Certified nursing assistants, or CNAs, provide basic patient care in long-term care facilities, medical centers, and private homes. Duties may include monitoring of vital signs, oral care, and grooming. All healthcare personnel working in the capacity of a CNA must be licensed with the registry in the state of practice. Nursing assistants transferring a license to another jurisdiction within the United States do so by a process referred to as endorsement.

Complete the Rhode Island Application for Licensing as a Nursing Assistant. Select “licensure by endorsement” on the application. Obtain the application from the Rhode Island Department of Health, Office of Health Professionals Regulation, Nursing Assistant Advisory Board. It is available online for downloading and printing. Get the application notarized and include a passport photo.

Submit documentation proving completion of nursing assistant training and examination and include the $40 processing fee. You must pay the fee with a money order or certified check. Make the check or money order payable to the “General Treasurer, State of Rhode Island.” The agency does not accept personal checks, and the fee is nonrefundable.

Submit current nursing assistant registration from the Massachusetts Department of Health, Division of Health Care Quality on the Interstate Verification form. Fill out all information on the Massachusetts license: full name, Social Security number, license number, date the license was issued, and any names previously used. Leave the bottom section, which will be completed by the Massachusetts Department of Health, blank. Sign the application.

Complete the Rhode Island Employment Verification form. This is documentation evidence proving employment, which must be a minimum of three months as a full-time nursing assistant. Fill out the top portion of the form and submit the bottom to the employer for completion.

Complete the Tax Payer Status Affidavit and Identity Verification form. Anyone applying for a license of any kind in Rhode Island must prove that taxes are not owed to the State of Rhode Island. This form requires a declaration, signature, and Social Security number. The Rhode Island Department of Health will submit the completed form to the Division of Taxation for verification. If taxes are owed, you must pay them in full before a license will be issued.

Obtain a negative criminal background clearance from the Rhode Island Attorney General. According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, a full clearance from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) must be done within four months of submitting the completed application to the health department. You must explain in detail positive indications on the criminal check before issuance of a license.