Registration
74,135 of Washington’s 553,932 active health care credentials take this form — 13.4%, across 14 professions.
The word is not decoration
A registration is the lightest of the three main forms — the state records who is doing the work. A registration is not a statement that the holder was examined the way a licence-holder was, and the difference matters to an employer.
Washington is unusual in saying « credential » where most states say « license », and it does so for a reason: it issues 7 different forms, and they are not interchangeable. The clearest case in the whole register is nursing assistance, which exists as a certification (59,078 active) and as a registration (25,386 active) at the same time. Same job title in ordinary speech; different credential, different route in.
We describe what the register shows. What each form permits in practice is set out in Washington’s own rules for each profession, and that is where a question about scope of practice belongs.
The professions that carry a registration
| Profession | Active credentials | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing Assistant Registration | 25,386 | 34.2% |
| Dental Assistant Registration | 17,158 | 23.1% |
| Counselor Agency Affiliated Registration | 12,416 | 16.7% |
| Medical Assistant Registration | 7,667 | 10.3% |
| Surgical Technologist Registration | 3,937 | 5.3% |
| Veterinary Medication Clerk Registration | 2,872 | 3.9% |
| X-Ray Technician Registration | 1,935 | 2.6% |
| Pharmacist Intern Registration | 1,054 | 1.4% |
| Hypnotherapist Registration | 589 | 0.8% |
| Nursing Technician Registration | 483 | 0.7% |
| Drug Controlled Substance Researcher Registration | 298 | 0.4% |
| Chiropractic X-Ray Technician Registration | 184 | 0.2% |
| Recreational Therapist Registration | 131 | 0.2% |
| Dental Laboratory Registration | 25 | 0.0% |
120 of the 74,135 active credentials of this form carry a disciplinary flag in the Department’s file — 0.2% — and 58 carry one marked pending.
This site publishes that count and no more: never who. The reason is not discretion, it is accuracy — the published file carries a yes/no flag and nothing else: no reason, no date, no case number. Naming someone on the strength of it would publish a suspicion rather than a fact. Every credential counted here is active. Why the line is drawn there.
Do not let the date pass
74,135 credentials take the form of a registration. Washington renews most of them on the holder’s birthday, every year or every two years, and continuing-education hours have to be done before that date — not after. Leave your details and we will tell you when yours is close, and pass your request for continuing-education hours to providers who teach for this credential.
We take no commission and we vouch for no training provider. We have no arrangement with any provider today — we are collecting these requests in order to go and find them. What we do with this.
The other forms Washington issues
- License 304,441
- Certification 145,796
- Permit 883
- Endorsement 197
- Trainee 1,833
- Other credential 26,630