Wyoming State Board of Nursing (WSBN) — the agency that certifies the individual, under the Wyoming Nurse Practice Act. TWO AGENCIES SHARE THIS CREDENTIAL IN WYOMING: the Board issues and renews the CNA certificate, while the Wyoming Department of Health, Aging Division, Healthcare Licensing and Surveys approves CNA training programs and maintains the Wyoming CNA Registry used by nursing homes and swing beds. The Board states the split itself: ‘The Wyoming Department of Health oversees CNA education programs.’ administers certified nursing assistant licensing in Wyoming. 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
WYOMING’S STATUTE USES A DOUBLE-BARRELLED TERM: ‘certified nursing assistant/nurse aide’ (Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 33-21-120(a)(xii)), and it uses ’nursing assistant’ and ’nurse aide’ interchangeably within a single sentence. The board-facing abbreviation is CNA, and the statute’s own list of regulated credentials reads ‘advanced practice registered nurse, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse or certified nursing assistant.’ What Wyoming issues is a CERTIFICATE, not a licence — though the Board’s own web pages routinely say ’license’ for all four credential types, and its rule chapter is titled ‘Licensure/Certification Requirements’ precisely because it covers both. THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENTLY NAMED REGISTRIES AND THEY ARE NOT THE SAME LIST. The Wyoming Nurse Aide Registry, abbreviated WYNAR in the testing vendor’s handbook, is the testing-and-listing side: it ’lists the names of nurse aides who, through training, testing, and experience, meet federal and/or state requirements to work as nurse aides in Wyoming’ and carries substantiated findings of abuse, neglect, misappropriation or exploitation. The Wyoming CNA Registry, maintained by the Department of Health, is the nursing-home side: ‘A registry of certified nurse aides (not individuals with temporary permits) who are fully certified by the Wyoming State Board of Nursing to provide services in certified nursing homes and swing beds’, joined by filing form HLS/CNA-109. A GRADUATE NURSING ASSISTANT is a defined Wyoming status, abbreviated GNA in the rules alongside GN, GPN, GVN and GAPRN (ch. 2 § 2(i)) — a graduate awaiting examination results on a temporary permit. THREE OTHER WYOMING CREDENTIALS SHARE THE SAME BOARD AND THE SAME VERIFICATION PORTAL and are not this one: CNA II, Medication Aide-Certified (MA-C), and Home Health Aide; all three require CNA certification first. ‘NATCEP’ — Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation Program — appears in Wyoming’s rules as the name of the examination as well as of the programme (ch. 2 § 2(p) and § 3(c)(iv)), which is why the Board writes of passing ’the NATCEP or similar national exam’. Finally, TMU and Headmaster are the testing contractor’s systems, not Wyoming agencies.
License types & fees
| Type | Notes | Who Its For |
|---|---|---|
| Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certificate | A real certificate issued by the Board, not merely a registry listing. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 33-21-120(a)(v) defines 'Certificate' as 'a document issued by the board permitting the performance by a nursing assistant/nurse aide of basic related nursing tasks and skills delegated by a licensed nurse and as allowed by statute and board rule.' Certification by examination costs $60 plus a $60 background check; renewal is $50 every even year. The Board nonetheless issues nothing on paper by default — 'Wyoming does not provide paper licenses' — and a requested wall certificate or wallet card is explicitly not proof. | Someone who has completed a state-approved CNA training and competency evaluation program and passed both parts of the state competency examination. |
| Temporary permit | $25, requested with the initial or endorsement application — 'The temporary permit can not be issued without the initial or endorsement CNA application.' The Board adds two limits of its own: 'Not all applicants may meet the requirements for a temporary permit and the temporary permits may be revoked by the Board at any time', and 'If you have criminal history in the last 5 years you are not eligible for a temporary permit.' It is nonrenewable and is issued only once (Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 33-21-132(e) and (a)-(d)). ⚠ THE PUBLISHED LENGTH DIFFERS BETWEEN THE STATUTE AND THE BOARD — BUT NOT FOR EVERY PERMIT. The statute fixes a period in only two of its four temporary-permit subsections. § 33-21-132(a), for an applicant