Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) training & certification requirements vary considerably across the U.S. In some states, the requirements go beyond the federal minimum while in other states requirements are nearly identical to the federal standards.

This page displays Maine CNA Requirements as of February 2023.

To see requirements in other states, visit nursinghome411.org/cna-reqs.

Maine CNA Requirements

  • Eligibility/Screening Requirements
    • Background check.
    • Completion of the ninth grade of school (high school graduation or high school equivalency diploma preferred.
    • Minimum age of 16 years.
    • Nineth-grade English reading and writing competency level on the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE), Competency Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS), or other competency assessment mechanisms as approved by the Board.
  • Education & Training Requirement
    • Individuals must complete a state approved nurse aide training and competency evaluation program.
  • Testing Requirement
    • Individuals must pass both a written and skills test.
  • Renewal & In-Service Requirements
    • In-service requirements are the same as federal.
    • Renewal requires 8 hours of nursing or nursing-related duties every 24 months.
  • Hours
    • 180 hours.
    • Including at least 70 hours of classroom instruction, 20 hours of skills laboratory and 40 hours of correlated, supervised clinical practice.
  • Curriculum
    • UNIT I BECOMING A NURSING ASSISTANT
      • Describe the roles of the healthcare team as they relate to the certified nursing assistant.
      • Describe the certified nursing assistant’s function on the health care team.
      • Describe the different kinds of healthcare and human service programs available to the patient.
      • Describe your responsibilities and conduct as an employee.
      • Describe your rights as an employee.
    • UNIT II LEGAL, REGULATORY AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF CARE
      • Describe regulatory aspects of healthcare important to the certified nursing assistant.
      • Explain basic patient rights and confidentiality.
      • Describe the legal status of patients.
      • Recognize the signs and symptoms of abuse.
      • Explain the responsibilities of a mandated reporter.
      • Discuss the definition of ethics and ethical behavior.
      • Boundaries Content
      • Social Media Content
    • UNIT III COMMUNICATION, OBSERVATION, REPORTING AND DOCUMENTATION
      • Describe the requirements concerning observation, reporting and documentation.
      • Identify the situations that require an incident report to be written.
      • Explain the function of documentation and why documentation is an important and necessary part of the job.
    • UNIT IV INFECTION CONTROL
      • Describe the chain of infection and how to break it.
    • UNIT V PATIENT CARE AND COMFORT
      • Discuss and demonstrate the activities of daily living (ADLs) and grooming.
      • Describe patient care of the dying and care after death.
    • UNIT VI BODY SYSTEMS, DISORDERS, AND COMMON PATIENT CARE PROCEDURES
      • INTRODUCTION TO ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
      • CARE OF THE PATIENT’S SKIN
      • CARE OF THE PATIENT’S SKELETAL SYSTEM
      • CARE OF THE PATIENT’S MUSCULAR SYSTEM
      • CARE OF THE PATIENT’S GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM
      • NUTRITIONAL AND FLUID BALANCE NEEDS OF PATIENT
      • CARE OF THE PATIENTS RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
      • CARE OF THE PATIENT’S CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
      • VITAL SIGNS
      • CARE OF THE PATIENT’S ENDOCRINE SYSTEM.
      • CARE OF THE PATIENT’S URINARY SYSTEM
      • CARE OF THE PATIENT’S NERVOUS AND SENSORY SYSTEM
      • CARE OF THE PATIENT’S REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM
    • UNIT VIII MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICE NEEDS
      • Discuss how to modify behavior in response to resident’s behavior
      • Discuss developmental tasks associated with the aging process.
      • Discuss how to respond to resident behavior.
      • Discuss how resident’s family can be used for emotional support.
      • Discuss ways to reduce the effects of cognitive impairment in the resident.
      • Discuss how to communicate with cognitively impaired residents.
      • Discuss behavior as it relates to cognitively impaired residents.
      • Discuss why it is important for the resident to make personal choices.
      • Discuss techniques for addressing unique needs and behaviors of residents with dementia (Alzheimer’s and others).