Nebraska · home health aide (HHA)
How to become a home health aide in Nebraska: the routes that qualify you, who regulates home health agencies in Nebraska, pay, free training options, and all 42 state-approved CNA programs, since a CNA certification also qualifies you as a home health aide.
Your route
Home health agencies in Nebraska are licensed by the Nebraska DHHS. Medicare and Medicaid agencies must use aides who completed one of the federally approved routes. These are the two most common.
Fastest route
CNA
Agency route
75 hrs
Why we list CNA programs: under federal rules, a state-approved CNA program plus good standing on the Nebraska nurse aide registry qualifies you as a home health aide. It’s the route that opens the most doors. See our Nebraska CNA guide.
The steps
The general path for most new aides.
Keep your hours up. Federal rules require at least 12 hours of in-service training a year, and if you go 24 months in a row without paid aide work, you must retrain.
Home health aide vs. CNA
The two jobs overlap, but the settings and pay differ.
| Home health aide | CNA | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you work | Clients’ homes, through home health and hospice agencies | Nursing homes and hospitals |
| Training | 75 hours federal minimum, or a CNA certification | State-approved CNA program |
| Official record | Your agency’s training and competency records | The Nebraska nurse aide registry |
| Median pay (NE) | $17.38 an hour* | $19.23 an hour |
*Federal pay data groups home health aides with personal care aides. About 13,660 of them work in Nebraska.
Help paying
Ways to cover the cost of training.
Many home health agencies train aides they hire, and nursing homes that hire you can’t charge you for CNA training under federal rules.
Directory
All 42 programs from our Nebraska CNA guide. Finishing one, passing the exam, and staying in good standing on the state registry also qualifies you as a home health aide for Medicare and Medicaid agencies.
| Program | City | County | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advance Intervention Services | Omaha | Douglas | (402) 319-1264 |
| Arbor Care Centers Neligh | Neligh | Antelope | (402) 887-5428 |
| Arbor Care Centers Tekamah | Tekamah | Burt | (402) 374-1414 |
| Art of Homecare Training Center | Omaha | Douglas | (402) 598-2651 |
| Brookstone of David City | David City | Butler | (402) 367-3144 |
| Bryan College of Health Sciences | Lincoln | Lancaster | (402) 481-3805 |
| Central Community College | Columbus | Platte | (402) 562-1451 |
| Central Community College | Hastings | Adams | (402) 461-2441 |
| Central Community College | Lexington | Dawson | (308) 324-5936 |
| Central Nebraska Veterans Home | Kearney | Buffalo | (308) 865-6000 |
| CHI Health Immanuel | Omaha | Douglas | (402) 572-2121 |
| Clarkson College | Omaha | Douglas | (402) 552-3396 |
| CNA Learning Hub | Lincoln | Lancaster | (402) 318-5583 |
| Crestview Care Center | Chadron | Dawes | (308) 432-3355 |
| Eastern Nebraska Veterans Home | Bellevue | Sarpy | (402) 595-2180 |
| Florence Home | Omaha | Douglas | (402) 827-6056 |
| Fulton Homes Education Center | Omaha | Douglas | (402) 672-0620 |
| Genoa Medical Facilities Long Term Care | Genoa | Nance | (402) 993-2283 |
| Gordon Countryside Care | Gordon | Sheridan | (308) 282-0806 |
| Heritage Crossings | Geneva | Fillmore | (402) 759-3194 |
| Kimball County Manor | Kimball | Kimball | (308) 235-4693 |
| Life First Learning | Gering | Scotts Bluff | (308) 279-0946 |
| Little Priest Tribal College | Winnebago | Thurston | (402) 878-2380 |
| Metro Community College | Omaha | Douglas | (402) 502-1207 |
| Mid-Plains Community College | McCook | Red Willow | (308) 345-8164 |
| Mid-Plains Community College | North Platte | Lincoln | (308) 345-8164 |
| Nebraska Health Care Association | Lincoln | Lancaster | (402) 435-3551 |
| Nebraska Indian Community College | Macy | Thurston | (844) 440-6422 |
| Nebraska Methodist College | Omaha | Douglas | (402) 354-7000 |
| Norfolk Veterans Home | Norfolk | Madison | (402) 370-3330 |
| Northeast Nebraska Community College | Norfolk | Madison | (402) 844-7335 |
| Oglala Sioux Lakota Nursing Home | Rushville | Sheridan | (308) 862-4020 |
| Press Medical Training | Omaha | Douglas | (402) 813-7830 |
| Promise Health Care Training Center | Omaha | Douglas | (402) 968-4786 |
| Quality Career Pathways | Omaha | Douglas | (402) 609-9583 |
| Quality Living | Omaha | Douglas | (402) 573-3700 |
| Sanford Health | Kearney | Buffalo | (712) 898-1176 |
| Sidney Regional Medical Center Extended Care | Sidney | Cheyenne | (308) 254-5825 |
| Southeast Community College | Lincoln | Lancaster | (402) 437-2700 |
| Wakefield Health | Wakefield | Dixon | (402) 287-2244 |
| Western Nebraska Community College | Scottsbluff | Scotts Bluff | (308) 635-6705 |
| York General Hearthstone | York | York | (402) 362-4333 |
Tip: ask each program whether it also offers a home health aide add-on. For details, costs, and exam steps, see our Nebraska CNA guide.
FAQ
Short answers to what people ask most.
Home health aides in Nebraska work for home health agencies licensed by the Nebraska DHHS. Medicare and Medicaid agencies must hire aides who meet the federal training and competency rules. Ask the agency you're applying to which credential it requires.
The two most common routes are completing a 75-hour home health aide training and competency evaluation, or becoming a CNA. Federal rules count a CNA in good standing on the Nebraska nurse aide registry as a qualified home health aide.
The median pay for home health and personal care aides in Nebraska is $17.38 an hour, about $36,150 a year, based on the May 2025 federal wage survey. Nebraska CNAs earn a median $19.23 an hour.
Yes, for Medicare and Medicaid home health agencies, if the CNA completed a state-approved program and is listed in good standing on the state nurse aide registry.
Yes. Federal rules require at least 12 hours of in-service training every 12 months for aides at Medicare and Medicaid agencies.