Employment Requirements

ADDITIONAL IDPH REQUIREMENTS FOR CNA EMPLOYMENT

To work for a health care employer that is governed by the Health Care Worker Background Check Act, other than a licensed or certified long-term care facility, the CNA must meet the following requirements:

1. Have a criminal history records check as prescribed by the Health Care Worker Background Check Act with no disqualifying convictions.
2. If an individual has disqualifying convictions, he or she may not work as a CNA (or in any other position giving direct care) unless the CNA has requested and received a waiver of those disqualifying convictions.
3. Waivers are not guaranteed and may take up to 6 to 8 weeks to process. For a complete list of disqualifying convictions please follow this link http://dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/health-care-regulation/health-care-worker-registry/disqualifying-convictions

To work as an Illinois CNA in a licensed long-term care facility, an individual must meet the following requirements:

1. Have a criminal history records check as prescribed by the Health Care Worker Background Check Act with no disqualifying convictions.
2. If an individual has disqualifying convictions, he or she may not work as a CNA (or in any other position that has access to the residents, the residents’ living quarters, or the residents’ financial, medical or personal records) unless the individual has requested and received a waiver of those disqualifying convictions.
3. Have no administrative findings of abuse, neglect or misappropriated property in Illinois or any other state.
4. Must be at least 16 years of age, of temperate habits and good moral character, honest, reliable and trustworthy.
5. Must be able to speak and understand English or a language understood by a substantial percentage of a facility’s residents.
6. Must provide evidence of prior employment or occupation, if any, and residence for two years prior to present employment as a nursing assistant.
7. Must have completed at least eight years of grade school or provide proof of equivalent knowledge.
8. Must not work as an Illinois CNA until the registry shows that the individual has met the training requirements.
   1. Must work as a nurse aide in training and be in an approved CNA program within 45 days of being hired, if not a CNA at the time of hiring.
   2. Must be on the registry as a CNA within 120 days of being hired. If an individual is attending an approved CNA program offered by a college, a vocational technical school or high school, he or she must be within 120 days of completing the program and competency test. Written proof of attendance is required.

To work as an Illinois CNA in a federally certified long-term care facility, an individual must meet the state requirements as well as the following federal requirements:

1. 1. Prior to any direct contact with a resident, employee must complete a specified 16 hours (42CFR Section 483.152[6]) of classroom training in a state-approved CNA training program.
2. Nursing assistant students should not perform any duties for which they have not been trained and found to be proficient by an instructor.
3. Students providing services to residents must do so under the general supervision of a licensed practical nurse or a registered nurse.
4. As of October 1, 1990, a facility must not use any individual as a nurse aide in the facility on a full-time basis for more than four months unless the individual has completed a state-approved nurse aide training program and the competency evaluation (NATCEP) or competency evaluation (CEP) and is competent to provide nursing or nursing-related services.
5. A facility must have provided, for individuals used as nurse aides by the facility as of January 1, 1990, a CEP and such preparation as may be necessary for them to have completed the CEP by October 1, 1990.
6. A facility must require an individual to complete a new NATCEP or a new CEP when an individual has not performed nursing or nursing-related services for monetary compensation for a continuous period of 24 consecutive months since the most recent completion of a NATCEP.
7. As of January 1, 1991, a facility must not use an individual on a temporary, per diem, leased, or any basis other than permanent employee as a nurse aide unless the individual has completed NATCEP or CEP and is competent to provide nursing or nursing-related services.

Important Points to Remember About Checking CNA Status

1. Since June 1992, CNA training programs have not been required to issue certificates and the state does not issue credentials, certificates or licenses to CNAs. Any certificate received may be issued by the training program or the testing center as a recognition of work accomplished. However, being an Illinois Certified Nurse Assistant/Aide is a condition that the CNA must keep through their work efforts not through an issued document. A CNA will lose their active status if he or she does not receive monetary compensation providing nursing or nursing-related services for a continuous period of 24 consecutive months beginning at his or her last competency evaluation (to recertify see step 6 of “An Illinois CNA must meet one of the following requirements,” above). If the CNA continuously works providing nursing-related services for money, the individual continues to retain the CNA certification no matter how many years the individual works.
2. Beginning in January 1996, the written competency test became a requirement to be a CNA. Between January 1, 1990, and January 1996, a CNA was required to take the written competency test only if the CNA worked in a long-term care facility.
3. Before allowing an individual to serve as a nurse assistant/aide, a health care employer must receive verification that the individual has met competency evaluation requirements; has no disqualifying convictions that have not been granted a waiver; and has no administrative findings of abuse, neglect or misappropriation of property. The information on the registry is the only means a health care employer may use to obtain this verification. The health care employer may do one of the following:
   1. Access the registry’s Web site at hcwrpub.dph.illinois.gov
   2. Submit a written request to:
      Illinois Department of Public Health
      Health Care Worker Registry
      525 W. Jefferson St., Fourth Floor
      Springfield , IL 62761
   3. E-mail the registry at DPH.HCWR@Illinois.gov
   4. Call the Health Care Worker Registry at 1-844-789-3676, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday – Friday.
4. Health care employers are required to obtain access to the Department’s Web portal and the Health Care Worker Registry’s Web application. The health care employer shall indicate employment dates and termination dates of the CNAs hired and separated from employment, respectively. If the CNA continues to work at that facility, the health care employer must provide verification no less than annually. The health care employer enters these dates directly into the registry’s Web application. This employment information is what keeps the CNA active on the registry.