Eligibility Criteria

Outlines eligibility criteria necessary for Pennsylvania nursing assistant certification

Eligibility By Examination

Note: To be eligible for employment as a nurse aide in Pennsylvania, you MUST be sixteen (16) years of age or older. You MUST also submit to a criminal background check, and you MUST NOT have any exclusionary convictions on record or have substantiated findings on any other state registry or licensing board.

You are eligible for testing if:

E-0:

You have completed a nurse aide training program, approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, within the last twenty-four (24) months.

E-3:

Your Pennsylvania nurse aide registration has lapsed because you have not worked providing nursing related services for at least twenty-four (24) consecutive months. An E-3 candidate has one (1) opportunity to successfully pass the NNAAP Examination. If the examination is failed, the candidate must complete nurse aide training again and reapply under eligibility route E-0.

E-4:

You are a licensed nurse aide on another state's nurse aide registry, but your licensure has lapsed because you have not worked providing nursing-related services for at least 24 consecutive months. An E-4 candidate has one (1) opportunity to successfully pass the NNAAP Examination. If the examination is failed, the candidate must complete nurse aide training again and reapply under eligibility route E-0.

Note: Consistent with 42 CFR 483.75(e)(2), nursing home administrations may employ a non-registered individual as a nurse aide for up to 120 days while the individual works to achieve registration in Pennsylvania either through the nurse aide training and testing program, or by way of reciprocity from another state.

E-6A:

You are a temporary nurse aide and have completed a Nurse Aide Attestation Form and intend to sit for the Pennsylvania nurse aide examination. The CNA candidate has 3 attempts to pass the competency exam.