Louisiana CNA Registry
Check any Louisiana certified nursing assistant on the Louisiana Certified Nurse Aide Registry. The search is free, needs no account, and is the same record an employer sees. This page covers looking up a license, reading the status, keeping your certification active, and getting listed after your exam.
This is the state's own system, run by Louisiana LDH. It is the same database an employer checks, and the only place a certification status is authoritative.
Four ways to use this page. Pick the one that matches your situation.
Louisiana Certified Nurse Aide Registry
- Governing agency
- Louisiana LDHLouisiana Department of Health, Health Standards Section
- Lookup portal
- tlc.dhh.la.gov
- Processing time
- 30 daysbefore you appear on the registry
- Registry phone
- 225-342-0138
- Renewal cycle
- 24 months work hours must be reported
How to Look Up a Louisiana CNA License
This section is the mechanics: where the search is, what to type into it, and how to read what comes back.
Louisiana keeps its nurse aide records at tlc.dhh.la.gov. The search is public, so you can check your own record or a candidate's record without an account and without paying.
-
Open the Louisiana registry search
Go to tlc.dhh.la.gov and use the CNA/DSW Lookup panel. It is subtitled “Enter search criteria below”. The search takes an Employee type dropdown that is locked to CNA and cannot be changed, then First name, Middle name, Last name, Social security # and Date of birth. Any one of the name boxes works on its own, and the registry's own advice is to enter the social security number by itself, with the dashes. No login, no account, no fee.
-
Enter your details as the registry recorded them
Use the name from the time of testing, and fill in every box the panel asks for. If it offers a certification number box, use that as well: the number is unique to one person and a name is not.
-
Match the record to the person
Check every identifying detail the result shows, not just the name, before you treat a row as a match. Common surnames return several records, and the wrong one can look right at a glance.
-
Read the record, not just the listing
Open the record itself. Appearing on the registry is not the same as being current, so read what the record says about standing, whether that is a status, an expiry date, or both, then check it against the status table below. The results table shows Name (CNA), Certification Number, Certified From-To, Original Certification, Status and Retest Required By.
-
Save a dated copy of the result
Print to PDF or screenshot the page showing the name, certification number, what the record says about standing, and the date you checked. Employers and agencies usually want that record on file.
How to find your certification number
Where a search takes the number, it narrows the result to one person in a way a name may not. If you have lost it, it is on any of these.
- Your certificate or wallet card, if your state issued one after the skills test
- The result page of the registry search itself, once you have found your record
- Your employer's personnel file, because facilities record it when they verify you at hire
- The registry, on 225-342-0138, if none of the above works
What Each Louisiana CNA Registry Status Means
The status field is the part that decides whether someone can work. Wording varies by state, so read the exact term on the record rather than assuming what it means.
| Status | What it means | Can they work? |
|---|---|---|
| Certified | The certification is current, and the Certified From-To column shows the two-year period it runs to. Retest Required By is blank on these records. | Yes |
| Not Certified | The certification has expired because no qualifying work was reported inside the 24-month period. The Retest Required By column gives the date by which one retest has to be passed to get it back. | No |
| Call CNA Registry | The record carries no certification status, so the search cannot tell you whether the person is certified and you have to ask the registry. These records show no Retest Required By date. | Conditional, confirm before the shift |
Why Your Louisiana CNA License Is Not Showing on the Registry
| Problem | What is happening | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Your name returns no results | The registry stores the legal name you used at the time of testing. The results table renders at the very bottom of the page, well below the search box, and the registry's own instructions say to scroll down to the bottom to see it. An expired certification stays listed as Not Certified rather than disappearing, so a genuine miss is usually a name recorded differently rather than a record that is not there. | Search your maiden or pre-marriage name, and try the surname alone before adding a first name. |
| You passed but you are not listed | Results have to reach the registry from your testing entity before a record exists. | Allow at least 30 days, then call 225-342-0138 with your test date and testing entity. |
| The record shows as expired but you have been working | Qualifying hours have to be reported before the record updates, and yours may not have been filed. | Ask your administrator or director of nursing to report the hours, then re-check the record. |
| Your employer cannot report electronically | Only your employer can file the report, and not every employer holds an account with the registry. | Ask the administrator or director of nursing to contact the registry directly at LA.CNA@la.gov. |
| Details on your record are wrong | Name, address and registry data come from the record created at testing. | Contact the registry on 225-342-0138 or LA.CNA@la.gov with documentation of the correct details. |
How to Verify a CNA License in Louisiana
This section is what the result proves: what a record is evidence of, what to save as your copy of it, and what it means for you specifically. The search itself is the same for everyone.
