Renewing an Expired CNA License in Florida
Have you been a CNA in the past, but have not been active in a while and now want to reactivate your license? In this article, we will discuss how you can renew your CNA license, and what the process and fees for achieving that entails.
The first thing you need to is determine when your CNA license expired. This is very important because after two years the Florida Board of Nursing will not allow you to reactivate your license and you basically have to start as if you never had a license before.
You had a CNA license in Florida and it has been expired for less than two years
Here we must define exactly what we mean by an expired CNA license. The key determinant for validity of your CNA license is whether you have been active working as a CNA during the past two years. Note that the Board of Nursing makes the distinction between volunteer and paid services. In order for your license to not expire, you must have received monetary compensation for your CNA duties.
Provided you have had some CNA work in the past two years, here are the requirements for you to renew your license:
- Complete 24 hours of inservice training within the past two years
- Fill out an application for renewal on the Florida Board of Nursing website
- Click “Renew Online” and follow the online instructions
How do you renew your CNA license online if it has been less than 2 years?
The big benefit to not letting to long of a time pass to renew your license after it expires is that you are able to renew the license completely online without having to go anywhere. Just follow the instructions on the Florida Board of Nursing website after clicking "Renew Online". Note that you still need to have completed the required hours of inservice training, so don't leave this to the last minute. If you wait until you only have a week before your 2 year clock is up, then it is likely that you won't have enough time to complete your inservice training hours in time to reactivate your expired CNA license.
How can you determine if your CNA license is active or when it expired?
The state of Florida makes it easy to determine any person's CNA license status by looking it up online in the MQA registry from the Florida Department of Health. You can check the status of your license here. In the "Profession" field, select "Certified Nursing Assistant". You can leave everything else blank, except for First and Last Name and that should be enough to find your license.
You had a CNA license in Florida and it has been expired for more than two years
Per the Florida Board of Nursing, if more than 24 moths pass since your license was last active, you must retake the state exam as a new applicant.
Chapter 464.203
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(5) Certification as a nursing assistant, in accordance with this part, may be renewed until such time as the nursing assistant allows a period of 24 consecutive months to pass during which period the nursing assistant fails to perform any nursing-related services for monetary compensation. When a nursing assistant fails to perform any nursing-related services for monetary compensation for a period of 24 consecutive months, the nursing assistant must complete a new training and competency evaluation program or a new competency evaluation program.
So, the answer to the question "How long can your CNA license be expired" is no more than 2 years, at least in the state of Florida.
If this is your case and your license lapsed since it has been more than 2 years since your license expired, then we recommend you take a set of online CNA classes such as ours so that you can refresh your knowledge quickly and be ready to retake the state exam as soon as possible to reactivate your license.
You had a CNA license in another state and it expired (regardless of time)
If your CNA license was from another state and was never transferred to Florida, you have two options:
- Attempt to reinstate your license with the state in which your license was active
- Go through the licensing process in Florida as a new applicant
In our opinion, it is usually easier and faster to go through the licensing process in Florida as a new applicant than to try to reactivate your out of state license and then transfer it to Florida.
In summary, reactivating an expired license depends on the amount of time the license has been active. The important thing to remember is that even in the case that your license has been expired for more than two years, you can take an online CNA course like ours and get a new license in a fast and economical way.