For more information on how to become a nurse aide in Pennsylvania and to receive a booklet titled Pennsylvania Nurse Aide Candidate Handbook, phone Credentia at 888-204-6249. This easy-to-read booklet will give you general information about how to become a nurse aide and sample test questions that will be asked during the testing process. Further resources on nurse aide contact information are available for your convenience.
A nurse aide who is not enrolled or in good standing on the registry may not be employed in a nursing care facility that receives Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement. Facilities must verify that aides they employ or are considering for employment are eligible for enrollment (or re-enrollment) as nurse aides and have no record of resident abuse, neglect or misappropriation of residents’ personal property.
Verification has been made easier by the use of the Nurse Aide Registry Online which allows facilities to use the Internet to check the status of any nurse aide on the registry.
Information regarding obtaining the complete list of nurse aides on the registry (active, inactive, and annotated) is available through Credentia. To obtain the complete Nurse Aide registry which includes all active, inactive and annotated Nurse Aides' names and addresses, please do one of the following:
Send an email requesting registry to paregistryrequest@credentia.com.
Send a written request to:
Credentia Registry Team
1025 Greenwood Blvd.
Suite 401
Lake Mary, FL 32746
Each month the division receives over 300 allegations of abuse, neglect and misappropriation of resident property by nursing aides working in nursing facilities. All allegations are investigated and, if warranted, further action against the nurse aide's registration is recommended.
Abuse Reporting and Investigation
Department of Health regulations require nursing facilities to report all allegations of abuse, neglect or misappropriation of resident property. Allegations are immediately reported to one of the eight field offices of the Division of Nursing Care Facilities. This is followed, within 5 days, by a written report on the results of the facility's investigation.
If the abuse involves a nurse aide listed on the Nurse Aide Registry, the field office would conduct a review and forward the information to the Central Office of the Division of Nursing Care Facilities. If sufficient evidence exists to support that abuse occurred, the information would be forwarded to the Department of Health, Nurse Aide Registry Abuse Committee for further action. If a determination is made that the nurse aide is guilty of abuse, a notation is made on the individual's file on the Nurse Aide Registry. This prohibits future employment by that person in a nursing home.
If the abuse investigation named another individual licensed by the commonwealth, an appropriate referral of the information would be made, such as a nurse would be reported to the Department of State.