS 129.08(2)(e)); the rule also bars a program from refusing to test in a language that is predominant in the candidate’s work setting (DHS 129.08(2)(d)). RETAKES ARE UNLIMITED, AND ONLY THE FAILED HALF IS RETAKEN — see lapse_rule and the note in this record on Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.08(4).

Renewal & continuing education

EVERY 24 MONTHS, AND WHAT RENEWS IT IS WORK, NOT A FEE OR A COURSE. DHS: ‘The date you pass the competency test begins your 24-month work eligibility period. A new eligibility period begins every 24 months. To remain eligible for work as a nurse aide, federal regulations require that you: Work at least eight hours in a 24-month period. Provide hands-on care in a paid position. Be under the supervision of an RN or LPN.’ The work has to happen in one of seven listed settings — a federally certified nursing home, a hospice, a home health agency, an intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities, a state-licensed hospital, a facility for people with developmental disabilities, or a rural medical center providing one or more of those services. Self-employment does not count: the candidate handbook states that ‘self-employment and private-duty experience are not recognized as work experience that qualifies for federal eligibility.’ HOW IT IS FILED: the aide, not the employer, starts it. ‘If your certification will expire in the next 90 days, you’ll have the option to add your employer on TMU’ — select the Employment tab, Add Employment, choose Nurse Aide under Certification, choose the employer, enter the dates, and submit the request; ‘The employer will log in to their TMU account to approve or deny the request. For more information, see Providers Verifying CNA Employment. After your employer approves your request, we will extend your federal eligibility for 24 months.’ DHS notes the change from the old practice: ‘In the past, employers submitted renewal forms in a mass mailing with other nurse aides. However, you now submit renewals for yourself.’ REMINDERS COME FROM THE CONTRACTOR, NOT THE STATE, and only to the contact details you keep current: ‘About 60 days before your eligibility period ends, Headmaster will send you a reminder to renew… to your email address on record and/or a text to your cell phone. Your phone must be able to receive SMS.’ IF YOUR EMPLOYER IS NOT IN THE SYSTEM there is a paper route: ‘Complete a Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry Renewal Form, F-03211 (PDF) and give to your employer to complete Section 2’, returned by fax or email to the department. There is no fee at any point in this cycle and no continuing education — see fees and ce_hours. NONE. Wisconsin requires no continuing education to keep a nurse aide listed on its registry. The only recurring condition is the paid-work requirement described in renewal_cycle — at least eight hours of hands-on nurse aide work for pay under RN or LPN supervision in each 24-month period. Tiers searched on 2026-08-16 and found silent on continuing education for nurse aides: Wis. Stat. § 146.40 in full, Wis. Admin. Code ch. DHS 129 (the chapter table of contents, plus the definitions at 129.03, the training-program standards at 129.07, the competency evaluation standards at 129.08 and the registry rule at 129.09), the DHS Nurse Aide Training and Registry home page, the Becoming a CNA page, the Maintaining Registry Status page, the registry FAQ page, the Providers Verifying Nurse Aide Employment page, and the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Candidate Handbook. Nothing in any of them conditions continued listing on hours of instruction. IN-SERVICE TRAINING IS A DIFFERENT THING and belongs to the employer: federal nursing home requirements oblige facilities to provide in-service education to their nurse aides, but that is an obligation on the facility under its own conditions of participation, not a condition Wisconsin attaches to registry status, and no Wisconsin source read states an in-service hour figure as a registry requirement. THE ONE CONTINUING-EDUCATION-SHAPED OBLIGATION IN THIS AREA BELONGS TO A DIFFERENT CREDENTIAL: the medication aide, whose eligibility conditions include a Wisconsin-approved medication aide course and an examination with an 85% pass mark.

How to apply

Applications are handled by Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), Division of Quality Assurance — Nurse Aide Training and Testing, which maintains the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry. No board of nursing is involved. Day-to-day testing and registry operations run on a state contractor’s system: DHS states that ‘Wisconsin TestMaster Universe (TMU) houses the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Testing and Registry system. Headmaster hosts our registry.’. Start at the official application page .

