STNA stands for State-Tested Nurse Assistant (sometimes written as State-Tested Nurse Aide). It is Ohio’s term for what every other U.S. state calls a Certified Nursing Assistant, or CNA. The role, training, and daily responsibilities are essentially identical. Ohio simply uses its own title and maintains its own registry through the Ohio Department of Health.
Why Ohio Uses a Different Title
Ohio is the only state that uses the STNA designation. In all other states, the same entry-level nursing support role goes by CNA. The difference is purely one of terminology and state-level regulation, not scope of practice. An STNA in Ohio does the same work a CNA does in Texas, California, or New York.
That said, the certification is state-specific. If you earn your STNA in Ohio and later move to another state, you may need to meet that state’s requirements to transfer your credentials, just as a CNA moving into Ohio would need to get on the Ohio registry.
What STNAs Do Every Day
STNAs work under the supervision of a licensed nurse (an RN or LPN) in nursing homes, hospitals, assisted living facilities, and home health settings. The core of the job is hands-on patient care: helping people bathe, dress, eat, use the bathroom, and move around safely. You might reposition a bedridden patient every two hours, help someone walk down a hallway after surgery, or assist a resident who can no longer feed themselves.
Beyond basic care, STNAs are responsible for recording vital signs like blood pressure, temperature, and pulse. They track how much a patient eats and drinks, monitor urine and stool output, and report any changes to the nursing staff. Observing and documenting is a significant part of the role. STNAs are often the first to notice a new bruise, an open wound, or a shift in a patient’s mood or behavior, and that information gets passed directly to the nurse overseeing care.
Other routine tasks include answering call lights, changing bed linens, restocking hygiene supplies, transporting patients by wheelchair or stretcher, collecting specimens, and cleaning patient rooms. Some STNAs also remind patients to take medications or help set up medical equipment under a nurse’s direction.
Training and Certification Requirements
Ohio requires a minimum of 75 hours of training to become an STNA. Those hours are split between classroom instruction, hands-on skills practice in a lab, and at least 16 hours of clinical experience in a skilled nursing facility. Some programs allow a portion of the classroom work to be completed online.
After finishing a state-approved training program, you take a competency exam administered through the Ohio Department of Health. Passing that exam places you on the Ohio Nurse Aide Registry, which is what qualifies you to work in long-term care facilities across the state.
Staying on the Registry
Getting certified is not a one-and-done process. To remain listed as eligible on Ohio’s registry, you must work at least one full shift (roughly seven and a half to eight hours) of paid nursing-related work within every 24-month period. If more than 24 consecutive months pass without verified work, you’ll need to either provide documentation of a qualifying shift during that window or retake a training and competency evaluation to get back on the registry.
STNA Pay in Ohio
The average STNA in Ohio earns about $17.86 per hour, which comes out to roughly $37,150 per year. Most salaries fall between $32,700 and $39,700, while top earners bring in around $43,000. Pay varies by employer, location, and shift. Night and weekend shifts in urban hospitals typically pay more than day shifts in rural nursing homes.
Moving Up From STNA
Many people use the STNA credential as a stepping stone into higher-paying nursing roles. The most common next step is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program, which involves roughly one year of additional education and qualifies you to take the NCLEX-PN licensing exam. From there, LPN-to-RN bridge programs allow you to become a Registered Nurse without starting from scratch. Several career and technical centers across Ohio offer this full ladder, from STNA through practical nursing to an RN diploma.
Working as an STNA first gives you direct patient care experience that’s valuable both on nursing school applications and in the clinical setting itself. You’ll already be comfortable with vital signs, patient communication, and the pace of a healthcare facility before you ever start an LPN or RN program.