Verifying your own license after finishing training
Look yourself up at tlc.dhh.la.gov once your testing entity has filed your results. Allow at least 30 days before you treat a missing record as a problem. Save a dated copy of the record, because most employers ask for proof at offer stage rather than checking themselves.
Verifying your license after transferring from another state
A certification held in another state does not appear in Louisiana until reciprocity is processed. Until a Louisiana record exists, employers here cannot verify you, and your out-of-state record is the only proof you have. See transferring a license to Louisiana for the application route, then verify the new record the same way.
Verifying someone else's license (for employers)
Federal rules require a facility to check the registry before it lets someone work as a nurse aide. The record shows the certification status. It is not the whole check, because Louisiana records findings of abuse, neglect, misappropriation, exploitation or extortion on a separate list, so a current certification does not on its own mean there is nothing against someone. The record only covers Louisiana, so if a candidate has worked elsewhere, search that state's registry too.
That separate list is the Adverse Actions List, and it is maintained apart from the Certified Nurse Aide Registry. Check both before you rely on a result.
How to Renew Your Louisiana CNA License
Renewal in Louisiana is not a form you file. Active standing continues only when your employer reports qualifying work, which makes renewal something you check rather than something you submit. You cannot report the hours yourself.
-
Work at least 8 hours in a qualifying role
The hours must be paid nursing or nursing-related duties inside the 24 months before your record lapses. Unpaid placements and volunteer shifts do not count. If the work was in another state, ask the registry whether it counts before you rely on it, because states differ.
-
Ask your employer to report them
Your employer files the report through the state's reporting system, LARS, the Louisiana Registry System, where nursing homes must file the eNAT-7. Other providers send a paper NAT-7 by post or email. The registry does not accept hours reported by the worker.
Ask the administrator or director of nursing, not a shift supervisor. Reporting access is held at facility level. -
Check the record, and read the expiry date
Look yourself up at tlc.dhh.la.gov about 30 days after the report was filed. A status of certified on its own is not enough, because the previous period may still be running. The expiry date is what tells you the new period has actually started.
-
Fix a missing report before it lapses
If the hours were worked but never reported, that is correctable, and it is far easier to correct while the record is still active. Contact the registry on 225-342-0138 or LA.CNA@la.gov and ask what they will accept as evidence of the work.
-
Keep your own dated copy
Save the record showing the new expiry date. If a report is ever missed, that copy is what you give a new employer while the registry corrects it.
| Item | Louisiana |
|---|---|
| Active period | 24 months from the reported work |
| Work required | At least 8 hours of paid nursing or nursing-related duties |
| What counts | Paid nursing or nursing-related duties |
| What does not count | Volunteer shifts and unpaid clinical placements |
| Work in another state | Ask the registry before you rely on it. States differ on whether out-of-state hours count |
| Who reports it | Your employer only. The registry does not accept hours from the worker |
| Where the report is filed | LARS, the Louisiana Registry System, where nursing homes must file the eNAT-7. Other providers send a paper NAT-7 by post or email |
| Evidence of the hours | The report has to come from an approved employer and name your first and last dates of work and at least four nursing or nurse-related duties you performed. A provider without a facility code sends it on signed letterhead as a PDF, and the registry does not accept faxes. |
| Renewal fee | None |
| Filing deadline | The work history has to reach the registry before the certification period ends, and Louisiana then recertifies automatically at midnight on the expiry date. If nothing is reported the status changes to Not Certified. |
How to Reinstate a Lapsed Louisiana CNA License
If 24 months pass with no qualifying work, the record stops being active. What it takes to come back depends on which of these you are.
| Your situation | What you do | Retesting |
|---|---|---|
| You worked recently, but the hours were never reported | Ask that employer to report the hours now | No |
| No qualifying work for 24 months or more | You get one attempt to retest, and it has to be inside the two years following the expiry date on your record. Fail either part of it, or let those two years pass, and the training course has to be taken again. | Yes |
| You hold an active certification in another state | Apply through reciprocity. See our Louisiana reciprocity guide | Usually not |
| You are not working in a Medicare- or Medicaid-certified facility | The federal requirement does not reach you, but other employers set their own rules and many still ask for an active certification | No |
How to Get on the Louisiana CNA Registry
In Louisiana you do not file a registry application yourself. You train, you test, and your testing entity sends the application and results to the registry.
