If an individual that has previously been deemed competent as a CNA (Illinois approved nurse assistant training program; grandfathered in; foreign LPN/RN; military trained; or nursing student), has a period of 24 consecutive months that the individual has not provided nursing or nursing-related services for pay, the approved certification is lost. Recertification may be accomplished by doing the following:
Step 1
- Pass a manual skills performance test. A list of approved outside evaluators, listed by county, is available here: [Approved Evaluators]. You will need to contact an evaluator to schedule a time for a manual skills performance test. A detailed list of complete instructions for a candidate who must retest to recertify follows.
Approved Evaluators who wish to requalify expired CNAs must obtain credentials from SIUC Illinois Nurse Assistant/Aide Testing Project. To speak to a representative about participating in this process, please call 877-262-9259.
- An Illinois Approved Evaluator must administer the manual skills performance test and the individual must be prepared to demonstrate competency in any of the required skills.
- The individual may contact a community college to see if the college has an approved manual skills evaluator or a recertification program.
- The evaluator will complete a Manual Skills Evaluation Form and submit a completion roster via INACE online registration program (Directions provided upon securing the required credentials).
- Once the evaluator’s roster is submitted, the candidate may register for competency testing via the INACE program.
- Once you have completed the performance skills evaluation with an approved evaluator, the evaluator will electronically submit your required information to the INACE program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Nurse Aide Testing Project. You should receive an email that directs you to the website where you will verify your eligibility, create an account and purchase a seat for testing. There are approximately 50 test sites across the state of Illinois where you may test. Directions for this process are available on this website under the heading EXAM REGISTRATION, subheading STUDENTS.
- Or, if the individual chooses, they may take an Illinois approved CNA training program and take the written competency test. A list of approved CNA training programs is on this web site.
Step 2
- Once an Approved Evaluator has certified the individual competent in the skills and they have purchased a seat for testing, they must pass a written competency test. Currently, the written competency test is a requirement for certification.
- Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) administers the written portion of the competency exam at various sites throughout the state.
- SIUC transmits the test results to the Health Care Worker Registry electronically.
- If the individual fails the competency test three times, he or she must complete an Illinois approved CNA training program before taking the written test again.
- If the individual passes, the results will be posted the following month after taking the competency test at hcwrpub.dph.illinois.gov