Guide · Wisconsin renewal walkthrough · checked October 22, 2026

How to renew your CNA license in Wisconsin

Wisconsin runs a work-clock renewal system: Your 24-month federal work eligibility period starts the date you pass the competency test. To renew it you must have worked at least 8 hours in that 24 months, providing hands-on care for pay under RN or LPN supervision, in an approved setting (federally certified nursing home, hospice, home health agency, ICF/IID, state-licensed hospital, developmental disabilities facility, or qualifying rural medical center). You file the renewal yourself in TMU starting about 60 days before the period ends, listing your work; Headmaster emails your employer a link and the employer must verify the work before your eligibility extends another 24 months. No registry renewal fee is charged.

Where it happens

TMU — Headmaster's registry system for the Wisconsin DHS Nurse Aide Registry — registry: Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry (DHS, hosted on Headmaster TMU) · 888-401-0465.

The steps, in order

  1. Work at least 8 hours in your 24-month federal eligibility period — the period starts the date you passed the competency test — providing hands-on care for pay under RN or LPN supervision in an approved setting (federally certified nursing home, hospice, home health agency, ICF/IID, state-licensed hospital, developmental disabilities facility, or a qualifying rural medical center).
  2. Starting about 60 days before the period ends, file your renewal in TMU, listing your qualifying work.
  3. Chase the verification: Headmaster emails your employer a link, and your employer must verify the work before your eligibility extends another 24 months.
  4. Confirm your extended eligibility date in TMU.

The fee

No registry renewal fee and no continuing-education requirement.

The Wisconsin trap

Filing is only half a Wisconsin renewal — an unverified filing extends nothing, and if your employer ignores the email your eligibility ends on schedule anyway. Know the split, too: past 24 months without qualifying work you lose federal eligibility and must retest to restore it — but Wisconsin state eligibility does not lapse, so work in hospitals and non-Medicaid-certified facilities may still be open to you in the meantime. Five years with no employment-history update and your name comes off the registry entirely (DHS 129.09(8)) — after removal, only a full new training program and competency evaluation put it back.

Not sure where you stand?

Renewal instructions assume you're still inside the window. If you're not sure you are, run the status checker with your real dates first — it computes active, at-risk, or lapsed and names your cheapest route back. Your state's full rule table, lapse tiers, and transfer-in verdicts live on the Wisconsin state page. The general mechanics behind every state's renewal are in CNA renewal, explained plainly.

Procedure summarized from the registry and state pages in our dataset, checked October 22, 2026. The registry's own page is the authority — confirm there before a deadline that matters.