Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) — listed on the Direct Care Worker Registry · rules checked October 22, 2026
The certification itself does not expire. To stay Active on the DCW Registry you must perform at least 8 hours of qualifying paid nursing employment in a 2-year period, and your employer must report it — you cannot report your own hours. Your standing lapses if you stop working as a CNA for 24 months.
If you have never worked for pay since certifying, use your certification date.
Checked in part: most of Iowa's rules were confirmed on primary sources on October 22, 2026, but a few details could only be confirmed in part. Where a figure is marked "not published," use the registry link on this page to confirm — we would rather show you the gap than fill it with a guess.
| Credential | Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) — listed on the Direct Care Worker Registry |
|---|---|
| Registry | Iowa Direct Care Worker (DCW) Registry (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing — DIAL) · 515-381-7835 |
| Training required | 75 hours |
| Exam | Headmaster / TestMaster Universe (TMU) for registration and records; knowledge exam also available remotely via Credentia; skills exam through community colleges / approved private testers — $165 (written $50 · skills $115) |
| How renewal works | Stays active through paid work inside the window — no calendar expiry while you keep working. Renewal fee: $0. |
| Keep-active work rule | The certification itself does not expire. To stay Active on the DCW Registry you must perform at least 8 hours of qualifying paid nursing employment in a 2-year period, and your employer must report it — you cannot report your own hours. Your standing lapses if you stop working as a CNA for 24 months. |
| Continuing education | If you work in a certified long-term care facility, the facility must provide and you must complete 12 hours of in-service training per year. This is a condition of facility employment, separate from the 8-hour registry work rule. |
| Who reports your work | Your employer does — if they fail to, you can show as inactive while working |
Changing soon: Testing model changed in January 2026 (Headmaster/TMU centralised registration; Credentia added for remote knowledge testing) — exam fees vary by testing route, re-check TMU pricing before publishing a total.
First: if you DID work the qualifying hours but your employer never reported them, contact the DCW Registry (515-381-7835) — a supervisor statement can restore you without testing. Otherwise: If you have not worked as a CNA for 2 years or more, DIAL requires you to retake and pass BOTH competency tests (written and skills) to get your status updated and be eligible to work in a long-term care facility again. No new 75-hour course is described by DIAL for this route.
If you have not worked as a CNA for 2 years or more, DIAL requires you to retake and pass BOTH competency tests (written and skills) to get your status updated and be eligible to work in a long-term care facility again. No new 75-hour course is described by DIAL for this route.
Trap: renewal is something your employer does, not you — a CNA who worked the hours can still lapse purely because the facility never filed the report, and the aide cannot self-report. Exam pricing is split by route (knowledge exam $50 proctored at a community college or via Headmaster remote, $70 via Credentia remote; skills exam $115 at a community college, $135 with a private tester), so there is no single total exam fee. Since January 2026, exam registration, payment and records are centralised through Headmaster/TMU even though community colleges still host testing.
Application fee: $0. Must be currently on a direct care worker / CNA registry in another state, active and in good standing with no findings. Apply to the Iowa DCW Registry with a copy of your current registry certification card (if available) and a legible copy of your Social Security card, plus employment history for the last 3 years, which the Registry verifies by contacting the employers. Work-history requirement: Registry verifies your last 3 years of CNA employment with the employers as part of the transfer.. No endorsement fee and no retesting described for transfer applicants.
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 Iowa | Fee | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Alaska | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Arizona | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Arkansas | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| California | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Colorado | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Connecticut | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Delaware | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| District of Columbia | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Florida | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Georgia | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Hawaii | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Idaho | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Illinois | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Indiana | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Iowa | Same state — no transfer needed | ||
| Kansas | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Kentucky | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Louisiana | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Maine | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Maryland | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Massachusetts | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Michigan | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Minnesota | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Mississippi | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Missouri | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Montana | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Nebraska | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Nevada | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| New Hampshire | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| New Jersey | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| New Mexico | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| New York | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| North Carolina | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| North Dakota | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Ohio | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Oklahoma | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Oregon | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Pennsylvania | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Rhode Island | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| South Carolina | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| South Dakota | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Tennessee | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Texas | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Utah | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Vermont | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Virginia | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Washington | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| West Virginia | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Wisconsin | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
| Wyoming | Accepted — with conditions | $0 | Iowa accepts active certifications with a work-history requirement. |
The kit carries Iowa's full recovery path — the forms, the order to file them, the phone scripts — plus transfer checklists for every destination. See the kit →
