1.2 Agency Roles: DOH, WABON, DSHS, and Credentia

The Practical Agency Map

Washington NAC candidates often see four names: Washington State Board of Nursing, Washington Department of Health, DSHS, and Credentia. These names can feel interchangeable when you are just trying to become certified, but they are not interchangeable. The Washington State Board of Nursing and Washington Department of Health are tied to credentialing. DSHS is tied to the OBRA Nursing Assistant Registry. Credentia is tied to the online knowledge exam in Washington.

Current skills testing is described by WABON as a training-program or WABON regional scheduling process, not as a current Credentia skills administration process.

The most useful way to study the map is by task. If you are asking whether you meet a certification route, you are in the credentialing world. If you are thinking about the OBRA registry, you are in the DSHS registry world. If you are scheduling or preparing for the online written or oral knowledge exam, Credentia is the relevant testing vendor named in the brief. If you are preparing for the in-person skills test, follow the current WABON process and your training program's instructions when your program provides skills testing.

This map also helps you read older or broader materials without being misled. The source brief notes that older or current Credentia NNAAP handbook language describes a skills evaluation as five randomly selected skills in 30 minutes, with critical element steps and cut scores. That information can be useful as NNAAP skills-list context, and WABON skills checklist documents align with the NNAAP Candidate Handbook for the 22 testable skills.

But the current Washington process says training programs now provide skills testing, most training programs provide skills testing, and candidates may test through their program or WABON regional scheduling when needed.

The exam still has two parts. The knowledge side is online and is handled by Credentia. The skills side is in person and follows the current Washington training-program or WABON regional process. Candidates are expected to take skills first and pass skills before registering for the written test. When you keep those lanes separate, the rest of the process becomes easier to plan: training and skills practice through the program, credentialing through the state, registry questions through DSHS, and knowledge exam registration through Credentia after the required conditions are met.

If a question belongs to more than one lane, resolve the credentialing requirement first, then follow the testing instructions that match the exam part.