Certified Nursing Assistant resume examples for 2024

How To Write A Certified Nursing Assistant Resume

As the people who’re always there to assist patients, certified nursing assistants (CNAs) play a crucial role in the healthcare industry. Being an adept CNA requires communication, attention to detail, and patience.

Of course, the best way to increase your chances of being hired is to improve your resume. As a prospective CNA, the skills, qualifications, and work history outlined on your resume can give you the edge you need to stand out.

Luckily, we’ll discuss what makes a CNA’s resume successful, as well as provide professional tips and examples.

Key Takeaways:

• Your education is important as a CNA, so be sure to list your most recent and relevant degree, as well as any internships you’ve participated in.

• You should include 6 to 12 listed hard skills on your data analyst resume, the most important of which include Patient Care, Administrative Skills, and Customer Service.

• Top soft skills for CNAs include Communication, Attention to Detail, and Patience/Empathy.

What Should Be Included in a Data Analyst Resume

As you may already be aware, a successful resume has several different parts that provide the hiring manager with essential information. So, to better understand these components and how to nail them, here they are outlined:

1. Header and Contact Information

   While it might seem basic, it is nevertheless important to include your contact information in the correct formatting. This will serve as your header, so the hiring manager knows who you are, where you’re from, and how to contact you as soon as they open your resume. If you’re not sure what information to include, consider:

   • Your Name. should be the biggest text on the page (preferably bolded or capitalized) and be at or near the top of the document.

   • Your Address. While you don’t need to list your actual address, be sure to include your city and state so the employer understands your general location.

   • Your Email Address. Include a professional email (preferably with your first and last name as the address), but also ensure you’re not using a work or school-provided email.

   • Your Phone Number. Including your phone number can be essential for phone interviews or if the hiring manager simply wants to call you when providing information.

   Example:

   JAMES MOORE
   Boston, MA 02108| 333-111-2222 | james.moore@email.com

2. Resume Summary Statement or Objective Statement

   Just below your header, you should include a resume summary statement or objective statement. This simple intro is only one to three sentences but plays a crucial role in summarizing who you are and what you have to offer. Think of it as the equivalent of a hook in a storybook.

   Though, a summary statement and an objective statement are slightly different. A summary statement is more skills-orientated, while an objective statement focuses on your career goals.

   For example:

   • Summary Statement: Timely and Compassionate CNA with over six years of caring for elderly adults with disabilities. 100% accuracy with filing paperwork and communicating important information to other staff. Complimented by adept communication skills gained from years of caretaking and customer service experience.

   • Objective Statement: CNA seeking an opportunity to draw upon my patient care and interpersonal skills to help improve and enhance the lives of elderly and disabled patients. Ultimately with the goal of either providing a safe and enjoyable living environment or achieving remission.

   Regardless of which formatting you choose, it’s important to find a way to highlight your accomplishments as a CNA. If you’re unsure, consider a good example of a time you helped a patient recover or how skillfully you handled an influx of patients when understaffed. Or, if you lack experience, discuss your educational accomplishments instead.

3. Hard and Soft Skills

   The next step in crafting the perfect resume is to state all of your most important skills. But, knowing the difference between hard and soft skills is important. Here are some tips to keep in mind when writing your resume's skills section:

   • Include 6 to 12 skills in bullet point form

   • List mostly hard skills related to Patient Care, Administrative Skills, and Customer Service.

   • Soft skills are especially important for CNAs, so ensure you mention Communication and Attention to Detail in your list.

   Unlike some other fields, soft skills related to communication and organization are especially important for CNAs. However, you should still focus on listing as many hard skills as you can before you move on to the soft skills.

   Overall, think about what skills you have that would be crucial to your performance as a CNA. For example, the most common skills written on a CNA resume include:

   • CNA (20.3% of resumes). Found on a fifth of all CNA resumes, this skill encompasses your experience working in the field. It’s an easy way to let hiring managers know that you’ve worked directly with patients and nurses.

   • Patient Care (14.3%). A more detailed descriptor of your skills as a CNA, patient care entails the prevention, treatment, and management of patient illnesses.

   • Personal Care (11.5%). Similarly to patient care, personal care is the support given by CNAs for daily tasks. Such as hygiene, toileting, and dressing elderly or disabled patients.

