Plenty of people out there have had the chance to work as a CNA and loved every single second of it. Of course, there are some of those people that had to stop working as a CNA for personal or family reasons, and end up having their license expire without them realizing it.
Once their reasons for having to stop working as a CNA are figured out, and they are ready to dive back into their chosen career, they find that they have to renew their license before being able to go back to work. It may seem like a pain at first, but it’s not as bad as some people may think to get their license renewed.
The first thing you are going to want to do is figure out what your status is in regards to getting your license renewed. Most states require that you have worked as a registered CNA within the last 24 months to be able to take the state exams and renew your license. You will need to check with your individual state to see what the time limit is for this option as each state is different in that regard.
You will need to fill out your states renewal forms as well and mail them in. Your current or past employer will need to fill some of those forms out, too, in order for the state to determine if they can renew your license without having you take an exam. This may take a few weeks for the paperwork to be processed so you will need to be patient. If it has been longer than 24 months, or the state rejects your paperwork for renewal, then you are going to have to take the state exams again in order to recertify.
There are a few states that will require you to retake the CNA training course after a certain period of time has passed since your license expired. You will need to check with your states Nursing Administration office to determine if you will need to retake any training courses. You may not want to take the courses again, but this shouldn’t deter you from continuing your career as CNA and, in fact, it should make you work harder.