awaiting certification by endorsement, and § 33-21-132(b), for an out-of-state certificate holder not seeking endorsement, each say 'The period for a temporary permit shall not exceed ninety (90) days.' The NEW-GRADUATE permit at § 33-21-132(c) — the one a first-time Wyoming candidate actually uses — states no period at all: it runs 'pending the results of the first board approved national nursing licensure or certification examination offered after graduation', is barred to 'any applicant who has previously failed a board approved national nursing licensure or certification examination', 'shall be surrendered in event of failure of the licensure or certification examination', and requires the holder to 'practice only under the direction and supervision of a registered professional nurse.' The foreign-graduate permit at § 33-21-132(d) states no period either, and Board Rules ch. 2 § 7 supplies none. The Board's own pages, meanwhile, publish a flat CNA figure: 'A one-time temporary permit can be given for up to 90 days (for LPN/RN) and 120 days (for CNA)' and 'A CNA temporary permit (once issued) is valid for 120 days.' So the conflict is real but narrower than it looks: it is between the Board's blanket 120 days and the ninety-day cap the statute places on ENDORSEMENT and out-of-state permits, while for a new graduate the statute simply fixes no number. Both figures are recorded here with their sources and neither is treated as superseding the other. | An applicant awaiting certification, or a new graduate awaiting the results of the first competency examination after graduation. |
| CNA II — an add-on certification, not covered here | Named because the Board certifies it and the public verification portal lists it as a separate credential type. The applicant must 'Meet qualifications for CNA by examination or endorsement', complete a Board-approved CNA II training and competency evaluation course, and submit the application, a $5 fee and evidence of completion (Board Rules ch. 2 § 5(d); ch. 5 § 4(h)(iii)). Wyoming's scope rule treats it as an expansion rather than a new profession: 'With successful completion of a Board-approved program, the LPN or CNA may obtain certification which expands the LPN scope of practice or CNA role' (ch. 3 § 8). | A CNA who wants an expanded role. |
| Medication Aide-Certified (MA-C) — a separate credential, not covered here | Requires the applicant to 'Meet qualifications for State CNA II certification', complete a Board-approved MA-C training and competency evaluation course, submit the application, the $5 fee and evidence of course completion, and 'Successfully pass a national MA-C examination', with no more than five attempts in the two years after course completion (ch. 2 § 5(c)). This record documents the CNA certificate only. | A CNA II who wants to administer certain medications. |
| Home Health Aide — a separate certification, not covered here | The one Wyoming CNA-lane credential with a published hour figure: the applicant must 'Meet qualifications for CNA by examination or endorsement' and 'Complete Board-approved Home Health Aide training and competency evaluation (sixteen (16) hours)', then submit the application, the $5 fee and evidence of completion (ch. 2 § 5(e)). It appears in the Board's verification portal as its own credential type. | A CNA working in home health. |
Who does NOT need this license — exemptions
WYOMING’S EXEMPTIONS ARE WRITTEN AS LIMITS ON THE ACT, and only some of them reach nurse assisting. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 33-21-154(a): ‘No provisions in this act prohibit: (i) The practice of nursing by persons enrolled in board approved nursing programs when the practice is part of their program of study; (ii) The rendering of assistance by anyone in the case of an emergency; (iii) The incidental health care by members of the family and friends; (iv) The rendering of nursing services on a fee-for-service basis, or the reimbursement for nursing services directly to a registered nurse, licensed practical nurse or advanced practice registered nurse…; (v) The establishment of an independent nursing practice by one (1) or more licensed nurses…; (vi) The practice of any currently registered nurse, licensed practical nurse or advanced practice registered nurse of another state who is employed by the United States government…; (vii) The practice of any currently registered nurse, licensed practical nurse or advanced practice registered nurse of another state who is employed by an individual, agency or corporation located in another state and whose employment responsibilities include transporting