Verify a license in Wisconsin

D&S Diversified Technologies (D&SDT) — Headmaster, under contract to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, which states that ‘Wisconsin TestMaster Universe (TMU) houses the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Testing and Registry system. Headmaster hosts our registry.’ publishes a public license search , searchable by name, Social Security number, registration number or misconduct. It covers The Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry, and also medication aides, who are listed on the same registry. DHS tells the public and employers to use it — ‘How do I verify a nurse aide’s status on the registry? Check the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry on TMU. You can search by name, Social Security number, or registration number’ — and lists what a search returns: ‘Name; Inclusion date; Expiration date for verifying eligibility to work in federally certified facilities; Basis for inclusion; Facilities where the aide is eligible to work; Substantiated finding information (abuse or neglect of a client, or misappropriation of a client’s property) if any.’ The four search modes recorded above were read from the live search form’s own options (Name, SSN, Registration Number, Misconduct) rather than from a description of the tool. Most of that is public by rule: ‘With the exception of sub. (1) (b) [the social security number], the information included in the registry about nurse aides is public information’ (Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.09(4)). TWO THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE RELYING ON IT. Results are produced by submitting the form, so an individual aide’s record has no address of its own that can be linked or bookmarked, and the form is additionally protected by a challenge that asks the searcher to prove they are not an automated tool — meaning an automated check can confirm the search page is up, but cannot confirm what it returns. And the registry is hosted on the contractor’s commercial domain rather than on a Wisconsin state address, which is why the web address does not end in .gov. A paper alternative exists in the rule: ‘A written request for registry information shall be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope’, addressed to the Office of Caregiver Quality, P.O. Box 2969, Madison, WI 53701-2969.

Records come from D&S Diversified Technologies (D&SDT) — Headmaster, under contract to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, which states that ‘Wisconsin TestMaster Universe (TMU) houses the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Testing and Registry system. Headmaster hosts our registry.‘’s own system. LicensingAtlas does not hold license records and cannot confirm any individual’s status — the date on this page refers to the requirements described above, not to anyone’s credential.

Frequently asked questions

Does Wisconsin issue a CNA license or certificate?

No. Wisconsin maintains a registry, and being listed on it is the credential. The Department of Health Services says so directly: ‘We include every CNA (certified nurse aide) in our state on the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry’, and, on the question of a physical credential, ‘Wisconsin no longer issues nurse aide cards. To verify your status on the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry, log in to your account on TMU.’ The rule gives the listing its legal effect: ‘The registry shall serve as an official record of persons who are qualified by training and testing, or experience, to work as a nurse aide or a medication aide.’ Wisconsin nonetheless uses the words ‘CNA’ and ‘certified nurse aide’ on its own pages, which is why the absence of a certificate surprises people.

How many training hours does Wisconsin require for a CNA?

75 hours, of which at least 16 are clinical — and Wisconsin’s legislature has barred the department from asking for more. Wis. Stat. § 146.40(3) provides that ‘The department may not require an instructional program to exceed the federally required minimum total training hours or minimum hours of supervised practical training under 42 CFR 483.152 (a)’, and that federal regulation requires a program to ‘Consist of no less than 75 clock hours of training’ and to ‘Include at least 16 hours of supervised practical training.’ A separate 16 hours of classroom instruction — communication and interpersonal skills, infection control, safety and emergency procedures, promoting residents’ independence, and respecting residents’ rights — has to come before any direct contact with a resident.

Who gives the Wisconsin nurse aide competency exam, and what does it cost?

D&S Diversified Technologies (D&SDT) — Headmaster, through the Wisconsin TestMaster Universe system at wi.tmutest.com. The Department of Health Services names the contractor itself: ‘Wisconsin TestMaster Universe houses our Nurse Aide Testing and Registry system. Headmaster hosts the registry.’ The candidate handbook’s current fee table, marked ‘EFFECTIVE JUNE 7, 2026’, lists the knowledge exam and skills demonstration together at $144.70, the knowledge exam alone at $37.49, the skills demonstration alone at $107.21, and audio versions at $150.15 and $42.94. There is no state fee on top of that — federal rule bars charging individuals for registry registration. Many candidates pay nothing: a nurse aide employed by, or holding an offer of employment from, a skilled nursing facility when training begins ‘cannot be charged for any portion of the program (including testing).’

What is on the Wisconsin nurse aide exam?

Two parts, and you must pass both. The knowledge exam is 75 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, and ‘To pass the knowledge portion of the exam, you must score 71% or better.’ The skills exam starts with one of four mandatory tasks — assisting a resident with a bedpan (modified), catheter care for a female resident, an isolation gown and urinary bag sequence, or perineal care for a female resident — with handwashing embedded in each, and adds randomly selected tasks; the candidate handbook allows ’no more than thirty (30) minutes to complete your three (3) or four (4) tasks’, and you must perform all key steps and 80% of non-key steps in each. Note that Wisconsin’s administrative rule states the skills demonstration ‘shall consist of a demonstration of at least 5 randomly selected items’, while the June 2026 handbook describes three or four tasks; the two official sources differ, and this site reports both rather than choosing.