   • Vital Signs (9.3%). A crucial clinical skill for nurses to know, as it’s one of their most common and important tasks. This includes knowing how to properly check someone’s heart rate and blood pressure.

   • RN (5%). RNs or Registered Nurses specialize in patient care. If you have experience as an RN, this can be a great skill to add to your resume.

   Additionally, other hard skills you could add include:

   • CPR

   • Customer Service

   • Infection control

   • Safety and rehabilitation

   • Administrative skills

   • Medical terminology

   • Proper hygiene

   • Positioning, transferring, and moving patients

   • Administering drugs

   • Proficiency in medical emergency equipment

   The top soft skills for CNAs include:

   • Communication. Communication skills are vital for any CNA, seeing as you’ll need to work with patients effectively and reiterate information to other healthcare staff. A CNA with impeccable communication skills is far more valuable than one without.

   • Patience/Empathy. Communicating effectively with patients, especially patients with mental illnesses or verbal disabilities, requires patience and empathy. CNAs who have these soft skills are far more likely to develop bonds with their patients, allowing them to provide care more effectively.

   • Attention to detail. This soft skill is crucial for CNAs, as they’re often checking on multiple patients who have different routines and medications. Ultimately, a sharp eye and attention to detail ensure that these patients stay safe.

   With other useful soft skills including:

   • Teamwork

   • Multitasking

   • Flexibility

   • Optimism

   • Organization

   • Consistency

   • Time management

4. Experience and Work History

   Arguably the most important part of your resume, showcasing your work experience, allows you to prove the skillset you claim to have. Recruiters and hiring managers expect to see your experience listed in reverse chronological order, meaning your most recent experience should be listed first.

   Remember that as much as you might want to include that job from almost a decade ago, you should only focus on your most recent and relevant work. The hiring manager doesn’t need to read a 20-year-long history of every job you’ve ever had.

   Additionally, craft your job descriptions to impress. Instead of vague informational blurbs, make sure most of your bullet points discuss impressive achievements from your past positions. Whenever you can, use numbers to contextualize your accomplishments for the hiring manager reading your resume.

   Here are some examples of useful work history descriptions on a data analyst resume:

   Nurses' Aide, Full-Time, 03/2016 to 09/2021
   Genesis HealthCare — San Francisco, CA 94102

   • Completed Medical Terminology course as part of CNA/CMA requirements.

   • Earned a certificate to work as a nurse aide.

   • Performed ADLs on 23 residents

   • History of 100% accuracy with patient records and medication administration

   
   

   Developmental Service Worker, Full-Time, 09/2020 to Current
   State of Massachusetts (DDS Berkshire Service Group) — Pittsfield, MA 01201

   • Responsible for four individuals with mental development disabilities

   • Maintains the community living space through cleaning, organizing, and other tasks

   • Helps individuals achieve their ISP goals

   • De-escalates arguments and other potentially harmful situations through adept communication

   • Creates in-depth meal plans that consider the State’s budget, and the needs of the clients

   • Distributes medications as a MAP-certified distributor

   
   

   Certified Nursing Assistant, Full-Time, 09/2018 to 10/2021
   Good Samaritan — Boulder, CO 80305

   • Aided in the daily activities of patients, including but not limited to linen changes, bathroom assistance, and showering.

   • Assisted RN's/doctors with non-invasive procedures.

   • Performed phlebotomy and other laboratory services as necessary

   • Worked with event sponsors' internal/external teams on all aspects of planning.

   • Performed Accu-Check glucose testing Patient charting, assisted with patient daily hygiene and feedings, and performed EKG

   
   

   Geriatric Nursing Assistant, Part-Time, 09/2019 to 04/2021
   CNA Financial — Boulder, CO 80305

   • Recorded vital signs, performed EKG, and conducted blood glucose testing and phlebotomy.

   • Certified CPR Red Cross (2012) Surry Community College, Dobson NC Retail Management, two-year Applied Science Associates Degree

   • Exhibited compassionate care and communication with patients and families.

   • Acquired continuing education credits through in-services provided by the facility

   • Assisted nurses with Vital signs, recorded weight and height of clients and alerted assigned RN to any urgent care needs of clients.

