Washington CNA Requirements for Nursing Students: Skipping Training with the E2 Route

Washington nursing students do not have to complete a separate 108-hour nursing assistant program to become a Nursing Assistant-Certified (NA-C or NAC). Eligibility route E2, "nursing student or graduate," lets a student or graduate of an LPN or RN program go straight to the two-part exam once the nursing program verifies that the student has covered the nursing assistant content. The exam is the same one traditional graduates take: a $100 in-person skills test followed by a $55 Credentia knowledge test. The catch is logistics. Without a training program to administer your skills test, you schedule it yourself through the Washington State Board of Nursing (WABON) online scheduling system, and you prepare for a skills exam that your nursing program was not designed to teach.

Why nursing students want the NA-C

Most Washington nursing programs expect or encourage students to work as nursing assistants during school. The reasons are concrete:

• Income. Nursing assistant wages in Washington average roughly $23.62 per hour by job-posting data (approximate, August 2026), with evening and night differentials commonly adding $1.50 to $4 per hour.
• Hiring preference. Hospitals such as UW Medicine, Swedish, Providence, and MultiCare routinely hire their nursing assistants into new-graduate RN positions.
• Clinical fluency. Students who work as aides arrive at nursing clinicals already comfortable with vital signs, transfers, and documentation.
• Employer tuition support. Many facilities offer education benefits to employed nursing assistants.

The E2 route exists so that this group does not pay for and sit through content they have already learned.

What route E2 requires

Route E2 covers two situations:

1. Current nursing students who have completed the portion of an approved LPN or RN program that covers nursing assistant skills, usually the fundamentals of nursing course with its lab and clinical component.
2. Nursing program graduates who have not yet obtained, or do not intend to obtain, a nursing license.

In both cases, the nursing program, not the student, verifies eligibility. Your program's dean or director completes the verification DOH requires, confirming the coursework and the dates. Ask your program office early; some schools process these requests in batches once per term.

Washington's own approved nursing assistant programs must deliver 35 hours of theory, 33 hours of skills lab, and 40 hours of clinical in a licensed nursing facility. A fundamentals course typically exceeds those hours, which is why the route is accepted without a separate program.

Who should not rely on E2

• Pre-nursing students who have not yet started a nursing program. Prerequisite courses such as anatomy and physiology do not qualify.
• Students in programs outside Washington. That situation usually falls under route E4 (out-of-state nursing program graduate), and WABON decides on the documents.
• Students whose nursing program will not or cannot complete the verification. Without it, route E2 does not exist for you.

For the full list of routes, see Washington CNA eligibility routes E1 through E9.

E2 versus the traditional program

The money favors E2. The certainty favors the program. Students who have failed a self-scheduled skills test once often end up spending more in retest fees and lost wages than a program would have cost.

Self-scheduling the skills test

Because route E2 has no training program attached, Part 1 of the exam is scheduled through WABON's online scheduling system. Practical points:

• Test sites are training programs that agree to test outside candidates. Availability varies by region and by month; schedule as early as your verification allows.
• The $100 skills fee is paid to the test site, not to DOH or Credentia.
• Bring the government photo ID you used on the registration. The name must match exactly.
• Questions about skills testing go to nac.exam@doh.wa.gov.

Only after the test site records your skills pass can you register for the Credentia knowledge test ($55). Registering with Credentia before the pass is recorded wastes the fee. The order is fixed: skills first, knowledge second. See the Washington NAC exam guide for the full sequence.

Why nursing students fail the skills test

Nursing programs teach skills to a nursing standard; the NA-C skills test scores a fixed list of critical steps in a set format. Common losses:

1. Skipping verbal explanation to the resident because the student is focused on technique.
2. Forgetting to check water temperature, lock brakes, or lower the bed before leaving.
3. Performing an extra nursing-level step that the evaluator is not scoring, which eats time.
4. Inaccurate manual blood pressure or respiration count within the allowed tolerance.

Huduma CNA Programs, an approved program and skills test site in Federal Way, sees the same pattern in E2 candidates that it sees in experienced caregivers: knowledge is not the problem, format is. A mock skills session before the real test is the cheapest insurance available; read mock skills testing for the Washington CNA exam.

Working before certification: the NAR option

Nursing students often want to work before the exam is done. Washington's Nursing Assistant-Registered (NAR) credential allows a person to be employed by a facility while working toward certification. If a nursing facility hires you as a NAR, you have four months from hire to complete training (or, for E2, satisfy the route) and pass the exam. Hospitals and other employers set their own timelines. The NAR is issued by DOH on application and background check; it is not automatic with nursing school enrollment. Details are in working as a CNA before certification in Washington.

After the exam: application and renewal

1. Submit the NA-C application to DOH with the nursing program verification, exam results (transmitted by the test site and Credentia), and the application fee per the DOH fee schedule.
2. Complete the name-based background check.
3. Confirm your credential on Provider Credential Search once issued.
4. Renew annually on your birthday. There is no continuing education requirement for a standard NA-C.

When you later obtain your LPN or RN license, the NA-C does not merge into it. Many nurses let the NA-C lapse; some keep it active during the gap between graduation and NCLEX so they can continue working as aides.

Frequently asked questions

Can a first-semester nursing student use route E2? Only after completing the coursework the program certifies as covering nursing assistant content, typically the fundamentals course with its lab and clinical. Ask your program what it will verify and when.

Does route E2 cost anything? The route itself is free. You pay the $100 skills fee, the $55 knowledge test fee, and DOH application and background check fees per the fee schedule.

Who administers my skills test if I have no training program? You schedule it through WABON's online system at a test site that accepts outside candidates, and pay the $100 to that site.

Is the exam different for nursing students? No. Both parts are identical for every route.

I am in an out-of-state nursing program. Is that E2? Usually not. Out-of-state nursing program graduates fall under route E4, and WABON evaluates the documents.

Should I just take the 4-week program instead? If your program cannot verify you yet, or you want on-site testing and mock practice included, yes. The CNA Traditional program at Huduma runs 4 weeks on day or weekend patterns; dates are on the schedules page.

For what the credential lets you do on the floor, read Washington CNA scope of practice.