How many times can you retake the Wisconsin nurse aide exam?

As many times as you need, and only the half you failed. Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 129.08(4): ‘If a person fails to pass any component of the competency evaluation examination, the individual need only retake the failed component. The person may retake the component failed as many times as needed. The competency evaluation program shall ensure that each repeat examination shall differ in content from any examination previously taken by the individual.’ That wording took effect on March 1, 2026. Federal law would have let Wisconsin cap attempts at no fewer than three; it has set no cap. Two other clocks still bite: a newly trained candidate must pass both parts within one year of finishing training, or complete another approved training program, and anyone removed from a test event for cheating or misconduct ‘may not be allowed to retest for at least 6 months.’

Do Wisconsin CNAs have to renew, and does it cost anything?

Yes, every 24 months — and no, it is free. What renews the listing is work, not a fee or a course: ‘To remain eligible for work as a nurse aide, federal regulations require that you: Work at least eight hours in a 24-month period. Provide hands-on care in a paid position. Be under the supervision of an RN or LPN.’ You start the renewal yourself in the TestMaster Universe system within 90 days of expiry by naming your employer, and the employer approves it; ‘After your employer approves your request, we will extend your federal eligibility for 24 months.’ Self-employment and private-duty work do not count. Reminders come from the contractor about 60 days ahead by email or text, so the state’s practical advice is to keep your contact details current.

Do Wisconsin CNAs need continuing education?

No. Nothing in Wis. Stat. § 146.40, Wis. Admin. Code ch. DHS 129, the Department of Health Services nurse aide pages or the candidate handbook conditions continued listing on hours of instruction, all searched on 2026-08-16. The only recurring requirement is the eight hours of paid, supervised nurse aide work in each 24-month period. In-service education is a separate obligation that falls on nursing homes as employers, not a Wisconsin registry condition.

What happens if a Wisconsin CNA does not work for two years?

You lose federal eligibility but keep your place on the registry — Wisconsin splits the status in two. ‘When an individual is placed on the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry, they are given two eligibilities: federal and state.’ Without the federal half you may not work in a Medicare- or Medicaid-certified nursing home, home health agency, hospice or intermediate care facility, but ‘you can retain your status as a nurse aide. This allows you to work in: Hospitals, including critical access hospitals. Facilities that aren’t certified as Medicaid providers.’ Getting the federal half back means re-testing both parts, not re-training: ‘Wisconsin doesn’t require retraining if you lose federal eligibility.’

Can you work as a nurse aide in Wisconsin before you pass the exam?

Yes, briefly, if you are enrolled in an approved training program. Wis. Stat. § 146.40(2)(c) allows employment for ‘fewer than 120 calendar days’ while enrolled, on condition that you ‘may perform only services for which he or she has received training and has been found proficient by an instructor’ and that the facility does not count you toward its minimum nursing staff. The Department of Health Services states the same window as four months and adds the deadline: ‘You must pass a nurse aide competency exam within 120 days of the start of your full-time employment as a nurse aide.’ You must be a full-time employee, trained and found proficient on each skill you perform, and under the general supervision of an RN or LPN.

How do you transfer a CNA certification from another state to Wisconsin?

Through an Out-of-State application filed in the contractor’s system — the department stopped handling these by hand: ‘We stopped manually processing reciprocity/endorsement forms on June 1, 2020.’ If you are active and in good standing elsewhere, trained in a 75-hour program including 16 clinical hours, and passed an examination ’that is the same or substantially similar to the Wisconsin competency examination’, your name is placed on the Wisconsin registry. If the training qualifies but the examination did not match, you must pass the Wisconsin examination within one year of approval to test. If you cannot document the training at all, an employer can verify ‘at least 2,088 hours in the two years preceding your application’ instead — a figure that comes from Wis. Stat. § 146.40(2g). Fail both, and ‘You must retrain and test in Wisconsin.’ Applicants who trained in Alabama more than two years ago and hold only Alabama certification must supply employment verification as well.

How do employers check a Wisconsin nurse aide?

Through the registry search in the Wisconsin TestMaster Universe system, searching by name, Social Security number or registration number. A search shows the aide’s name, inclusion date, the expiration date of eligibility to work in federally certified facilities, the basis for inclusion, the facilities where the aide may work, and any substantiated finding of abuse, neglect or misappropriation. All of that is public by rule except the Social Security number. Employers also carry the caregiver background check obligation, which is a separate Wisconsin program: ‘Facilities must complete a caregiver background check for employees who have access to, and are responsible for, the safety and security of vulnerable residents/clients and their property.’

See every license and certification LicensingAtlas covers in Wisconsin.

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.