Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Resume Example

Working as a Certified Nursing Assistant promises to be a rewarding, stimulating, and reliable career path. Are you interested in providing high-quality medical care to your patients and residents? Do you enjoy enriching and enlivening the lives of others in your daily interactions? Are you ready to collaborate with other talented health care professionals such as doctors and nurses? If you answered yes to the above questions, congratulations–you’ve got an exciting career as a Certified Nursing Assistant ahead of you!

All you need to do now is use this resume sample and these resume writing tips as a guide for crafting the perfect Certified Nursing Assistant Resume.

1. Highlight Your Hard & Soft Skills

A career as a Certified Nursing Assistant will require you to use a combination of both hard and soft skills on a daily basis. Hard skills are the skills and knowledge that you learned during your formal training and education that are specific to the role. Alternatively, soft skills are your natural interpersonal skills that affect your ability to work with others. Your resume should showcase a combination of both hard technical skills specific to nursing, and soft interpersonal skills.

Hard Skills

In order to prepare for your role as a certified nursing assistant, you attended a certified nursing assistant training program. Your resume should discuss how the practical knowledge and hands-on training you received allow you to provide excellent patient care. For instance, this bullet point not only covers different types of care the candidate is able to provide, but also the positive results,

Helped residents with daily hygiene, including showering, oral and peri care, incontinence care, minimizing rashes, sores and soiling.

Additionally, if you’re trained on, or regularly use specific hardware or software, make sure to include the names of the programs or tools on your resume. For example, this bullet neatly lists three different tools the candidate is versed in using,

Transferred patients from bed to chair, bed to commode, chair to commode, using Gait Belts, Hoyer Lifts, and EasyStands as needed, ensuring patient safety and comfort.

Here’s a list of equipment commonly used by Certified Nursing Assistants:

• Stethoscope
• Gait Belt
• Hoyer Lifts
• EasyStands
• Surgical Scissors
• Bedpans
• Defibrillators
• Thermometers
• Scales
• Blood Pressure meter
• Autoclave
• Hemoglobin Machines
• Electrocardiogram (EKG)
• Syringes
• Blood-Glucose Meter
• Otoscope

Soft skills will play a significant role in your ability to provide exemplary client care. As a Certified Nursing Assistant, you’ll be interacting with other health care professionals, patients, and family members of patients on a daily basis. It’s crucial that you have a strong set of soft skills to rely on when discussing the health and safety of your patients–especially when their family members are involved. Here are a few soft skills that will strengthen your certified nursing assistant resume:

• Interpersonal communication
• Teamwork / Collaboration
• Conflict Management
• Active Listening
• Adaptability
• Calmness
• Patience
• Empathy

2. Quantify Your Accomplishments

Adding quantities to your certified nursing assistant resume may seem counterintuitive at first. After all, your job is about providing client care, not hitting targets or reducing costs. Although this is true, there are many natural ways to use numerical values to add depth to your accomplishments and demonstrate your ability to produce results.

Start with obvious values, such as the number of patients you care for each day, accompanied by the type of care you provided. If you work at a care facility with a set number of patients, such as a retirement home, include this information as well. For example, this candidate clearly states the number of residents and type of care:

Assisted approximately 15 residents each shift with activities of daily living; ensured they were on time for all meals and activities.

Alternatively, if your actions have resulted in a positive change in percentages, dollar amounts, or time, be sure to include this information on your resume. This candidate’s point detailing the reduced number of patient calls is sure to impress any hiring manager,

Reduced the number of daily patient calls by 10% by educating residents on proper call procedures and practices.

3. Draw Attention to Your Certifications

As a Certified Nursing Assistant, you’ll be responsible for the safety, health, and overall well-being of vulnerable individuals. In order to indicate that you have the necessary training for this position, you’re required to possess a valid Certified Nursing Assistant License as well as compliance training on OSHA and HIPPA regulations.  

Don’t make the hiring manager scour your resume for your these necessary credentials. Instead, neatly display your education and certifications in separate sections on your resume. Make sure to include the name of the certification, date of issue, the name of the organization that issued the certificate, and if necessary, the expiration date. Failing to include the proper information could result in your application being rejected.

If you’ve completed additional training or hold supplementary certifications relevant to the certified nursing assistant position, be sure to include them on your resume as well. The following are additional courses and certifications you may want to include on your resume:

• CPR/First Aid
• American Caregiver Association: National Caregiver Certification Course (CNN)
• Caring for Seniors
• Disability Care Course

Excellent work-you’re now ready to create your very own Certified Nursing Assistant resume. Good luck finding a hospital or care facility to begin or continue your career with. If you have any additional question, leave a comment and a member of the Resume Genius staff will get back to you ASAP.