-
Meet the basic requirements
You must be at least 16. Training providers may set their own requirements on top of that.
-
Complete an approved 80-hour course
Train with a provider approved in Louisiana. Our CNA program directory does not cover Louisiana yet, so start from the state's own approved-provider list.
-
Pass the written and skills tests
A knowledge examination, which you may take written or orally, and a hands-on skills demonstration. Both must be passed. The knowledge test can be taken orally instead of in writing if you ask, which is a federal right in every state and is worth knowing if reading is difficult for you or English is not your first language.
If a facility has already hired you, both tests have to be passed within 60 days of your hire date. Our free CNA practice tests cover the same knowledge areas as the written test, and the free CNA skills course walks through the skills evaluation itself.
The state charges no application fee. Testing costs are set by the testing entity rather than the state, so ask your provider what theirs are. -
Let your testing entity file the results
The testing entity sends your application and results straight to the registry. There is nothing for you to submit.
-
Check that you appear on the registry
Allow at least 30 days, then look yourself up at tlc.dhh.la.gov before you contact the registry.
Louisiana CNA Registry Contact Information
- Phone
- 225-342-0138
- LA.CNA@la.gov
- Mailing address
- Louisiana Nurse Aide Registry
Department of Health (LDH) - Health Standards Section
P. O. Box 3767
Baton Rouge, LA 70821
- License lookup
- tlc.dhh.la.gov
- Registry information
- LDH Health Standards Section Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) page
Louisiana CNA Requirements at a Glance
| Requirement | Louisiana |
|---|---|
| Registry name | Louisiana Certified Nurse Aide Registry |
| Credential term used by the state | nurse aide |
| Governing agency | Louisiana Department of Health, Health Standards Section |
| Minimum age | 16 |
| Total training hours | 80 |
| Classroom hours | 40 |
| Clinical hours | 40 |
| Exam | A knowledge examination, which you may take written or orally, and a hands-on skills demonstration. Both must be passed. |
| Testing deadline | Both tests within 60 days of hire |
| Application fee | Free |
| Processing time | From 30 days |
| Renewal cycle | 24 months, employer-reported hours |
| Testing vendor | Prometric and the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) |
Transferring a CNA License To or From Louisiana (Reciprocity)
Reciprocity is how an active certification held in one state becomes a certification in another. It usually avoids retesting, but only while your current certification is in good standing. A lapsed or flagged record cannot transfer.
The route in and out of Louisiana, the documents required and the current processing time are covered in the guide. The tool checks any two states against each other.
Louisiana CNA Training Programs
The steps above are the whole route onto the registry. The one thing that comes before them is an approved 80-hour program, because you cannot sit the exam without completing one. The state itself charges no application fee, so training is the cost that matters.
Tell us where you are and we will match you with approved programs. Takes about a minute.
Find CNA programs near you✓ Free Service • ✓ No Obligations • ✓ Compare Multiple Programs • ✓ Accredited Schools Only
Our directory does not cover Louisiana yet, so the state's own approved-provider list is the place to start.
If you want to prepare before you enrol, our free CNA skills course covers the material the program and the skills test are built on.
Louisiana CNA Registry FAQ
Is the Louisiana CNA Registry free to search?
Why can I not find my name on the registry?
How long does Louisiana certification last?
Can I report my own work hours?
What happens if my status expires?
Can an employer see abuse or neglect findings?
Do I need to be on the registry to work in Louisiana?
Look Up a CNA License in Another State
Every state runs its own registry, and a certification is only verifiable in the state that issued it. Pick a state to see its portal, its status vocabulary and its renewal rules.