Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) are valuable healthcare team members who perform direct patient care duties in many settings. To verify CNA certification, Florida healthcare facilities must perform certain steps designed to safeguard patients and ensure the delivery of quality services. These steps include primary source verification and specific database queries.
A failure to properly verify CNA credentials could create unsafe situations for patients and open the facility to legal action and non-compliance consequences. Verification requires navigating strict compliance standards. While some Florida facilities streamline their CNA hiring process by working with a pre-verified applicant pool, others sort through applicants who may or may not truly hold the credentials necessary — making this step a critical safety measure.
We'll take you through the steps of verifying CNA licensure and give you resources to use for the process. We'll also discuss Florida's CNA certification requirements and cover the key databases to search before considering your candidate properly vetted.
Requirements for CNA Certification in Florida
To obtain a CNA license from the Florida Board of Nursing, individuals must either pass an exam (and meet other criteria) or transfer credentials from another state. Here's a closer look at each path to licensure.
- CNA licensure by examination: On this path, an individual must pass a competency exam issued by a company called Prometric. In addition, they must be at least 18 years old, hold a high school diploma (or the equivalent), or complete a board-approved CNA training program.
- CNA licensure by endorsement: Individuals who hold nursing assistant credentials in another state may obtain licensure in Florida without taking the competency exam, if they meet certain criteria, such as employment as a CNA for at least 2 years out of the previous 4.
On both of these paths to licensure, the Florida Board of Nursing also requires that an electronic fingerprint is collected and a background check is conducted (and reveals satisfactory results).
How to Verify CNA Certification in Florida
When it's time to verify that a CNA applicant has the correct credentials, you'll need to perform three essential steps.
1. Primary Source Verification of CNA License
It's not adequate to collect a photocopied (or scanned) license from your applicant or merely obtain their CNA license number. Instead, you'll need to perform a primary source verification, which means you'll go to the source that issued the license: the Florida Board of Nursing, working under the umbrella of the Florida Department of Health.
The Florida Department of Health oversees a Medical Quality Assurance (MQA) Search Services database which allows hiring teams to quickly perform a FL CNA license lookup. The search is performed through the License Verification feature. You'll be able to search by the candidate's name, city, county, zip code, or license number. It's recommended that you put in as much information as you can, to narrow your search and save time.
A clear active status indicates that the Florida CNA certification requirements have been met and maintained. Check that the candidate has:
- An active license.
- A license expiration date that isn't impending.
2. Review Any Disciplinary Actions Taken Against The CNA License
When you perform your license verification on the MQA, the results will show whether the Florida Board of Nursing has taken action against the license. This is displayed in a field marked yes or no. The candidate's license status also provides information. For example, if the status shows conditional active, there may be a disciplinary action in the CNA's history that led to limitations on their license.
If the results of your license verification search indicate actions have been taken, you'll need to review the actions to learn more. Use the MQA's Discipline and Admin Actions feature to conduct this search. When reviewing disciplinary documents, examine:
- The severity of the incident.
- How much time has passed since it occurred.
- Whether a patient was involved or put at risk.
- Whether the Florida Board of Nursing deemed the incident resolved.
It’s always a good idea to consult with your legal department or other legal counsel to guide you through this process, especially if you are inclined to move forward with a candidate that has had any actions taken on their license.
3. Verify That the CNA Is Not on Program Exclusion Lists
Healthcare facilities are responsible for verifying that the CNAs they hire aren't prohibited from participating in care that is linked to federal or state assistance. This step can be completed by checking the following sources:
- The federal Office of Inspector General (OIG) exclusion list identifies individuals who are excluded from participating in care covered by federally funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare. This list may also be referred to as the List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE).
- The federal System for Award Management (SAM) exclusion list identifies individuals who are excluded from receiving funding related to federal contracts and some types of federal assistance. It was formerly known as the Government Services Administration (GSA) List.
- The state-specific AHCA Medicaid Sanction List identifies individuals who are disqualified from participating in care covered by Florida's Medicaid program.
Reach the Best-Matched CNAs for Your Healthcare Team Today
Given the steps involved in investigating CNA certification, Florida healthcare employers like you may be looking for ways to simplify the process. Post your open positions to our healthcare job board to easily and quickly reach highly-matched CNAs for your care team.