Transferring a CNA License to another State

By now you’ve already finished your certification and your training and you are a confident trained Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). But with the current recession on, it’s not necessary that you will get a job in the state you finished your education in. each state requires you to have a local license and certification before you can be hired to work with hospitals and nursing homes. This means you will have to transfer your license and certificate from the state you got it from to the state you are now planning to relocate to. The entire process may seem long and tedious but is completely necessary and here are a few general pointers on how to go about it.

• A few states have reciprocity arrangements with each other. This means that they approve the licensee from one state as equivalent to what they themselves would have granted. But not all states have them. With this arrangement you are not required to take the state exam again. To ensure that reciprocity does take place, your license will undergo the same process, as it would have while being renewed. You will have to submit your social security number, employment proofs, educational proofs and a background check. The most time is taken up by the FBI background check which will take four to eight weeks to complete. A few of the states allow you to work while you are being transferred from one state to another and when your license is being checked over. You can also work in both states in shifts of an hour or more but not more that three hours at a time. You will also have to work one day every month to ensure that you meet your state requirements.
• If the state does not have reciprocity requirements then you will have to take the state licensing practical and theoretical exam again in the state you are transferring to. You may have to take additional courses to sit for the transfer states licensing exam. Please get in touch personally with the licensing authority that you have found via the Nursing Aide Registry. This is because details put up on state websites may not be current. Once you have the telephone numbers of authorities you will get a much better idea of what is required. Fax over your details if the transfer state requires it. You will need your social security number, your driver’s license, your present state approval and your recent employment details.