patients into, out of, or through this state. The exemptions shall be limited to a period not to exceed forty-eight (48) hours for each transport; (viii) The practice of any currently registered nurse, licensed practical nurse or advanced practice registered nurse of another state who is presenting educational programs or consultative services within this state for a period not to exceed a total of fourteen (14) days per year; (ix) The practice of any nurse or nursing assistant, currently licensed or certified in another jurisdiction, in the provision of nursing care in the case of an emergency or disaster as declared by the governor; (x) The practice of any nurse within this state who holds a license in another state and is practicing in this state pursuant to the Nurse Licensure Compact; (xi) The practice of any advanced practice registered nurse who holds a license in another state and is practicing in this state pursuant to the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact.’ READ THEM CAREFULLY, AND START WITH (ix): it is the only paragraph in the whole section that names the nursing-assistant credential in its own words, and it exempts ‘any nurse or nursing assistant, currently licensed or certified in another jurisdiction’ who provides nursing care ‘in the case of an emergency or disaster as declared by the governor.’ Its wording is what makes the rest legible: where the Legislature meant an exemption to reach a nurse assistant, it wrote ’nursing assistant’. Paragraphs (iv) through (viii) name registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and advanced practice registered nurses only, so the fee-for-service, independent-practice, federal-employee, patient-transport and visiting-educator carve-outs do not, on their face, cover an out-of-state CNA working in Wyoming; and (x) and (xi) run to the Nurse Licensure Compact and the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact, neither of which covers nursing assistants. The exemptions that plainly do reach a nurse aide are therefore four: the student exemption in (i), the emergency exemption in (ii), the family-and-friends exemption in (iii) and the governor-declared emergency-or-disaster exemption in (ix). THE TRAINEE EMPLOYMENT WINDOW IS FEDERAL, NOT A WYOMING EXEMPTION, and the state-linked candidate handbook states it that way: ‘Federal and State regulations allow healthcare facilities to employ students for up to 120 days from the day employment and training is offered in an approved facility-based nurse aide training and competency evaluation program. However, if you fail five (5) attempts on either the knowledge or skills portion of the state competency exam, the facility is no longer allowed to employ you to perform nurse aide duties.’ A TEMPORARY PERMIT IS NOT AN EXEMPTION EITHER but a credential in its own right, and the Department of Health’s registry excludes permit holders by design: the Wyoming CNA Registry lists certified nurse aides ’not individuals with temporary permits’. Sources searched as of August 16, 2026: Wyo. Stat. Ann. title 33 ch. 21, with § 33-21-154 read paragraph by paragraph through the end of subsection (a); Board Rules chapters 1, 2, 3 and 5 in full; the Board’s licensing and education pages; the Department of Health’s CNA page and its training-program application; and the Wyoming Nurse Aide Candidate Handbook. Board Rules chapters 6 and 8 were not searched.
Fees
TWO SEPARATE BILLS: the Board’s fees, and the testing vendor’s fees. BOARD FEES, from the fee rule effective 26 May 2026 (Board Rules ch. 5 § 4): Certification by Examination — CNA $60; Certification by Endorsement — CNA $60; DCI Background Check $60; Temporary permit $25; Renewal — CNA $50; Relicensure/Recertification/Reinstatement — CNA $60; Reactivation — CNA $50; Inactive/Retired certification $30; Verification of Licensure & Certification $25; Name Change $20; Pre-Application Determination $15; and $5 each for the initial CNA II, Medication Aide-Certified, Home Health Aide and LPN/VN IV certifications. Multistate licensure application processing is $0, and that line belongs to nurses rather than CNAs. THE BOARD’S OWN CNA CHECKLIST QUOTES THE COMBINED FIGURE: ‘Examination —Required Documents— Fee $120.00 (Add $25 if Temporary needed)’, and the same $120 for endorsement — which is the $60 certification fee plus the $60 background check. Card processing is extra: ‘There is a 2.4% processing fee with all card payments and a minimum fee of $1.’ Every Board fee is nonrefundable except under the narrow refund rule for an application submitted for the wrong licence type, which is refunded ‘subject to a $25 refund processing fee’ with a $5 minimum refund (ch. 5 § 3(b), § 4(r)). ⚠ A RENEWAL-FEE WAIVER APPLIES IN THE 2026 RENEWAL WINDOW — WHETHER IT REACHES CNA CERTIFICATE HOLDERS IS ADDRESSED BELOW. The fee rule carries a temporary provision: ‘Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter, licensees shall not be subject to fees specified in Section 4(f) and Section 4(g)(ii) from October 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026’ (ch. 5 § 3(c)). Section 4(f) is the renewal schedule, and its own list carries the CNA renewal at $50. ONE WORD IN THAT PROVISION IS UNSETTLED AND THIS SITE WILL NOT RESOLVE IT: the waiver runs to ’licensees’, and Wyoming’s nursing act ordinarily keeps the two populations apart — Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 33-21-120(a)(viii) defines ‘License’ as ‘a current document permitting the practice of nursing as an advanced practice registered nurse, registered nurse or licensed practical nurse’, which does not include nursing assistants, while § 33-21-120(a)(v) gives them a separate ‘Certificate’, and the Act writes ’licensees or certificate holders’ wherever it means both (§§ 33-21-130, 33-21-131 and 33-21-153(a)). Board Rules ch. 5 has no definitions section and ch. 2 § 2 defines no ’licensee’. So the cross-reference to Section 4(f) reads as covering the CNA renewal line, while the word ’licensees’ reads as excluding certificate holders. A CNA renewing in the October-to-December 2026 window should ask the Board which reading it is applying before assuming the fee is waived. The waiver is written to expire on 31 December 2026. TESTING FEES, paid to the vendor, from the Wyoming candidate handbook: Knowledge Exam or Knowledge Retake $32.00; optional Audio Knowledge Exam or Audio Retake $42.00; Skill Test or Skill Retake $95.00 — so a candidate taking both parts once pays $127, and each retake is charged again at the same rate. Payment to the vendor is by Visa, MasterCard or debit card. NOT A BOARD FEE: training-program tuition, and whatever a local law enforcement agency charges to take fingerprints, which the Board flags — ‘some may charge a fee to do so.’ NOT CHARGED TO SOME CANDIDATES AT ALL: the Department of Health’s training-program application requires each program to explain ‘how the program is meeting the requirement which prohibits charging of nurse aides who are employed or have an offer of employment by a nursing home’, which is the federal rule at 42 CFR 483.152(c).
Exam
TWO PARTS, AND YOU MUST PASS BOTH. The state-linked candidate handbook states the structure: ‘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 Wyoming Nurse Aide Registry.’ KNOWLEDGE TEST: ‘The Knowledge Test consists of 60 multiple-choice questions. Questions are selected from subject areas based on the Wyoming State Board of Nursing approved Wyoming test plan and include questions from all the required categories as defined in the federal regulations.’ The published subject-area distribution totals sixty: Role and Responsibility 9, Basic Nursing Skills 8, Disease Process 7, Resident Rights 6, Safety 6, Communication 5, Infection Control 4, Mental Health 4, Personal Care 4, Care Impaired 3, Aging Process and Restorative Care 2, Data Collection 2. ‘You will have a maximum of 60 minutes to complete the 60-question Knowledge Exam. You will be told when fifteen (15) minutes remain’, and ‘You must have a score of 76% or better to pass the knowledge portion of the exam.’ An AUDIO VERSION is available, in which the questions and answers ‘are read through the computer, so you can listen to them through headphones or earbuds while you read along’, and a REMOTELY PROCTORED option exists for the knowledge test, with check-in in a video waiting room 10 to 20 minutes before the start time. Foreign-language paper word-for-word translation dictionaries are permitted if shown at check-in. SKILL TEST: one mandatory task with hand washing embedded comes first — assisting a resident with a bedpan, catheter care for a female resident, a PPE-and-urinary-drainage-bag sequence, or perineal care for a female resident — and ‘You will also receive an additional two (2) or three (3) randomly selected tasks from the Skill Task listing.’ Catheter care and perineal care are demonstrated on a manikin and the rest on a live resident actor. Scoring: ‘To pass the skill component of your competency evaluation, you must score 80% on each task without missing any key steps (the bolded steps)’, and ‘To receive credit, you must actually perform and demonstrate every step during your skill test demonstration.’ A candidate may tell the RN Test Observer they want to correct a step and then demonstrate it again. Both the knowledge and skill tests are taken on TMU at approved Wyoming test sites, and an RN Test Observer records the skills demonstration while the vendor’s scoring team scores it. ATTEMPTS ARE CAPPED AT FIVE, AND THE CAP IS IN THE RULE, NOT JUST THE HANDBOOK. Board Rules ch. 2 § 3(c)(iv)(B): ‘An applicant may sit for the NATCEP or similar national exam no more than five (5) times within the two (2) year period following graduation.’ The handbook states the consequence: ‘If you fail five attempts on either the knowledge or skills test component, you must complete a new Wyoming State Board of Nursing (WSBN) approved training program’, and adds that a candidate who exhausts the attempts can no longer be employed under the trainee window. The statute requires the Board to set such a cap: ‘The board shall by rules and regulations limit the number of reexaminations which may be taken by the applicant after the initial failure of a board approved national nursing licensure or nursing assistant certification examination’ (Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 33-21-128(c)). A test-result review may be requested, subject to a $25 deposit fee described by the vendor. Removal from a test event for using a recording device or navigating to other browsers means the exam is ‘scored as a failed attempt’, fees are forfeited, and ‘You will not be allowed to retest without clearance from WSBN.’
Renewal & continuing education
EVERY EVEN YEAR, EXPIRING 31 DECEMBER — the whole state renews on the same clock rather than on individual anniversaries. Board Rules ch. 2 § 2(x) defines the cycle: ‘Renewal cycle means the period for meeting competency for renewal of licensure or certification which is from January 1st of every odd year to December 31st of every even year.’ Section 8 sets the mechanics: ‘The Board shall make application(s) for renewal of licensure and certification available on the Board website on or before October 1st of every even year’, and a CNA seeking renewal shall ‘Submit completed renewal application and fees’ and ‘Submit evidence of meeting competency under Section 14.’ Section 9(a): ‘All licenses and certificates expire on December 31st of the renewal year.’ The Board has described the window in practice as running ‘October 1 … through December 31’ and requiring completion ’through the nurse portal.’ THE BOARD PUTS THE RISK ON THE HOLDER: ‘Failure to receive a renewal notice from the Board does not excuse an APRN, RN, LPN/VN, or CNA from the requirements for renewal’ (ch. 2 § 8(b)). The statute requires biennial renewal and conditions it on competency plus fees (Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 33-21-129(a) and (b)). A FIRST CERTIFICATE IS OFTEN SHORT: ‘Your initial certificate may not be a full two (2) years, depending on when you get issued during the two (2) year period’ — and the Board warns applicants of the same thing from the other direction, that ‘you will have to apply again if you are getting your initial license in an even year.’ INACTIVE STATUS IS AN ALTERNATIVE TO LAPSING: the Board may grant inactive or retired status, the holder ‘shall not practice nursing in this State until the license or certificate is reactivated’, and ‘A biennial renewal fee shall be required to retain the inactive status’ — $30 (Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 33-21-131; ch. 2 § 12; ch. 5 § 4(k)). Reactivation costs $50 for a CNA and requires a new application, fresh fingerprint cards and competency evidence. Nurse aides carrying misconduct restrictions on the registry are not eligible to renew. NO FIXED CONTINUING-EDUCATION MANDATE — WYOMING LETS WORK, EDUCATION OR THE EXAM SATISFY THE SAME REQUIREMENT. Board Rules ch. 2 § 14(e), the current version of the rule (chapter effective 17 December 2025): ‘A CNA shall demonstrate continuing competency by completing one of the following in the past two (2) years: (A) Four hundred (400) hours of employment in the CNA role; or (B) Forty (40) hours of continuing education; or (C) Successfully pass the NATCEP or similar national exam.’ One of the three, not all three. The rule defines what it is testing for: continuing competency for a CNA is ’the ongoing ability of a CNA to maintain, update and demonstrate sufficient knowledge, skills and qualifications necessary to practice safely and ethically in the designated role and setting in accordance with the role of the CNA. A CNA achieves continuing competency through employment in the CNA role and continuing education’ (ch. 2 § 2(d)). The same competency showing is required not only at renewal but for endorsement, reactivation, reinstatement and relicensure, measured ‘during the timeframe identified prior to date of application’ (ch. 2 § 14(b)). WHOSE COURSES COUNT: the Board approves no continuing education itself — ‘The WSBN does not offer approval of educational programs. Wyoming is willing to accept courses approved by continuing nursing education (CNE), continuing medical education (CME), or activities sponsored by organizations, agencies, or educational institutions. These courses are approved for nursing or medical contact hours by an accredited provider or approver of continuing education’, and it publishes a list of examples of accrediting bodies. WHAT THE RECORD MUST SHOW: ‘Your Name; Name of in service (the organization that offered the CEU); Date; How many credits the course was worth.’ The Board may audit — ‘The Board may conduct audits to verify competencies as outlined in Section 14’, and on request holders ‘shall submit documentation of compliance’ (ch. 2 § 16). ⚠ THE VENDOR HANDBOOK STILL PUBLISHES THE OLDER, FOUR-OPTION VERSION of this requirement (400 employment hours; or 200 employment hours plus 15 continuing education hours; or 30 continuing education hours; or pass the NATCEP), together with a five-year re-training rule. That handbook is dated August 2024 and the current chapter 2 took effect on 17 December 2025, so the rule above is the later statement; the handbook figures are recorded in this record’s internal notes rather than presented to readers as current.
How to apply
Applications are handled by Wyoming State Board of Nursing (WSBN) — the agency that certifies the individual, under the Wyoming Nurse Practice Act. TWO AGENCIES SHARE THIS CREDENTIAL IN WYOMING: the Board issues and renews the CNA certificate, while the Wyoming Department of Health, Aging Division, Healthcare Licensing and Surveys approves CNA training programs and maintains the Wyoming CNA Registry used by nursing homes and swing beds. The Board states the split itself: ‘The Wyoming Department of Health oversees CNA education programs.’. Start at the official application page .
Verify a license in Wyoming
Wyoming State Board of Nursing (the ‘Board of Nursing Certification Verification Portal’, which the Board links from its own home and licensing pages as ‘Verify A CNA’ and which the Department of Health links as ‘CNA Certification Verification’) publishes a public license search , searchable by last name and first name (with an option to search maiden or other names), license number, NCSBN ID or credential type: CNA, CNA II, Home Health Aid, MAC. It covers Wyoming’s four Board-issued certificate types only — the credential-type list on the live form is exactly CNA, CNA II, Home Health Aid and MAC. Nurses are NOT in this portal: the Board sends RN, LPN and APRN verification to Nursys instead, telling licensees to ‘visit nursys.com to verify your license and sign up for E-notify.’ The three search modes above were read from the live form’s own labels and select options rather than from a description of the tool. This portal matters more in Wyoming than in most states because there is no paper credential to show an employer: the Board states that ‘Wyoming does not provide paper licenses’ and that a requested wall certificate or wallet card is not proof — ’neither one is acceptable documentation for verification of your license. … If you need verification of your license you may do so through either the Verify a Nurse or Verify a CNA links.’ THREE PRACTICAL LIMITS. The search page is gated by a Google reCAPTCHA challenge — its own on-page instruction reads ‘Security verification: please check the box below. You may be asked to complete a second verification step’ — so a person can work through it but no automated check can. Results are then produced by submitting the form with a one-time request token, so an individual’s record has no address that can be linked or bookmarked. And this is not the only Wyoming lookup: the Department of Health runs a separate Wyoming CNA Registry search for the nursing-home registry, which builds its entire interface in the browser and therefore shows an automated reader nothing at all. A formal written verification from the Board, the kind another state’s board asks for, is a separate paid service at $25.
Records come from Wyoming State Board of Nursing (the ‘Board of Nursing Certification Verification Portal’, which the Board links from its own home and licensing pages as ‘Verify A CNA’ and which the Department of Health links as ‘CNA Certification Verification’)’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.