Eligibility Criteria

Outlines eligibility criteria necessary for Mississippi nursing assistant certification

This section explains:

What you need to do to become a nurse aide in Mississippi
What you need to do before you can take the NNAAP test

Eligibility For Employment as a Nurse Aide

You are eligible to apply to take the NNAAP Examination for certification as a nurse aide in Mississippi if you qualify under one of the following eligibility routes:

E-1 – Nurse Aide Candidate Trained in Ms Non-facility-based And Proprietary Schools and Colleges:

An individual who has completed a Mississippi state approved nurse aide training program. A completed examination application, fees, and a copy of the training program certificate of completion, or an original letter from the training program stating that training has been completed, must be submitted to Credentia.

E-2 – Graduate Nurse:

An individual who has completed a Mississippi approved RN or LPN program within the past twenty-four months. Graduate must submit examination application, fees, and a copy of an LPN, RN licensure or Nursing degree from accredited college or university to be eligible to take the NNAAP Examination.

E-3 – Out-of-state Or Foreign LPN Or RN:

An individual who has completed an LPN or RN program outside the state of Mississippi. You must obtain an application that is signed by the Mississippi State Department of Health, Bureau of Health Facilities Licensure and Certification. The signed application and fees must be submitted to Credentia.

E-5 – Lapsed Nurse Aide:

An individual whose certification is lapsed on the Mississippi or any other United States Nurse Aide Registry and who must re-test in order to become active on the Registry. If you fail either part of the NNAAP Examination on the first try, you will be required to complete a Mississippi-approved nurse aide training program before being allowed to re-test as a new nurse aide.

E-6 – Petition For Removal of Finding of Neglect:

An individual whose nurse aide certification has been revoked due to one finding of neglect and whose certification has been revoked for a minimum of one year (12 months). Individual must have no additional findings of neglect during that time and must submit a completed petition to become active on the MS Nurse Aide Registry. This includes challenging the NNAAP Examination. If the individual fails either part of the examination, the Petition for Removal of Neglect will not be reviewed, and consideration of the removal of the finding of Neglect from the MS NAR will be denied. The individual will be permitted a second opportunity to challenge the exam as a part of the petition to have this finding removed after the finding has remained on the MS NAR one year (12 months) from the date of unsuccessful exam results. If the individual fails to successfully complete the examination the second time, there will be no additional opportunities to challenge the examination. No appeal will be permitted.

E-7 – Nurse Aide Candidate Trained in Ms – Facility-based (Nursing Home):

An individual who has successfully completed a Mississippi state-approved facility-based nurse aide training program. If an original letter is sent with the Examination Application as proof of training, this original letter must be written on the training program’s letterhead and must include: (1) the nurse aide candidate’s name; (2) the nurse aide’s date of training program completion; and (3) the signature of the instructor, director, or administrator of the training program. NOTE: You MUST take and pass both parts of the NNAAP Examination and be certified within four (4) months (120 days) from your hire date. Department of Health to determine if the program is approved.

Note: If approved and the candidate is eligible to test, the application must be signed by the instructor and submitted with a training completion certificate.

E-8 – Student Nurse:

Candidate must have successfully completed the fundamentals/basic nursing skills of a state-approved LPN or RN program within the past twenty-four (24) months. Please contact Mississippi State.

Reciprocity Candidate:

Reciprocity is a process by which a certified nurse aide from another state may qualify for certification in the state of Mississippi by virtue of his or her status in that other state. You are eligible for reciprocity if you have been entered on a nurse aide registry in a state other than Mississippi in accordance with the training and competency evaluation requirements of OBRA ’87.