Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) · rules checked October 22, 2026
Certification is issued for 2 years and renewed through the Maryland Board of Nursing for a $40 biennial fee. Maryland requires MORE work than the federal floor: you must provide satisfactory evidence of 16 hours of active employment, for compensation, as a nursing assistant within the 2 years before your expiration/renewal date (COMAR 10.39.01). A criminal history records check (CHRC) is required when the Board requires one for renewal, and current secondary guidance also requires attesting to an approved implicit bias / structural racism course (from April 1, 2026).
If you have never worked for pay since certifying, use your certification date.
| Credential | Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) |
|---|---|
| Registry | Maryland Nurse Aide Registry (Maryland Board of Nursing) · 410-585-1900 |
| Training required | 100 hours |
| Exam | Credentia (NNAAP) or D&SDT-Headmaster — MBON approved a second vendor in October 2024; your program assigns one — Not published — confirm with the registry |
| How renewal works | A calendar renewal and a paid-work rule both apply. Renewal fee: $40. |
| Keep-active work rule | Certification is issued for 2 years and renewed through the Maryland Board of Nursing for a $40 biennial fee. Maryland requires MORE work than the federal floor: you must provide satisfactory evidence of 16 hours of active employment, for compensation, as a nursing assistant within the 2 years before your expiration/renewal date (COMAR 10.39.01). A criminal history records check (CHRC) is required when the Board requires one for renewal, and current secondary guidance also requires attesting to an approved implicit bias / structural racism course (from April 1, 2026). |
| Continuing education | No general CE hours are required, but renewal now carries an attestation to an approved Implicit Bias Training and Structural Racism course (the Board's own renewal application carries the attestation questions; the structural-racism attestation applies at first renewal after April 1, 2026). |
| Who reports your work | You do — nobody files it for you |
Changing soon: Maryland redesignated its tiers on April 1, 2026 (GNA became CNA-I, CNA became CNA-II) and added an implicit-bias attestation — older pages using GNA/CNA language, and the older $105 exam schedule, are stale.
If you cannot show the 16 hours: under COMAR, a CNA-I (the tier formerly called GNA) must take and pass a nursing assistant competency evaluation to renew, while a CNA-II must complete a Board-approved nursing assistant training program. If the certificate has gone unrenewed for a year or more, a new criminal history records check is also required before reinstatement.
Reinstatement after a lapse of more than 1 year: request the reinstatement application from the Board, submit new fingerprints/CHRC and pay the $40 fee; aides who do not meet the work requirement face retesting (CNA-I) or retraining (CNA-II) as above.
Maryland is a two-tier trap: the basic CNA alone does not qualify you to work in a licensed nursing home — that requires the exam-passed tier (formerly GNA, redesignated CNA-I from April 1, 2026; the non-exam tier became CNA-II). The work rule is 16 hours, double the usual 8. The Board's own fee schedule separately charges $20 for initial CNA certification and $20 for CNA endorsement, on top of the Credentia exam fee. Older fee schedules showing a $105 combined exam ($35/$70) are superseded by the $130 schedule ($45 written/oral + $85 skills) in the current candidate handbook material.
Application fee: $20. Submit the Board of Nursing endorsement application with proof of active, in-good-standing out-of-state certification and supporting documents, plus the $20 CNA endorsement fee from the Board's official fee schedule. Your out-of-state certification must be active and in good standing — if it is not, you must complete a Maryland-approved CNA program instead. Work-history requirement: Must hold active certification in good standing in the home state.. Endorsed aides who want to work in Maryland nursing homes must also meet the requirements of the exam-passed tier (formerly GNA / now CNA-I), which can mean passing the Maryland NNAAP exam — endorsement alone may not be enough for nursing-home work.
The table below is computed for an active aide in good standing, trained to the origin state's standard hours. Your own hours or status can change your row — run the transfer checker with your real facts.
| Certified in | Verdict for Maryland | Fee | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Alaska | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Arizona | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Arkansas | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| California | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Colorado | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Connecticut | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Delaware | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| District of Columbia | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Florida | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Georgia | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Hawaii | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Idaho | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Illinois | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Indiana | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Iowa | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Kansas | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Kentucky | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Louisiana | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Maine | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Maryland | Same state — no transfer needed | ||
| Massachusetts | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Michigan | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Minnesota | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Mississippi | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Missouri | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Montana | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Nebraska | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Nevada | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| New Hampshire | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| New Jersey | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| New Mexico | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| New York | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| North Carolina | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| North Dakota | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Ohio | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Oklahoma | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Oregon | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Pennsylvania | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Rhode Island | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| South Carolina | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| South Dakota | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Tennessee | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Texas | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Utah | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Vermont | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Virginia | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Washington | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| West Virginia | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Wisconsin | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Wyoming | Accepted — with conditions | $20 | Maryland accepts active certifications with a $20 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
The kit carries Maryland's full recovery path — the forms, the order to file them, the phone scripts — plus transfer checklists for every destination. See the kit →
