# License, certification, registration — what Washington actually issues

> Washington State issues health care credentials in several legally distinct forms. What each one is, how many there are, and why the difference matters to an employer and to a patient.

## The forms a Washington credential takes

Washington says « credential » where most states say « license », and it is not a stylistic choice: it issues several different things.

| Form | Active credentials | Share |
|---|---|---|
| [License](/credential/license.md) | 304,441 | 55.0% |
| [Certification](/credential/certification.md) | 145,796 | 26.3% |
| [Registration](/credential/registration.md) | 74,135 | 13.4% |
| [Permit](/credential/permit.md) | 883 | 0.2% |
| [Endorsement](/credential/endorsement.md) | 197 | 0.0% |
| [Trainee](/credential/trainee.md) | 1,833 | 0.3% |
| [Other credential](/credential/other-credential.md) | 26,630 | 4.8% |

### Why anyone should care

Because the same job can exist under two of them at once. Nursing
assistance is the clearest case: a *certification*
(59,078 active) and a
*registration* (25,386
active) run side by side, and in ordinary speech both are
« a CNA ». An employer who checks for one and finds the
other has not found nothing — they have found something different, and
the difference is the route the holder took in and what they may do
unsupervised.

It is not the only pair. Across the register, several occupations appear in
more than one form at once, which is why a credential number tells you more
than a job title does: the number carries its form with it, and the title does
not.

### The forms, side by side

*What each form tells you, and what it does not*

| Form | Active | What holding it says | What it does *not* say |
|---|---|---|---|
| [License](/credential/license.md) | 304,441 | The state permits this person to practise a profession it has decided
requires permission. | That they are good at it. A licence is a floor, not a
recommendation. |
| [Certification](/credential/certification.md) | 145,796 | The state has recognised them against a defined standard for the
role. | That they may work independently. Much certified work is done under
someone else’s direction. |
| [Registration](/credential/registration.md) | 74,135 | The state knows who is doing the work, and can act if something goes
wrong. | That they passed the kind of examination a licence-holder passed. |
| [Permit](/credential/permit.md) | 883 | They may work now, while something else is still in progress. | That the position is settled. A permit is built to run out. |
| [Trainee](/credential/trainee.md) | 1,833 | They are learning the work under supervision. | That they are unqualified — and equally, that they are fully
credentialled. |

### If you are checking someone before hiring them

Three things are worth reading off a record, in this order. **The
form** — is it the one the role requires, or a neighbouring one?
**The expiry date** — Washington renews on the
holder’s birthday, so a date can be a fortnight away without anyone
having mentioned it. **The continuing-education due date**, where
the Department records one: those hours have to be completed before the
renewal, not after it.

And one thing worth not reading off it: this register does not rate anyone.
It says what the state permits, and stops.

We describe the forms as the register shows them. What each
permits in practice is set out in Washington’s rules for the profession
concerned, and a question about scope of practice belongs there rather than
here. The register also holds 197 endorsements
— additions to a credential someone already holds — and
26,630 credentials whose title carries none
of these words, which we leave under their own name rather than guess.

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Página: https://credential-wa.pages.dev/credential/
Fonte: Health Care Provider Credential Data — Washington State Department of Health
Recolha: 2026-08-20