CNA license renewal in Minnesota is free, done online through the Minnesota Department of Health’s Nurse Aide Registry, and comes down to one thing: proving you worked at least one eight-hour day of paid nursing or nursing-related care in the past 24 months.1Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry Tutorial: Submitting Your Renewal Application Miss that 24-month window and your certification lapses, and federal law then requires you to pass the competency evaluation again before you can work.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1395i-3: Requirements for, and Assuring Quality of Care in, Skilled Nursing Facilities
The Work Requirement That Controls Renewal
You need at least eight consecutive hours of paid nursing or nursing-related work during the 24 months before you apply. That’s it. Minnesota does not require continuing education credits for registry renewal.
What does not count: orientation, classroom training, in-service education hours, and volunteer time. The work has to be regular paid direct care, with monetary compensation.
If you work in a Medicare- or Medicaid-certified nursing facility, your employer is separately required under federal regulations to provide you with at least 12 hours of in-service training each year on topics like dementia care and abuse prevention.3eCFR. 42 CFR 483.95 Training Requirements That is a workplace obligation, not something you file with the registry, but keep documentation in case a future employer asks.
What to Gather Before You Log In
Pull everything together before you start, because the portal expects uploads in PDF format.
- Your full legal name, current address, phone, email, and Social Security number. If your name has changed, you’ll need to upload a government-issued ID showing the new name.
- Employment history for the past 24 months: each facility name with start and end dates.
- Your most recent pay stub, as a PDF, clearly showing at least eight hours of nursing or nursing-related work. This is the central piece of proof MDH reviews.1Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry Tutorial: Submitting Your Renewal Application
- A job description, if you worked somewhere other than a nursing home or certified home health agency. The description should spell out the direct care services you performed.4Minnesota Department of Health. Nurge Aide Registry Tutorial: Submitting Your Renewal Application
Paper pay stub? Scan it or photograph it and convert to PDF before you begin.
How to Submit the Application
Log in to the Minnesota Nurse Aide Registry portal with your email and password. From your dashboard, click Renewal Application. Enter the past 24 months of employment, upload your pay stub (and job description if needed), and update any personal information that’s changed. Type your full name in the signature box, click Finish, and you’re done.1Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry Tutorial: Submitting Your Renewal Application
There is no renewal fee.
Since January 2024, MDH no longer accepts renewal applications by mail or email. Everything goes through the online portal.5Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry: Forms and Resources If you don’t have reliable internet access, a public library or your employer’s office is usually the easiest workaround.
After You Submit
Allow up to 30 business days for review.1Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry Tutorial: Submitting Your Renewal Application Your application will show up under “Your Applications” with a status of Received, and the status updates once MDH finishes its review. You can also look yourself up through the Nurse Aide Registry search tool on the MDH website.6Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry
If something’s off, MDH will contact you. The usual snags: pay stubs that don’t clearly show eight hours of nursing work, or missing job descriptions for non-traditional care settings. Respond quickly, because your certification can lapse while the file sits open.
If Your Certification Has Already Expired
Lapsed, But You Worked in the Past 24 Months
An expired status doesn’t automatically mean you have to retest. If you did qualifying paid nursing work at any point in the past 24 months, you can still renew through the standard online process. Log in, submit employment history and a pay stub covering the qualifying shift, and MDH will review it like any other renewal.1Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry Tutorial: Submitting Your Renewal Application
Nothing in the Past 24 Months
Once 24 consecutive months pass without paid nursing work, federal law requires you to demonstrate competency again.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1395i-3: Requirements for, and Assuring Quality of Care in, Skilled Nursing Facilities In Minnesota that means both the written knowledge exam and the hands-on skills evaluation, administered by Pearson VUE.7Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry Testing Information
You get up to four attempts on the knowledge exam and three on the skills exam. Testing fees typically run $100 to $200, depending on whether you take the full exam or retake a portion. If a nursing facility has already hired you or offered you a job, federal law prohibits that facility from charging you for competency testing.8eCFR. 42 CFR 483.152 Requirements for Approval of a Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation Program And if you paid for testing yourself and a facility hires you within 12 months, that facility has to reimburse you on a pro-rata basis while you’re employed there.
What Can Block Your Renewal
Work hours are not the only thing MDH considers. Federal law requires the Office of Inspector General to exclude individuals from federally funded healthcare programs after convictions for Medicare or Medicaid fraud, patient abuse or neglect in a healthcare setting, felony healthcare fraud or financial misconduct, or felony controlled-substance offenses.9U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. Referrals for Exclusion Based on Convictions Misdemeanor healthcare-fraud or drug offenses can also trigger exclusion at OIG’s discretion.
A confirmed state finding of abuse, neglect, or misappropriation of resident property is permanently noted on your registry record. That notation effectively ends your ability to work as a CNA in any Medicare- or Medicaid-certified facility nationwide, whether or not criminal charges followed. Minnesota’s Department of Human Services runs an administrative hearing process if you believe a finding was wrong, but the burden is on you to challenge it.
Moving to Minnesota From Another State
If you’re already certified elsewhere and want to work in Minnesota, this isn’t a renewal, it’s a transfer. You have to be in good standing on your current state’s registry and have worked at least eight hours as a nursing assistant in that state within the past 24 months.10Minnesota Department of Health. How to Get on the Nursing Assistant Registry Complete the Interstate Endorsement Forms on the MDH website, and follow the directions carefully, because incomplete forms get sent back. You do not need to retake the competency exam if your out-of-state certification is current and in good standing.