CNA Programs & Career Opportunities in Minnesota

Before starting your training, it's important to understand exactly what Minnesota requires to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), commonly referred to by the state as a nursing assistant or nurse aide. Meeting these requirements ensures you're eligible to take the state competency examination, be placed on the Minnesota Nursing Assistant Registry, and work in Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes and boarding care homes throughout the state.

Eligibility

• Program enrollment: The standard pathway is to complete a Minnesota Department of Health (MDH)-approved Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation Program (NATCEP). Approved programs are available through colleges, high schools, nursing facilities, and other authorized training providers throughout the state.
• Challenge pathway: Minnesota also allows individuals to challenge the competency examination without first completing a Minnesota-approved training program. Challenge candidates must pass both the knowledge and skills examinations and meet the same testing requirements as trained candidates before being added to the registry.
• Good standing: Individuals with substantiated findings of resident abuse, neglect, or misappropriation of property may not work as nursing assistants in federally certified nursing facilities.

Training Hours & Clinicals

Minnesota-approved nurse aide training programs must provide at least 75 clock hours of training, including a minimum of 16 hours of supervised practical training with a live person in a laboratory or another appropriate setting. The curriculum covers federally required subjects including communication and interpersonal skills, infection prevention and control, safety and emergency procedures, residents' rights, promoting residents' independence, basic nursing skills, personal care, restorative services, mental health and social service needs, and care of residents with cognitive impairments.

Before trainees provide direct care to residents, they must complete at least 16 hours of instruction in required introductory subjects, including communication, infection control, safety and emergency procedures, residents' independence, and residents' rights. A Medicare- or Medicaid-certified nursing facility may employ an individual as a nursing assistant for no more than four months unless the individual has completed an approved training program, passed the competency evaluation, and been placed on the Minnesota Nursing Assistant Registry.

Competency Exam (Knowledge & Skills)

After completing training—or when applying as a challenge candidate—you must pass Minnesota's state-approved nursing assistant competency evaluation. The examination is administered by D&SDT-Headmaster through approved test sites across the state. It consists of two parts:

• Knowledge test: A 70-question examination covering the knowledge areas taught in an approved nurse aide training program. Candidates must answer at least 52 questions correctly, equivalent to a passing score of 74%. Depending on the testing site, the knowledge examination may be offered in person or through an approved virtual testing format. Alternative language and audio options may also be available.
• Skills test: An in-person practical examination during which candidates demonstrate randomly assigned nurse aide skills according to the steps and critical criteria in Minnesota's approved testing materials.

Candidates must pass both portions within a 24-month testing cycle. For candidates who completed an approved program, the cycle begins on the date of training completion. For challenge candidates, it begins with the first knowledge or skills test attempt. Candidates have up to four attempts to pass the knowledge test and three attempts to pass the skills test. If a candidate exhausts the allowed attempts for either component before the 24-month period ends, another MDH-approved training program must be completed before retesting. Passing results from an earlier testing cycle cannot be carried into a new cycle.

Placement on the Registry & Working as a CNA

Once you have met an approved eligibility pathway and passed both portions of the competency evaluation, you are automatically added to the Minnesota Nursing Assistant Registry, maintained by the Minnesota Department of Health. Minnesota assigns each registered nursing assistant a unique certificate number. Employers must verify registry status before allowing an individual to work as a nursing assistant in a federally certified nursing home or boarding care home.

The registry also records substantiated findings of abuse, neglect, and misappropriation of resident property. Individuals with disqualifying findings are not eligible to work as nursing assistants in federally certified long-term care facilities.

Renewal

To remain active on the Minnesota Nursing Assistant Registry, you must complete at least 8 hours of paid work as a nursing assistant during every 24-month period. A lapse of 24 consecutive months without qualifying paid employment results in expired registry status.

Nursing assistants must submit a renewal or employment-verification application to MDH through the Minnesota Nursing Assistant Registry system and provide documentation of qualifying employment, such as a recent pay statement. Individuals whose registry status has expired because they did not meet the employment requirement must generally retake and pass both the knowledge and skills examinations before returning to active registry status.

Reciprocity

Minnesota allows nursing assistants listed on another state's registry to apply for placement through interstate endorsement. To qualify without taking the Minnesota competency examination, an applicant must be currently listed in good standing on another state's nurse aide registry and must have completed at least 8 hours of paid nursing assistant work in that state during the preceding 24 months.

Applicants must submit an interstate endorsement application through the Minnesota Nursing Assistant Registry and provide the required registry and employment information. You must be listed on the Minnesota registry before working as a nursing assistant in a Minnesota nursing home or certified boarding care home. Minnesota does not charge a registry processing fee for interstate endorsement. Applicants who do not meet the endorsement requirements may qualify by passing Minnesota's knowledge and skills examinations.

Costs & Reimbursement

Training and testing costs vary by the approved training program and testing site. A nursing assistant who is employed by—or has received an offer of employment from—a Medicare- or Medicaid-certified nursing home or boarding care home before beginning an approved training and competency evaluation program may not be charged for the training or competency examination.

Individuals who pay for training and testing before obtaining employment may qualify for partial reimbursement from a certified nursing home or boarding care home. Under Minnesota law, a nursing assistant who has completed either an approved competency evaluation or an approved training program and competency evaluation is reimbursed by the facility for actual tuition and textbook costs and reasonable testing expenses 90 days after the date of employment, or upon completion of the approved training program, whichever is later. Reimbursement is capped at 30% of the individual's total training and testing cost, and a facility is generally not required to reimburse an aide who does not remain employed there for at least 90 days.

Sources: Minnesota Department of Health – Nursing Assistant Registry, Minnesota Department of Health – Nurse Aide Training and Testing, Minnesota Department of Health – Approved Training Curricula, Minnesota Department of Health – How to Get on the Nursing Assistant Registry, Minnesota Department of Health – How to Stay on the Nursing Assistant Registry, D&SDT-Headmaster – Minnesota Nursing Assistant Testing, Minnesota Statutes § 144A.61 – Nursing Assistant Training, Minnesota Statutes § 144A.611 – Reimbursable Expenses for Nursing Assistant Training, 42 CFR 483.152 – Federal Training Requirements