CNA Resume: Examples and Tips (2026)

A CNA resume answers a short list of questions fast. Are you certified and listed on your state's nurse aide registry? How many residents or patients do you care for in a shift? Can you move people safely, notice when someone is not themselves, and tell the nurse right away? A director of nursing or a hospital unit manager reading your resume wants those answers in the first few lines, and then wants proof that you show up for every shift.

This page gives you a complete example for a nursing home CNA applying to a hospital, the steps to write your own, summaries for new, experienced and lead aides, bullet examples with real numbers, and the federal and state rules behind the CNA credential, with links to the official text. If you are planning your next step, the registered nurse resume example shows where many CNAs head after nursing school.

These are the skills CNA job postings ask for most. Pick the ones that are true for you, list them in your skills section, and show a few of them in your bullets with a number.

Hard skills

• Bathing, grooming, dressing and toileting (ADLs)
• Vital signs, height and weight
• Safe transfers with gait belts and mechanical lifts
• Repositioning and pressure injury prevention
• Feeding help and modified diets
• Intake and output measurement
• Catheter and ostomy care as allowed by the facility
• Range of motion exercises
• Specimen collection
• Post-mortem care

Soft skills

• Patience with residents who are confused or in pain
• Noticing and reporting changes quickly
• Dependability and good attendance
• Respect for privacy and dignity
• Working as part of a nursing team
• Calm communication with families

Tools and software

• PointClickCare, MatrixCare or Epic charting
• Hoyer, sit-to-stand and ceiling lifts
• Automatic blood pressure machines and pulse oximeters
• Bed and chair alarms
• Call light and nurse call systems
• Gait belts, walkers and wheelchairs

Pick the summary closest to your experience and change the details. Each one names the setting, the number of people you care for and your registry status.

Newly certified CNA

Newly certified nursing assistant who completed a state-approved training program with clinical hours in a 120-bed nursing home, caring for up to 6 residents under supervision. Passed the state competency exam in May 2026 and listed on the state nurse aide registry. Two years of restaurant work taught me to stay calm and friendly during a rush. Seeking a first CNA position on a day or evening shift.

Experienced CNA

Certified nursing assistant with 5 years in memory care, helping 8 to 10 residents with dementia each shift through bathing, meals, activities and redirection when they are anxious. Known for low call light times and steady attendance, with zero missed shifts in 2025. Active registry status and CPR certified. Seeking a CNA role in a hospice or memory care community.

Lead CNA or senior nursing assistant

Lead nursing assistant with 9 years in hospital and long-term care, including 3 years coordinating assignments for a team of 7 aides on a 36-bed medical unit. Train every new aide on the unit and lead the skin check program that cut hospital-acquired pressure injuries by half. Seeking a CNA lead or patient care coordinator position while starting nursing school.

Use these as models. Keep the action at the start and the number in the middle, and change the facts to your own.

• Provide morning care, meals and toileting for 8 to 10 memory care residents per shift, using calm redirection when residents become anxious.
• Turn and reposition bedbound residents every 2 hours, helping keep the unit free of new pressure injuries for 11 months.
• Answer call lights within an average of 3 minutes on a 30-bed hall, the fastest on the unit's quarterly report.
• Take and record 4 sets of vital signs per patient per shift on a 24-bed hospital medical unit, reporting abnormal readings right away.
• Walk 6 to 8 post-surgery patients a day with gait belts and walkers, following the physical therapist's plan.
• Picked up 40+ extra shifts in a year during staffing shortages without a single late arrival.
• Helped residents with meals in a 60-seat dining room, including thickened liquids and feeding help for 12 residents.
• Trained 9 new aides on lift safety, charting and the unit's shift routines as a peer mentor.
• Measured intake and output for up to 10 patients per shift on fluid restrictions and charted totals in Epic.
• Supported families during 15+ end-of-life vigils on a hospice unit, offering comfort care and quiet space.
• Collected urine and stool specimens for 5 to 7 patients a shift, labeling each at the bedside to prevent mix-ups.

Nurse aides who work in nursing homes that take Medicare or Medicaid fall under federal rules. A state-approved nurse aide training and competency evaluation program must have at least 75 clock hours of training, including at least 16 hours of supervised practical training. States can require more hours, and each state runs its own training approval, competency exam and nurse aide registry, usually through its health department. Under the same federal nursing home rules, a facility must check the registry before someone works as a nurse aide, and a CNA who goes 24 consecutive months without paid nursing work must retrain or retest. Once working, nursing home aides receive at least 12 hours of in-service training a year, including dementia care and abuse prevention. On your resume, list:

• Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) with the state and registry, for example Active, Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry. Some states use a different title, such as nurse aide or nursing assistant registered; use your state's term.
• BLS or CPR from the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross. Hospitals usually ask for BLS.
• State add-on credentials, if you hold one, such as a medication aide certification. These vary by state, so name the state that issued it.
• Specialty training your employer provided, such as dementia care or safe patient handling, with the year.

The example is Tyrone's. He has been a CNA for two years on a nursing home rehabilitation unit and wants a hospital job on an orthopedic floor.

Headline: Certified Nursing Assistant, Rehabilitation and Long-Term Care. It says where his experience is, and the summary names the hospital title he wants, patient care assistant, so both searches find him.

Summary: 2 years, a 42-bed unit and 10 to 12 residents per day shift in the first sentence. The second names transfers, vital signs and hip and knee recovery, which is orthopedic work. The third gives registry status and BLS, and the last line names the job.

Certifications: his CNA with the Wisconsin registry and the year, and BLS. Short, but it answers the screening question before anything else.

Experience: the first bullet sets his daily load. The second shows he reports changes within 15 minutes. The third and fourth are safety results a hospital cares about: 20+ lift transfers a shift with no injuries, and falls down from 14 to 6. The last shows he is trusted with 5 new aides. His dietary aide job stays in one line because checking 90 trays against diet orders is attention to detail in a healthcare setting.

Education and skills: his 120-hour training program, his high school diploma, and eight skills in the words hospital postings use.

• No state on the certification. CNA status is tied to a state registry. Write which state, and whether you are active, or the employer has to ask.
• A list of tasks every CNA does. Assisted residents with ADLs is on every CNA resume. Say how many residents, on what kind of unit, and what went well.
• Hiding a registry lapse. If you have not worked as a paid aide for a long stretch, check your status before you apply. Say you are renewing or retesting rather than letting the employer find out.
• Leaving out non-healthcare jobs. Food service, retail and childcare show reliability and patience. Keep them, in one line each.
• Personal details and a photo. Leave off your birth date, Social Security number, marital status and picture. The employer collects what it needs for the background check later.

Other healthcare resume examples that are close to this one:

• Registered nurse resume: where many CNAs go after nursing school.
• Caregiver resume: home care and personal care jobs with similar daily tasks.
• Phlebotomist resume: a short training path into hospital and lab work.
• Resume with no experience: if you are newly certified with no paid work yet.

Every example is in the resume examples hub, grouped by job and situation.