5. Education

   In addition to your experience, listing your educational background is an important addition to any data analyst resume. Surprisingly, 29% of those currently working as CNAs only needed a High School Diploma to start their career. All the more reason why listing your educational experience can give you the edge you need on the job market.

   Similarly to your experience section, be sure to list your most recent and important accomplishments at the top of the section. Then, you should include:

   • The name of your school

   • The date you graduated (month, year, or just the year are both appropriate)

   • The name of your degree

   • If you graduated more than 15 years ago, you should consider dropping your graduation date to avoid age discrimination.

   With optional subsections including:

   • Academic awards (Dean's List, Latin honors, etc. )

   • GPA (if you're a recent graduate and your GPA was 3.5+)

   • Extra certifications

   • Academic projects (thesis, dissertation, etc.)

   Overall, the most common degree CNAs have is in Nursing, with 36.9% of them having that degree. Other common degrees include: Nursing Assistant (9.6%), Business (7.4%), and Medical Assisting Services (7.2%).

   Example:

   Nursing Degree 2014 - 2018
   Colorado State University - Boulder, CA

6. Certifications

   Certifications aren’t a requirement for your resume, but they can certainly give you an edge. This is especially true for anyone in the healthcare industry, as certifications can show your professional skillset. So if you have any of these certifications, make sure to put them on your CNA resume:

   • Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA)

   • Medical Assistant

   • Certified Nurse Technician (CNT)

   • Patient Care Technician

   • Medication Aide Certification (MACE)

   • AIDS Certified Registered Nurse (ACRN)

   • Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA)

   • Medical G.A.S. Installer (Med)

   • Dental Assistant (RDA)

   • Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (NHA)

Five Key Resume Tips for Writing a CNA Resume

Having the correct formatting and eye-catching sections is crucial for any resume, but these five key tips will also help you stand out in one of the most popular healthcare fields. Consider the following:

1. Pay Attention to Detail

   You can’t in good faith mention “attention to detail” as one of your skills if you don’t show that in your resume. Consistency, formatting, and grammar are key. For example:

   • Avoid first-person pronouns

   • Use bullet notes for skills and job descriptions (Always favor bullet notes over writing paragraphs)

   • Use acceptable font types and sizes

   • Use past tense when describing previous jobs and present tense for current jobs

   • Bold important details that you want to highlight (e.g., quantities, skills, etc.)

2. Volunteer Experience

   A great way to highlight your compassion, empathy, and patience as a CNA is to include any volunteer programs you’ve participated in. From charities to animal shelters, any experience is useful. However, having volunteer experience in the healthcare industry is even better.

   For example, including that you volunteered at the American Red Cross will not only show that you have a passion for nursing but also that your priority is working to better the lives of patients and communities.

3. Quantify As Much As Possible

   Your accomplishments as a CNA make you desirable, and even more so when you quantify them. For example, Instead of writing that you “increased efficiency of medication administration,” it’s better to say that you “Devised a system of notes and schedules that increased medication administration efficiency by 14%”.

   Accurate numbers, dates, and percentages will improve the quality of your resume. However, even if you only have a rough idea of the numbers, it’s still good to give an estimate.

4. Make Your Resume ATS-Friendly

   Nursing jobs are in demand right now, and that leads to a lot of applicants. In turn, this increases your chances of being judged by ATS Software.

   An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a piece of software employers use to collect, scan, organize, and rank applications. The key to getting your resume past ATS and into the hands of hiring managers is smart keyword usage.

   Some common keywords positively ranked for CNA resumes include:

   • Unlicensed Assistive Personnel

   • Basic Life Support

   • Registered Nurse

   • CNA

   • Patient Care

   • Licensed Nursing Assistant

   • Clinic

   • Vital Signs

   • Hospital

   • Bathing

5. List Computer Skills

   While it might seem strange to add computer skills to your resume, the truth is that the healthcare industry is going digital. Knowing that hiring managers will be more interested in a CNA who has experience working with relevant systems. Plus, since computer skills are less common on CNA resumes, they’ll help you stand out even more.

   Here are some examples of computer skills relevant to CNAs:

   • Electronic Health Records (EHR)

   • Electronic Medical Records (EMR)

   • Electronic Prescriptions, e-Prescribing

   • Personal Digital Assistants

   • Voice recognition technology in mobile healthcare settings