Certified Nursing Assistant Career Guide,
Salary, Licence & Jobs 2026

Typically four to twelve weeks. Federal law sets a 75-hour training minimum with 16 clinical hours, but many states require 100–180 hours. After the program you sit the state's two-part competency exam — a written test plus a graded skills demonstration — and go on the nurse aide registry. Some nursing homes run free programs and pay you as a trainee, since federal rules let facilities employ aides up to four months pending certification.

The BLS OEWS May 2025 median for nursing assistants (SOC 31-1131) is $42,260 a year ($20.32/hr). New aides in long-term care start near the 10th percentile of $33,940, while hospital CNAs, government facilities and high-cost states reach $47,220 at the 75th percentile and $51,980 at the 90th. Night and weekend differentials plus agency or PRN shifts push effective hourly pay above those base figures.

You set your career intent, target role, location, salary, credentials, and timeline, in 3 minutes. Our recruiters benchmark your pay against BLS data and live employer requirements, then bring matching permanent job opportunities directly to you. No applications. No job boards. We verify your credentials so employers see a complete, credible profile. After placement, we pay your licence renewal fees. Permanent, full-time, direct-hire only.

Two parts. The written (or oral) exam covers roughly 60–70 multiple-choice questions on resident care, safety, infection control and residents' rights. The skills evaluation has you perform a set of randomly assigned tasks — always including handwashing, plus skills like taking vital signs, transferring with a gait belt, range-of-motion exercises and perineal care — in front of an evaluator. Many states administer it as the NNAAP through Credentia; failing one part means retaking only that part.

Yes — it is the most common first rung of the nursing ladder. CNA experience satisfies the healthcare-experience requirement many nursing programs weigh, and some LPN and ADN programs grant advanced placement for it. The typical bridge is CNA to LPN (about a year) or CNA directly into an associate-degree RN program (two years), often with employer tuition assistance. The pay jump is large: from the CNA median of $42,260 to well over $60,000 for LPNs and above $97,000 for RNs at their respective BLS medians.

Not automatically, but reciprocity is routine. Most states will enroll an aide in good standing from another state's registry by application — verifying training, exam and work history — without retesting. A lapsed certification is different: most states require recertification or retesting if you have no qualifying paid nursing work within 24 months. Always check the destination state's nurse aide registry before accepting an offer.

As a destination job the math is hard — $42,260 at the median for physically heavy work with high injury rates. As a strategy it is excellent: paid patient-care experience within weeks, about 204,100 openings a year so work is everywhere, and a direct, often employer-funded ladder into LPN or RN roles that double or triple the wage. Most nursing careers in America start exactly here.