Eligibility Criteria for Northern California State

Eligibility For Employment as a Nurse Assistant

In order to be a nurse assistant in California, you must be sixteen (16) years of age or older. You MUST also have a criminal background check and you MUST NOT have any convictions on your record that would stop you from being a nurse assistant. You cannot have any rulings against you from any other state registry or licensing board.

Eligibility For NNAAP® Testing

As a test candidate, you will be put into one of two eligibility or “E” categories. Please read the categories listed at right to see which one applies to you.

All student nurse assistant candidates applying to take the NNAAP® Examination in California must have successfully completed a Department of Public Health-approved nurse assistant training program. You are allowed two (2) years from your training program completion date to pass the nursing assistant examination. If you do not pass the NNAAP® Examination within a two (2) year period, you will be required to retrain before you will be allowed to take the examination again.

If you have not completed a CNA training program but you have had other training, please contact the California Department of Public Health at (916) 327-2445 to determine your eligibility.

Eligibility Routes

E-1: 

 You have completed a nurse assistant training program, approved by the California Department of Education, within the last twenty-four (24) months. New nurse assistant: For all applicants who have successfully completed a California State-Approved nurse assistant Education Program and have a signed unexpired 283B FORM.

E-2:

Equivalent Training RN/LPN fundamentals; Reciprocity; Previously Certified/Registered - For all applicants with a completed 932 FORM.