Certified Nursing Assistant resume example. Plus the keywords recruiters search for.
A certified nursing assistant resume that shows safe, kind daily care and a sharp eye for changes — with the certification, patient care and safety keywords nursing homes and hospitals look for.
Reviewed by Nazir Elmurodov · Updated
/ The example
Certified Nursing Assistant resume example.
Marisol Vega
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
Tampa, FL · marisol.vega@email.com · (813) 555-0171
Summary
CNA with 3 years in long-term care and a hospital med-surg floor. I help residents with daily care safely and with dignity, and I tell the nurse about changes right away.
Experience
Certified Nursing Assistant, Palmetto Shores Health & Rehabilitation · Aug 2024 – Present
- • Provide resident care — bathing, dressing, toileting and feeding — for 10–12 residents per shift on a 40-bed long-term care unit
- • Take and record vital signs, weights and intake and output in PointClickCare, flagging changes to the charge nurse
- • Use Hoyer lifts and gait belts for patient transfers; the unit went 11 months without a transfer-related injury
- • Support residents living with dementia with calm redirection and consistent routines, as part of the unit's dementia care team
Nursing Assistant, Seagrape Community Hospital · Jun 2023 – Jul 2024
- • Supported nurses on a 28-bed med-surg floor with hourly rounding, repositioning and walking patients
- • Followed fall prevention plans, bed alarms and call-light checks for high-risk patients
- • Collected specimens and kept isolation carts stocked, following infection control and PPE rules
Education & certifications
Nursing Assistant Training Program, Suncoast Technical College, 2023 · CNA certification, Florida (active) · BLS
Skills
Activities of daily living (ADLs) · Vital signs · Patient transfers · Hoyer lift · Fall prevention · Intake and output · Specimen collection · Infection control · Dementia care · PointClickCare · Teamwork
Marisol Vega
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
marisol.vega@email.com · Tampa, FL
(813) 555-0171
Summary
CNA with 3 years in long-term care and a hospital med-surg floor. I help residents with daily care safely and with dignity, and I tell the nurse about changes right away.
Experience
Certified Nursing Assistant — Palmetto Shores Health & Rehabilitation
Aug 2024 – Present
• Provide resident care — bathing, dressing, toileting and feeding — for 10–12 residents per shift on a 40-bed long-term care unit
• Take and record vital signs, weights and intake and output in PointClickCare, flagging changes to the charge nurse
• Use Hoyer lifts and gait belts for patient transfers; the unit went 11 months without a transfer-related injury
• Support residents living with dementia with calm redirection and consistent routines, as part of the unit's dementia care team
Nursing Assistant — Seagrape Community Hospital
Jun 2023 – Jul 2024
• Supported nurses on a 28-bed med-surg floor with hourly rounding, repositioning and walking patients
• Followed fall prevention plans, bed alarms and call-light checks for high-risk patients
• Collected specimens and kept isolation carts stocked, following infection control and PPE rules
Education
Suncoast Technical College
Nursing Assistant Training Program · 2023
Certifications
CNA certification, Florida (active)
BLS
Skills
Activities of daily living (ADLs), Vital signs, Patient transfers, Hoyer lift, Fall prevention, Intake and output, Specimen collection, Infection control, Dementia care, PointClickCare, Teamwork
Why it works
It shows certification and state up front, gives the resident load and setting in numbers, and turns daily care into safety results — transfers, falls, reporting — instead of a list of chores.
Use this as your starting point
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Start from this exampleSample resume. Names, companies and figures are illustrative.
/ Summary examples
Three summary examples. Pick the one closest to you.
Two or three lines: your level, your field and one result.
- Entry level
Newly certified nursing assistant who completed a state-approved training program with clinical hours in a skilled nursing facility. BLS certified and active on the Florida registry.
- Experienced
CNA with 3 years in long-term care and med-surg. I care for 10–12 residents a shift and help keep transfers safe with Hoyer lifts and gait belts.
- Senior
Lead CNA with 8 years in long-term care who orients new aides, helps the charge nurse plan assignments and leads the unit's restorative walking program.
More for other jobs and situations (no experience, career change, senior): resume summary examples.
/ Bullet points
Bullet point examples. From duty to result.
Turn duties into results: what you did, how, and what changed.
Daily care
Instead of: Helped residents
Write: Provided ADL care — bathing, dressing, toileting and feeding — for 10–12 residents per shift
Safety
Instead of: Moved patients
Write: Used Hoyer lifts and gait belts for transfers; the unit went 11 months without a transfer-related injury
Observation
Instead of: Took vitals
Write: Recorded vital signs, weights and intake and output each shift and flagged changes to the charge nurse the same hour
Dementia care
Instead of: Worked with dementia patients
Write: Calmed residents living with dementia through redirection and steady routines, cutting evening agitation episodes on my hall
Fall prevention
Instead of: Watched high-risk patients
Write: Followed fall prevention plans with bed alarms and hourly rounding for high-risk patients on a 28-bed floor
Infection control
Instead of: Followed hygiene rules
Write: Kept isolation carts stocked and followed PPE and hand hygiene rules on every isolation room entry
/ Keywords
Keywords and skills for certified nursing assistants.
These come up often in certified nursing assistant job posts. Include only the ones you can back up in an interview, and use the exact wording from the post you're applying to.
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
- CNA certification
- Activities of daily living (ADLs)
- Resident care
- Vital signs
- Patient transfers
- Hoyer lift
- Fall prevention
- Intake and output
- Specimen collection
- Infection control
- Dementia care
- Long-term care
- Med-surg
- PointClickCare
- BLS
- Teamwork
- Compassionate care
/ ATS tips
ATS tips for certified nursing assistants.
Show your certification and state
"Certified Nursing Assistant, Florida (active)" near the top tells a recruiter you're on the registry and ready to work.
Give your resident load
"10–12 residents, 40-bed long-term care unit" shows your pace and setting in one line.
Turn tasks into safety results
Safe transfers, no falls, quick reporting of changes — these show the quality of your care.
Name the equipment and charting system
Hoyer lifts, gait belts and PointClickCare are common in job posts; list the ones you've used.
Keep privacy in mind
Describe residents by setting and needs, never by name or anything that could identify them.
How does your certified nursing assistant resume compare?
Free ATS score, missing keywords and fixes in about 10 seconds.
/ Questions
Certified Nursing Assistant resume FAQ.
Writing the cover letter too? See Marisol's cover letter, annotated
How should I list my CNA certification?
Write the title and state, such as "Certified Nursing Assistant, Florida," and make sure your listing on the state nurse aide registry is active. Employers check the registry, so you don't need to add your number unless the posting asks.
Do I need to list my training hours?
Not usually. Federal rules require state-approved nurse aide training programs to include at least 75 clock hours, with at least 16 hours of supervised practical training, and many states require more. Listing your program and passing the state competency exam shows you met your state's standard.
What if I have no paid CNA experience yet?
List your training program and its clinical hours like a job: the setting, how many residents you helped and the skills you practiced. Caregiving, volunteering and customer-facing jobs also count.
How do I move from long-term care to a hospital?
Lead with skills hospitals use every shift: vital signs, specimen collection, fall prevention, infection control and teamwork with nurses. Mention any experience with telemetry, post-surgical or rehab patients.
How long should a CNA resume be?
One page. Certification and state at the top, then your jobs with resident numbers and two or three safety or care results.