Eligibility Criteria

Rhode Island - National Nurse Aide Assessment Program (NNAAP)

This section explains what you need to do:

To become a nurse aide in Rhode Island.
Before you can take the NNAAP test.

Eligibility For Employment as a Nurse Aide

In order to be a nurse aide in Rhode Island, 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 aide. 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 five eligibility or “E” categories. Please read the categories listed at right to see which one applies.

E-1 – Nursing Assistant

All nursing assistant candidates applying to take the NNAAP Examination in Rhode Island must have successfully completed a Rhode Island Department of Health-approved nursing assistant training program. You are allowed one (1) year from the date you began your nursing assistant training program to pass the nursing assistant examination. If you do not pass the NNAAP Examination within a one-year period, you will be required to re-train before you will be allowed to take the examination again.

E-2 – Nursing Student

If you are actively matriculated in a nursing program and completed a minimum of two (2) clinical courses, you may apply to take the nursing assistant examination. You must submit a signed letter of verification from your Nursing School Institution to the Rhode Island Department of Health. You are only required to take the written examination.

E-3 – Lapsed Nursing Assistants

If your Rhode Island nursing assistant license has lapsed more than twenty-four (24) months, you are required to re-train and re-take the NNAAP Examination. After completing your Rhode Island state-approved nursing assistant training program, you must apply as a Nursing Assistant under Eligibility Route E-1.

If your Rhode Island nursing assistant license has lapsed less than twenty-four (24) months, you should contact the Rhode Island Department of Health. You must provide evidence of your work history as a nursing assistant of at least eight (8) hours in the prior twenty-four (24) months.

If you have questions regarding eligibility, please contact the Rhode Island Department of Health at (401) 222-5888.