To handle a CNA license renewal in Minnesota, log in to the Minnesota Department of Health’s Nurse Aide Registry portal and submit proof that you worked at least one eight-hour day of paid nursing work within the past 24 months. There is no renewal fee. If the 24-month window closes without qualifying work, your certification expires and you’ll have to pass the competency exam again before you can return to the registry.
The One Work Requirement You Have to Meet
Renewal turns on a single rule: you must have performed nursing or nursing-related services for pay for at least one full day, meaning eight consecutive hours, during the 24 months before you apply.1Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry Tutorial: Submitting Your Renewal Application This isn’t a Minnesota quirk. Federal law requires any nurse aide who goes 24 consecutive months without paid nursing work to complete a new competency evaluation before returning to work.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1395i-3: Requirements for, and Assuring Quality of Care in, Skilled Nursing Facilities
What doesn’t count: orientation, classroom training, in-service education, and volunteer hours. The work has to be regular paid direct nursing care.
Minnesota does not require continuing education credits for registry renewal. Any in-service hours your employer provides are a separate employment obligation and aren’t submitted to the registry.
What to Have Ready Before You Log In
Have these in hand before you open the portal:
- Your full legal name, current address, phone number, email, and Social Security number. If your name has changed since your last renewal, you’ll upload a government-issued ID showing the new name.
- Employment history for the past 24 months, with the name of each facility and your start and end dates.
- A PDF of your most recent pay stub showing at least eight hours of nursing or nursing-related work. This is the main piece of evidence the Department of Health 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, showing the direct care services you performed.1Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry Tutorial: Submitting Your Renewal Application
All uploads must be PDFs. Scan or photograph paper pay stubs and convert them before you start.
How to Submit the Renewal
Sign in to the Minnesota Nurse Aide Registry portal with your email and password. On your dashboard, click Renewal Application. Enter your employment history for the past 24 months, upload your pay stub, and update any personal information that has changed.1Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry Tutorial: Submitting Your Renewal Application Type your full name in the signature box and click Finish. No fee is charged.
Since January 2024, MDH no longer accepts renewal applications by mail or email. Everything runs through the online portal.3Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry: Forms and Resources If you don’t have reliable internet at home, a public library or your employer’s office is usually the fastest workaround.
What Happens 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 appear under “Your Applications” with a status of Received, and that status updates when the review is done. Check anytime by logging back in or using the Nurse Aide Registry search on the MDH website.4Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry
If something is missing or unclear, MDH will contact you. The usual snags are pay stubs that don’t clearly show eight hours of nursing work, and 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 Within 24 Months of Qualifying Work
If your certification expired but you performed qualifying paid nursing work within the past 24 months, you can still use the standard online renewal. Log in, submit your employment history and a pay stub showing the qualifying work, and MDH reviews it the same way as any other renewal.1Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry Tutorial: Submitting Your Renewal Application
More Than 24 Months Without Paid Nursing Work
Once 24 consecutive months pass without any paid nursing work, federal law requires you to demonstrate competency before returning to the registry.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 passing both the written knowledge exam and the hands-on skills evaluation. Pearson VUE administers the competency exam.5Minnesota Department of Health. Nurse Aide Registry Testing Information
You get up to four attempts on the knowledge exam and three on the skills exam. Fees typically run $100 to $200 depending on whether you’re taking the full exam or a retake. If a nursing facility has hired you or offered you a position, federal law prohibits the facility from charging you for competency testing.6eCFR. 42 CFR 483.152 Requirements for Approval of a Nurse Aide Training and Competency Evaluation Program Even if you paid for testing yourself, a facility that hires you within 12 months of your test date must reimburse you on a pro-rata basis while you work there.
Transferring From Another State
If you hold an active CNA certification in another state and want to work in Minnesota, transfer onto the Minnesota registry before your first shift. You must 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.7Minnesota Department of Health. How to Get on the Nursing Assistant Registry Complete the Interstate Endorsement Forms on the MDH website; incomplete forms get sent back and delay the transfer. You do not need to retake the competency exam if your out-of-state certification is current and in good standing.
What Can Block Renewal Even If You Have the Hours
Certain convictions and findings prevent you from maintaining active registry status regardless of your work hours. 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.8U.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 lead to exclusion at OIG’s discretion.
If a state investigation results in a confirmed finding of abuse, neglect, or misappropriation of resident property, that finding is permanently noted on your registry record. A notation like that effectively ends your ability to work as a CNA in any Medicare- or Medicaid-certified facility nationwide, whether or not the underlying conduct led to criminal charges. Minnesota’s Department of Human Services offers an administrative hearing to challenge a finding you believe was made in error, but the burden of proof is on you.