Most states that allow people with nursing credits to obtain CNA certification require that individuals have passed at least one full semester of nursing coursework. This coursework can either be in a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) or Registered Nurse (RN) program. It is typically required that a student complete all of her classes with at least a 76 percent grade average in all of her classes in order to obtain CNA certification.
In most states, a minimum of 40 hours spent working in a clinical setting is required to apply for a CNA license. Clinical hours can be obtained at a long-term care facility or hospital, or a combination of these two settings. Clinical classes are typically pass/fail, and if a nursing student is applying for a CNA license she must have received a passing grade in her clinical class.
Most states require that individuals applying for a CNA license first pass a hands-on practical exam and a written exam. The practical exam usually consists of three to seven nursing tasks, which an applicant must successfully perform without making any major mistakes that could risk patient safety, such as forgetting to lock a wheelchair or wheels on a hospital bed. The length of the written exam varies by state, but in general most state exams contain 70 multiple-choice questions. The number of questions that need to be correctly answered in order to pass the exam varies by state as well.