Seventy-six hours of class and clinicals, two exams, and you are in. This is the page we wish someone had handed us on the way out: what the registry listing means, how to keep it, where the work is in Nebraska, and how to make sure the job pays what it says it pays.
1. Your registry listing
Nebraska does not issue a CNA "license." It lists you on the Nebraska Nurse Aide Registry, run by DHHS, once you have passed the written (or oral) exam and the skills exam. The listing is what employers check, and it is public: anyone can search it by name.
- Timing. Your listing appears automatically after both exam results are recorded. Most people see it within a couple of weeks; if it is not there after 30 days, contact the registry at DHHS.NursingSupport@nebraska.gov with your test dates.
- Check it yourself. Search the registry before your first day. Employers do, and a typo in your name is easier to fix now than during onboarding.
- The abuse and neglect training. Nebraska requires the one-hour abuse, neglect and misappropriation training. If your program folded it into the 76 hours you are done; if not, it is a short online module and employers will ask for the certificate.
2. The 24-month rule
Your listing stays active only if you have worked at least one paid nurse-aide shift in an approved setting within the last 24 months. Approved settings include hospitals, nursing facilities, assisted living, health clinics and home health agencies. Unpaid or family caregiving does not count.
3. Where the jobs are, and what they pay
New CNAs in Nebraska mostly land in one of four places. The statewide median for nursing assistants is about $19.23 an hour (BLS, May 2025), but the settings differ more than the number suggests.
| Setting | What the day looks like | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing facility | 8 to 12 hour shifts, 8 to 15 residents, a team around you | Where most new CNAs start. Highest patient load, most structure, most overtime. |
| Hospital | 12 hour shifts, tech or patient care aide titles | Often pays a bit above the median and offers tuition help toward LPN or RN. Competitive to get into without experience. |
| Assisted living | Shorter shifts, lighter acuity, more medication aide work | Pairs well with the Nebraska medication aide registry (a separate 40-hour course). |
| Home health | One patient at a time, in their home, with a drive between visits | The most independent work and the one where the drive decides your real pay. See below. |
4. The question to ask before you accept any home health job
Home health is the setting many CNAs end up loving, and the one with the biggest gap between the advertised wage and the take-home. The gap is the car. Federal law says the drive between patients is paid work time, but there is no Nebraska law requiring mileage reimbursement, and many agencies pay little or nothing for it. At the 2026 IRS rate of 72.5 cents a mile, a 200-mile week with no reimbursement is $145 out of your pocket.
So ask two questions before you accept: Is drive time between patients paid, and at what rate? and Is mileage reimbursed, and at what rate per mile? Our mileage guide walks through the rules and the math, and the Nebraska pay guide has the numbers by credential.
5. Employee or contractor?
Most CNAs working for an agency are, and should be, W-2 employees. A few platforms and private-hire arrangements use 1099 contractor status. It is not a box you get to tick; the work decides, under federal and Nebraska tests that are changing in 2026. If an offer comes with a 1099, read our plain guide before you sign, because it changes your taxes, your insurance and your mileage deduction.
6. What Rayva is, in one paragraph
Rayva is a Nebraska home health workforce platform, opening county by county in 2026. Verified CNAs, HHAs, LPNs and RNs set a radius and availability once, then receive nearby home health visits with the base rate, mileage and any boost priced on the offer before they accept. It is free for caregivers, there are no minimums, and your first Rayva visit counts toward the 24-month rule like any other paid shift. If you are newly certified, the CNA page explains which visits you would see and the waitlist takes thirty seconds.
7. A short checklist for your first month
Ticks stay on this device, so you can come back to the list.
Training programs and instructors: you are welcome to link to or print this page for graduates. If a rule changes, email hello@getrayva.com and we will update it and note the date.
