Certified Nursing Assistant Resume Templates and Examples for 2024

Certified Nursing Assistant Resume Template Example

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Your certified nursing assistant (CNA) resume should prove to hiring managers that you can provide compassionate care to patients and be their advocate. It must show they can count on you to collaborate with other health care professionals and support patients with their day-to-day needs. This guide will provide you with strategies to create an effective resume featuring the best of your CNA career.

How To Write a Certified Nursing Assistant Resume

Using a resume template will streamline the writing process and ensure a professional appearance. Your CNA resume should include the following:

Contact information

Provide potential employers with your most recent contact information so they can reach out to schedule an interview. List your full name, phone number, email address, location, and a link to your digital professional profile.

Profile

If you only had one paragraph to tell hiring managers what you have to offer, what would you say? This is how you need to think about your resume profile. It should summarize your relevant CNA experience, skills, and qualifications in a few sentences. Be intentional with the information you include by considering what the health care organization is looking for.

Key skills

As a CNA, you have many skills that help you care for the personal, medical, and emotional well-being of others. In your key skills section, list a mixture of hard and soft qualities to highlight your technical and interpersonal patient care expertise. This gives hiring managers a sense of your skill level and relevant qualifications.

Common hard and soft skills for certified nursing assistants

Resume writer’s tip: Use common action verbs

Action verbs cut through the clutter and help to illustrate your past work experience. When hiring managers scan your resume, these words jump off the page and instantly communicate your contributions. Use action verbs to start each bullet point in your professional experience section. This will help you avoid redundant first-person language like, “I was responsible for…”

Utilize some of the action verbs below to enhance your CNA resume:

Professional experience

Your professional experience section is like the highlight reel of your caregiving journey. Include your last two to three positions and outline what you accomplished in each role. From helping with ADLs to speaking up on behalf of your patients, describe your key responsibilities. Also, add any notable achievements that show the value you can bring to potential employers.

Resume writer’s tip: Quantify your experience

To quantify your CNA experience, use numbers when you can to add depth and tangible evidence to your job descriptions. This strategy allows you to go beyond simply telling what you did and shows hiring managers the real, tangible proof of your skills. Discuss things like the number of patients cared for, medication administration accuracy, or reductions in accidents.

Resume writer’s tip: Tailor your resume for each application

Although employment for CNAs is projected to grow at an average rate, you’ll need a strong resume to compete for the best positions. Aligning your CNA resume with the needs of each employer will be key to landing an interview. Instead of sending out one generic resume to every opening, you customize it every time you apply for a role.

Study each unique job description and identify keywords, skills, and qualifications you match up with. Then, incorporate those specific terms and phrases throughout your resume. This shows hiring managers you made an effort to get to know their health care organization and what they’re looking for in a CNA.

Resume writer’s tip: Highlight your leadership capabilities

The ability to lead goes beyond people management skills. Effective leadership in health care, even at the CNA level, has a positive impact in the workplace. CNAs who lead by example, train others, communicate well, and prioritize diversity and inclusion will show they enhance the quality of care.

In a profession where nearly 1.3 million CNAs are actively employed, highlighting your leadership capabilities becomes a distinguishing factor. In your professional experience section, describe times when you took initiative in a situation or went the extra mile to improve a protocol. You can also include specific leadership qualities in your key skills section.

Resume writer’s tip: How to choose the best resume format

If you’re a seasoned CNA, the reverse chronological format will serve you well. This resume style focuses on a robust professional experience section with many years of stable employment. Your extensive background is your strength.

Alternatively, the combination format is best for entry-level CNAs. With an emphasis on key skills and education, this resume draws attention to your new abilities. Hiring managers capture all they need to know immediately without the distraction of a work history lacking paid medical experience.

What if you don’t have experience?

As a certified medical professional, you’ve undergone a fair amount of training to even be considered eligible for CNA positions. This alone has given you the experience to highlight on your resume. Class projects, volunteer time, and hands-on coursework are all valuable.

In your education section, list a few relevant courses or mention any recognition you received during school. If your CNA program required a clinical rotation, detail the skills and unique experiences gained within that real health care setting.

Education and certifications

Prove to hiring managers that you meet minimum education and certification requirements by listing your highest level of education followed by your CNA credentials. If you have additional CPR, Basic Life Support (BLS), or Qualified Medication Aide (QMA) designations, be sure to mention those as well. Provide the names of degrees, schools, and awarding organizations, as well as dates of completion.

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Andrew Stoner

Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach

A resume should be a forward-looking value proposition that showcases your most relevant accomplishments for a target role — not a rear view summary of your previous roles and responsibilities.