Certified Nurse Aide · rules checked October 22, 2026
Work at least 7 hours for pay performing nursing or nursing-related services under the supervision of a licensed nurse in a licensed healthcare facility or agency within the 24 months before your certificate expires. PSI mails the renewal form 45-60 days before expiration; your employer verifies the work on the form. Renewal also requires a new criminal background check with fingerprinting every two years.
If you have never worked for pay since certifying, use your certification date.
| Credential | Certified Nurse Aide |
|---|---|
| Registry | New Jersey Nurse Aide Registry (New Jersey Department of Health) · 877-774-4243 |
| Training required | 90 hours |
| Exam | PSI (written/oral exam and registry) with D&SDT-Headmaster (skills evaluation, registered in TMU) — Not published — confirm with the registry (written Not published — confirm with the registry · skills $27) |
| How renewal works | Stays active through paid work inside the window — no calendar expiry while you keep working. Renewal fee: $36. |
| Keep-active work rule | Work at least 7 hours for pay performing nursing or nursing-related services under the supervision of a licensed nurse in a licensed healthcare facility or agency within the 24 months before your certificate expires. PSI mails the renewal form 45-60 days before expiration; your employer verifies the work on the form. Renewal also requires a new criminal background check with fingerprinting every two years. |
| Continuing education | No state-mandated CEUs for registry renewal. Federal rules require facilities to provide 12 hours of in-service per year, which is an employer obligation. Note the exception for endorsement: one endorsement route is built entirely on 24 hours of CE (see endorsement conditions). |
| Who reports your work | You do — nobody files it for you |
Changing soon: New Jersey split its testing in the current PSI bulletin (June 2026): PSI runs the written/oral exam and the registry, while D&SDT-Headmaster runs the skills evaluation ($27, paid directly to D&S — PSI vouchers are not accepted for skills). The bulletin prints no first-attempt written fee (retakes are listed at $57 written / $68 oral), so this site publishes no combined exam total for New Jersey rather than adding up retake prices.
If your certification expired less than five years ago, pass both the skills evaluation and the written/oral knowledge test again to return to active status; no retraining required.
If your certification has been expired for more than five years, complete a new NJDOH-approved NATCEP training program (90 hours) before testing again.
Criminal background check and live-scan fingerprinting repeat every renewal cycle, not just at first certification, and the background-check reminder comes about four months before expiration. Recertification and reciprocity both cost $36 under the current PSI candidate bulletin (June 2026); older guides calling them free or $30 are stale.
Application fee: $36 · typical processing: Several weeks to a couple of months per secondary guides. Statutory trap (N.J.S.A. 26:2H-87.1): an out-of-state nurse aide with current, valid certification, no disqualifying convictions and no documented findings of abuse, neglect or misappropriation, who passes the NJ criminal history background check, qualifies by ONE of two routes: (1) CE route - completed the regulation-required continuing education (24 hours) within the preceding 24 months, with no exam; or (2) work route - the equivalent of at least two years of full-time employment as a nurse aide in the other state, with the most recent employment within the 24 months before applying. Route (2) applicants MUST pass New Jersey's clinical skills competency examination AND the written/oral competency examination. Work-history requirement: Either 24 hours of continuing education in the preceding 24 months, or two years of full-time nurse aide employment with the most recent work within the preceding 24 months (exam route). Secondary guides break the CE route down as 24 approved hours including dementia/Alzheimer's care and infection control, emergency procedures, abuse/neglect, resident rights and related topics. Do not assume reciprocity is exam-free: it depends which route you qualify under.
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 New Jersey | Fee | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Alaska | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Arizona | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Arkansas | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| California | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Colorado | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Connecticut | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Delaware | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| District of Columbia | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Florida | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Georgia | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Hawaii | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Idaho | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Illinois | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Indiana | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Iowa | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Kansas | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Kentucky | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Louisiana | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Maine | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Maryland | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Massachusetts | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Michigan | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Minnesota | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Mississippi | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Missouri | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Montana | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Nebraska | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Nevada | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| New Hampshire | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| New Jersey | Same state — no transfer needed | ||
| New Mexico | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| New York | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| North Carolina | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| North Dakota | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Ohio | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Oklahoma | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Oregon | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Pennsylvania | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Rhode Island | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| South Carolina | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| South Dakota | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Tennessee | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Texas | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Utah | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Vermont | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Virginia | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Washington | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| West Virginia | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Wisconsin | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
| Wyoming | Accepted — with conditions | $36 | New Jersey accepts active certifications with a $36 application fee, a work-history requirement, a possible exam, decided on your file. |
The kit carries New Jersey's full recovery path — the forms, the order to file them, the phone scripts — plus transfer checklists for every destination. See the kit →
