CA Health & Safety Code Section 1337.2

(a)

An applicant for certification as a certified nurse assistant shall comply with each of the following:

(1)

Be at least 16 years of age.

(2)

Have successfully completed a training program approved by the department, which includes an examination to test the applicant’s knowledge and skills related to basic patient care services.

(3)

Obtain a criminal record clearance pursuant to Section 1338.5.

(b)

The state department may establish procedures for issuing certificates which recognize certification programs in other states and countries.

(c)

Upon written application, criminal record clearance pursuant to Section 1338.5, and documentation of passing an appropriate competency examination, the state department may issue a certificate to any applicant who possesses a valid state license as either a licensed vocational nurse or a registered nurse issued by any other state or foreign country, and who, in the opinion of the state department, has the qualifications specified in this article.

(d)

Upon written application, criminal record clearance pursuant to Section 1338.5, and documentation of passing an appropriate examination, the state department may issue a certificate to any applicant who has completed the fundamentals of nursing courses in a school for registered nurses, approved by the Board of Registered Nursing, or in a school for licensed vocational nurses, approved by the Board of Vocational Nurse and Psychiatric Technician Examiners, which are substantially equivalent to the certification training program specified in this article.

(e)

Every person certified as a nurse assistant under this article may be known as a “certified nurse assistant” and may place the letters CNA after his or her name when working in a licensed health facility. An individual working independently, providing personal care services, may not advertise or represent himself or herself as a certified nurse assistant.

(f)

Any person holding a nurse assistant certificate issued by the state department prior to January 1, 1988, may continue to hold himself or herself out as a certified nurse assistant until January 1, 1991. Thereafter, it shall be unlawful for any person not certified under this article to hold himself or herself out to be a certified nurse assistant. Any person willfully making any false representation as being a certified nurse assistant is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(g)

Any person who violates this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon a conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 180 days, or by a fine of not less than twenty dollars ($20) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment.