Certified nursing assistant cover letter

Certified Nursing Assistant Cover Letter (With Examples)

Certified nursing assistants are vital to hospitals, nursing homes, residential care facilities, and many other health care settings. The work may not always be glamorous, but it’s necessary for the quality care of patients.

Nursing assistants get to be up close and personal with patients even more than doctors and nurses do, which means you need a different set of skills than these other medical professionals.

You not only need the technical skills required to care for patients, but you also need to have strong interpersonal skills, since you often act as a liaison between patient and doctor.

When you’re applying for a job, these abilities are often difficult to show on just a resume or application, so your cover letter is vital to your chances of getting a job offer.

This one-page document gives you the ability to tell stories and provide examples of how you’ve woven your technical and soft skills together to be successful in your past positions and how you’ll continue to do that in this particular job.

In this article, you’ll find advice on what to include in your cover letter in order to make the best impression possible, as well as an example letter to use for reference.

Parts of a Certified Nursing Assistant Cover Letter

1. Your contact information

2. The date

3. The recipient’s information

4. Salutation

5. Opening paragraph

6. Body paragraphs

7. Closing lines

Certified Nursing Assistant Cover Letter Opening

The opening paragraph of your cover letter should include three elements:

1. The name of the position you’re applying for.

2. The name of the company you’re applying to.

3. The name of the hospital floor, department, or unit the position is in (if applicable).

4. Two or three of your most impressive relevant qualifications.

Even though you need to include all of this, your introductory paragraph shouldn’t be long. It’s simply your opportunity to introduce yourself and the rest of your letter to the reader.

Your goal is to provide a quick snapshot of who you are and what unique skills and experiences you bring to the table as a candidate. You can elaborate on your qualifications and enthusiasm for the position later on in the letter.

Here’s an example of what your opening paragraph may look like:

Certified Nursing Assistant Cover Letter Body

The body paragraphs of your cover letter are your opportunity to go into more detail about what sets you apart and why the company should hire you. Before you start writing, go through the job description to make sure you talk about your experience with as many of the required skills it lists as you can.

As you write, you can do a few things to ensure your cover letter makes the strongest impact possible.

1. Talk about your work experience and what you learned from it. As a nursing assistant, it’s important that you talk about your technical skills and certifications as well as your soft skills.

   One way you can do this is by talking about what you learned and what your responsibilities were in each position you held. This is an easy way to show how all of your experience meshes together to form your unique skill set.

   However, if you have a lot of experience, limit yourself to only your last few or most impactful positions that demonstrate the skills the company is looking for in a candidate. Or, if you recently earned your CNA certificate, talk about what you learned during your clinicals and classwork.

2. Provide examples of your skills in action. You can also demonstrate how your experiences and responsibilities match what the company is looking for in a candidate through anecdotes.

   Painting a picture of what the qualifications listed on your resume look like in action is powerful. This is especially true if you can provide quantitative evidence such as the number of patients you helped, an award you received for your efforts, or results from a patient survey about your performance.

3. Describe why you want this job in the first place. Any job that centers around serving people requires a passion for your work. This passion brings much of the motivation to provide quality services, as well as making it more likely that you’ll stick with your job even when it’s hard.

   Companies like seeing this, as self-motivated employees who are in it for the long haul are valuable resources. They also like seeing that the workers they hire have bought into the organization’s mission, values, and culture.

   Talk about what attracts you to the position or company and how that aligns with your own passions and goals. You can also show that you’ve done your research and are invested in the position by discussing how you relate to the organization’s values.

To see how all of these work together in a cover letter, check out these example body paragraphs:

Certified Nursing Assistant Cover Letter Closing Lines

Wrapping up your cover letter doesn’t need to take long. It’s better to use your valuable space for your body paragraphs than for a wordy farewell. However, you should include a few lines to close out the letter.

Express your thanks for the hiring manager’s time and consideration, and give a call to action of some kind. This is often a note about looking forward to discussing the position further or an invitation to contact you with questions.

Your closing paragraph may look something like this:

Example of a Certified Nursing Assistant Cover Letter