How Can I Renew My Certified Nursing Certificate in California?
Certified nursing assistants (CNA) are members of the healthcare team who assist, and are supervised by, licensed nurses. They take vital signs, answer call lights, turn and reposition patients, assist patients with hygiene, dressing and eating. CNA's are also called nurse aides and patient care assistants.
California CNA's can qualify to become a licensed vocational nurse (LVN) by documenting 54 hours of patient care experience, and completing a nursing pharmacology course.
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Instructions
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Request criminal background clearance. Complete and submit the Request for Live Scan Service BCII-8016 form, and take it to a local vendor offering Live Scan Service. Live Scan refers to automated transmitting technology for scanning fingerprints digitally, for the purpose of performing criminal background checks. A Live Scan list of local vendors can be found on the California Department of Justice website. A current, valid state driver's license or identification card must be presented to the vendor.
Certain convictions automatically result in denial of certification renewal. A list of crimes is available at www.cdph.ca.gov.
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Submit the Certified Nurse Assistant And/Or Home Health Aide Renewal Application HS-283C form if your CNA certification expiry date is not more than two years old. The form is available from the California Department of Public Health online. Indicate on the form whether 48 hours of continuing education (CE) units was completed and if there has been a period of employment during the recent certification period.
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Fill out the HS-283C form if CE units and employment requirements have not been completed, but indicate that renewal requirements cannot be met. Request reactivation of certification by passing a competency evaluation test. Do this by checking the appropriate box on the form. CA Department of Public Health will mail you information directing you to a site to take the test. Retraining is not required.
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Retrain if the CNA certification expiry date has exceeded two years. Take a certified nurse assistant training course approved by the Aide and Technician Certification Section (ATCS). The training course must provide 150 hours of training. Current skin TB testing, and hepatitis B vaccination must be completed for enrollment in most training programs. Some also require a valid CPR basic life support card, while others provide CPR training as part of the course.
CNA training programs are provided by hospitals, trade schools, the Red Cross and community colleges. Skilled nursing facilities also offer free training if the student agrees to work there for a specified period of time. The CA Department of Public Health maintains a list of all approved certified nursing assistant programs.
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