Program Requirements

To become registered as a certified nurse aide (CNA), an individual must complete a Board-Approved Nurse Aide Training Program (NATP).  

Board Approval of NATP Required  

• A person or institution desiring to offer a Nurse Aide Training Program (NATP) must apply and be approved by the Board prior to enrolling students. Initial NATP Application 
• Requirements to be aware of:
  • A NATP applicant that is not affiliated with a Nursing Facility, or a comparable nursing practice setting, must have on file an agreement with a clinical facility. The agreement must describe how the NATP will provide supervised practical training in the facility, and how the students will be directly supervised by a licensed nurse when performing client/resident care.
  • An applicant that provides training in multiple affiliated locations must submit one application for all locations.
  • A program must have an RN Program Director approved by the Board. 
    • Program Director Qualifications: actively licensed RN and a minimum of one year of licensed clinical RN experience.  
    • Review the required Program Director Duties which include approving instructors and screening students, prior to enrolling in NATP, for findings of abuse & misappropriation of property 

Following screening by the Program Director, an approved NATP may enroll the student to begin the NATP (pre-approval form is not required)

Use of Board-Approved Teaching Resources Required

• All NATPs must use one or more of the following Board-approved teaching resource(s):
  • Hartman’s Nurse Assistant Care: Long-Term Care (2022); 5th Ed.: Text & Workbook. (Curriculum Guide provided; pages 3-5)
  • Avera Education Staffing Solutions (AESS) Online, (transitioning to Hartman’s Text & Workbook) 
  • WeCare Online (uses Hartman’s Text, Workbook)
  • American Health Care Association’s (AHCA) How to be a Nurse Assistant (2022); 8th Ed., Online & Text.  (Curriculum Guide will be available on website)

NATP Curriculum, Skills Lab, & Supervised Practical Training

• Follow the Curriculum Guide to ensure all required theory content is taught. Content must be taught by a Primary Instructor or Supplemental Instructor.
  • All instructors are approved by the Program Director (the Board approves the Program Director) 
  • Instructor Qualifications
  • Maintain a record of who is teaching the course and qualifications
• The Curriculum Guides also include the skills that must be taught and evaluated during the training program. 
  • All students must complete supervised practical training in a skills lab and skilled facility (or a comparable nursing practice setting).
  • The skills lab instructor(s) must provide time for students to practice and to demonstrate the ability to safely perform the skills that are commonly performed. Recommended checklists are listed on the Curriculum Guide and are located in Hartman's Workbook.
  • Commonly performed skills: Handwashing, PPE Use, obstructed airway, moving up in bed, log rolling, positioning on side, use of a transfer belt, transferring from bed to a wheelchair, assisting with ambulation with cane and crutches, obtaining a blood pressure, obtaining a pulse and respiration, obtaining a weight, completing a bed bath, oral care, oral care for an unconscious resident, denture care, foot care, dressing and assisting resident with weak side, applying elastic stockings, output measurement and documentation, use of bedpan, emptying a urinary drainage bag, urinary (Foley) catheter care, measuring and documenting input, feeding a resident, and hydration.

CNA Registry: Skills Competency Demonstration & Evaluation

To meet the CNA Skills Evaluation requirement for registration as a CNA, the Board developed a pool of 22 skills from the list of commonly performed skills. A student is randomly assigned 4 of the skills that an RN Skills Evaluator must use to evaluate the student. The RN Skills Evaluator(s) is approved by the Program Director. 

• RN Skills Evaluator Qualifications: actively licensed RN with a minimum of one year of licensed nursing experience caring for older adults or the chronically ill of any age. The DON in the nursing facility is not eligible.
• The RN Skills Evaluator(s) must use the Board's Skills Evaluation Checklist Forms. The checklist forms are similar to the skills checklists found in Hartman’s Nurse Assistant Care: Long-Term Care, 5th ed. Workbook. 
• The Board randomly assigns the 4 skills based on the month and day of a CNA Applicant's birth.
  • The Program Director must request access from the Board to print the forms, see Skills Evaluation the Program Director provides the forms to the RN Skills Evaluator(s). 
  • The RN Skills Evaluator uses the forms to evaluate the student during the NATP skills lab or may evaluate at the end of the 75-hour NATP. 
• After the 4 forms are completed, the Program Director must email all 4 of the forms along with the student's NATP Completion Verification Form to the BON at SDUAP@state.sd.us.
  • If the Program Director delegates the task of emailing the forms to another individual (such as a Primary Instructor) the Program Director must also be included / cc'd on the email.

CNA Knowledge Exam & BON Application for Registration 

• See Initial Registration Requirements A nurse aide student must apply to the Board to be registered as a CNA; following completion of the 75-hour training, the student must register to take the CNA Knowledge exam.
• Students and employers may verify a student's progress online: Verify Registration

 Associated Law & Rules