How to Become a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) in Kansas

Who can apply

• You must complete a KDADS-approved nurse aide course of at least 90 hours (K.A.R. 26-50-20).
• You must pass the Kansas state test (100 multiple-choice questions, 75% to pass) within three attempts and within 12 months of your course start date.
• Only people who finished an approved 90-hour course, or whose training KDADS deems equivalent, may take the state test.

Step by step

1. Enroll in a KDADS-approved 90-hour course sponsored by an adult care home, a hospital long-term care unit or a Board of Regents postsecondary school.
2. Finish Part I, including the NATCEP task checklist. You can then work as a Nurse Aide Trainee II under direct RN or LPN supervision for one four-month period from your course start date.
3. Finish Part II of the course.
4. Your instructor sends your test application and the $20 nonrefundable application fee to KDADS or its agent.
5. Pass the state test with 75% or higher.
6. You are certified and listed on the Kansas Nurse Aide Registry.

Training and exam

Training: Kansas requires at least a 90-hour KDADS-approved course in two parts. At least 50% of Part I and at least 50% of Part II must be clinical instruction, done in an adult care home, a hospital long-term care unit or a simulated lab. The course follows the 'Kansas certified nurse aide curriculum guidelines (90 hours)'. This is 15 hours above the 75-hour federal minimum, which requires at least 16 supervised practical hours.

Exam: Under K.A.R. 26-50-24, the state test is 100 multiple-choice questions, and a score of 75% or higher passes. Skills are checked during the course on the Part I task checklist. Course graduates get no more than three attempts within 12 months after the course start date; after that they must retake the entire course. People approved through the equivalency route get one attempt. A $20 nonrefundable application fee is due each time you are scheduled. The regulation does not name a test vendor or a separate testing fee; ask your training program whether the testing site charges one.

What it costs in Kansas

Fixed amounts are set by the state. Items marked “your quote” are priced by private sellers, so enter what you’re quoted.

What other sites get wrong about Kansas

Staying on the registry

Renewal: KDADS says CNA certification must be renewed every two years and it is your responsibility to keep it active. To stay active you must work at least 8 hours in a two-year period performing activities of daily living, and your employer must submit your Employment Verification form; hours in a doctor's office or clinic do not count. If your certification goes inactive you cannot work. To reactivate, either have an RN at a long-term care facility, hospital or school lab give you the 18-skill Skills Checklist, or take a 10-hour CNA refresher course at a post-secondary school. You cannot work until your registry status is active again.

Online options: Kansas does not approve correspondence courses. Distance-learning and computer-based versions of the 90-hour course are allowed only if they meet the same rules, including at least 50% clinical instruction in each part (K.A.R. 26-50-20).

Good to know in Kansas

Transferring from another state: If your CNA certification is active and in good standing in another state and you have never been certified in Kansas, KDADS says to send its Interstate Application with a $20 nonrefundable fee; you may then challenge the Kansas state test once. (K.A.R. 26-50-26 also lets KDADS place an aide who worked in another state on the registry without the test if it finds their training or test equivalent.)

Nurses, mental health technicians and nursing students: Licensed RNs, LPNs and licensed mental health technicians (including those whose license became inactive in the last 24 months), and nursing or mental health technician students who finished basic skills courses, may be approved to take the state test without the 90-hour course. They get one attempt and must pass within four months of approval to keep working as a Trainee II.

Trainee II work limit: Nurse Aide Trainee II status is valid for only one four-month period from the course start date.

Sources

• K.A.R. 26-50-20 - Nurse aide; training program (Cornell LII)
• K.A.R. 26-50-24 - Nurse aide; state test (Cornell LII)
• K.A.R. 26-50-26 - Nurse aide; out-of-state and allied health training equivalency (Cornell LII)
• 42 CFR 483.35 - Nursing services (24-month retraining rule) (Cornell LII)
• 42 CFR 483.152 (Cornell LII)
• KDADS Health Occupations Credentialing
• KDADS Health Occupations Credentialing FAQ