As a Certified Nursing Assistant, you’re used to taking care of patients, but have you neglected your resume in the process? Nurse your resume back to health and give your career a booster shot with our tailored resume templates and expert advice.
CNA Resume Example MSWord®
Download our free Certified Nursing Assistant Resume template in Word and nurse your career back to full health!
Writing the perfect resume is like working with a patient. It might not always be easy, but with a lot of care and attention, you’ll be able to nurse your resume to health so that potential employers will have no choice but to give you an interview.
In this guide, we’ll go over how to write the perfect Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) resume to give potential employers a “shot” of inspiration to hire you, including:
If you prefer more of a hands-on approach to learning, we’ll fill this guide with tons of resume examples, so you can see for yourself what goes into building a great resume.
Already know what you want to include in your certified nursing assistant resume? Hop over to ResumeGiants’ online free resume builder. You can choose from dozens of templates to find the professional format that fits your style. Just find a template, fill in your information, download the file, and you’re ready to apply for your new position!
However, if the thought of jumping right in makes your vitals spike a bit, don’t worry. Keep reading for plenty of tips and tricks to help you showcase your skills and experience effectively. With a solid resume in your arsenal, you’ll be able to start your career as a CNA in no time.
Before we start talking about the various sections of a CNA resume, why don’t we look at one first. That way, you can see how to arrange the sections and what information to include in each.
No matter what format or template you choose, or if you choose to make a digital resume, the sections should look somewhat similar to the below example. Think of this as your baseline to produce an amazing resume.
Resume Example Copy to clipboard[Certified Nursing Assistant]
[Charlotte, NC 28105 | 765-555-4321 | kalotts@randomemail.com]
Summary
Reliable, compassionate, and service-focused certified nursing assistant with 5+ years of experience helping patients with day-to-day activities, including the performance of safe transfers, answering call lights, and measuring patient progress using a variety of instruments in a diverse array of healthcare settings. CPR and BLS certified.
Experience
Boulding Mill Medical Center – Charlotte, NC
Certified Nursing Assistant
Morganton Point Family Practice – Durham, NC
Medical Office Assistant
Education
Concord Community College | Concord, NC
Nursing Assistance Program
Certified in 2018
West Charlotte High School | Charlotte, NC
Diploma in 2015
Skills and Qualifications
Certifications
North Carolina Department of Health Certified Nursing Assistant, #12345678
Awards
Activities
Languages
Your resume is like your first impression to potential employers. You have only about five seconds to make an impression. That’s the average length of time employers take to read through a resume. That’s why it’s essential to choose the right format to show employers all they need to see quickly, clearly, and efficiently.
While your exact layout may change, here are a few resume formatting tips to help you write an effective CNA resume:
There’s no single resume format that works best for every applicant, but the basic idea is to put the most important information first, which will hopefully encourage recruiters to keep reading.
In general, most CNA resumes follow this basic order:
As stated, your layout might differ from this list slightly. For example, if you don’t have much professional experience, you might want to put your education or skills and qualifications first.
Without actual professional experience, your skills and education become more important and should climb to the top of your resume.
Now that you know all the pieces that go into a full CNA resume, let’s take a look at each one by one. Since I don’t know your contact information, let’s jump ahead to your resume summary or objective.
Your certified nurse assistant resume summary or objective is the first real piece of information hiring managers read about you, so it has to be good! So, what’s the difference between a resume summary and a resume objective?
A resume summary outlines your specific experience, while an objective focuses on your career goals.
Resume summaries are best for applicants who have experience, while resume objectives might be better for entry-level CNAs without experience.
If you don’t have much experience, you might find it hard to write a resume summary. However, a resume objective is an alternative for entry-level CNA applicants to tell potential employers about their passions, goals, and what would make them perfect for the job.
The best way to write a CNA resume summary is to make a quick list of all your experience and skills you want to talk about. Then, try to write all the bullets into a few short sentences.
If you are having problems writing this, why not see if you can get assistance from a ChatGPT in writing your resume’s introduction? The chatbot could summarize your key experience and achievements and you can then edit it for your personal touch.
To give you an idea of what you’re looking for, here’s a quick example of a good CNA resume summary:
Reliable, compassionate, and service-focused certified nursing assistant with 5+ years of experience helping patients with day-to-day activities, including performance of safe transfers, answering call lights, and measuring patient progress using a variety of instruments in a diverse array of healthcare settings. CPR and BLS certified.
The goal is to keep your CNA resume summary concise. It’s important to include specifics about your experience, but you also don’t want to bore potential employers with unnecessary fluff.
Resume summaries are great if you have a resume to summarize, but what if you’re just starting out on your exciting CNA adventure and don’t have much—if any—professional experience? That’s where a resume objective comes in.
A resume objective is a short explanation of your career goals. Talk about your passion for nursing, where you want your career to go, and any skills that would make you a great CNA. Just because you don’t have professional experience doesn’t mean you won’t be a great CNA!
To make your resume stand out, it’s always a good idea to customize your resume objective to fit the job you’re applying to.
Pretend you want to apply to a CNA position at ResumeGiants Medical Center (It’s very prestigious). In your resume objective, all you have to do is mention RGMC. When an employer reads it, they’ll know you take attention to detail very seriously and you put a lot of care into your work.
By not using a simple copy/paste resume objective—which is the easy way out—you show you’re willing to put in more work than other applicants, helping you stand out from the pack. Throwing a little personalization into your CNA resume objective goes a long way with employers.
Now that you know how to write a solid resume objective, let’s take a look at some examples. First, let’s check out what not to do:
Looking for a position as a CNA. I recently got my certification and don’t have any professional experience, but I’m very compassionate and have a passion for helping others.
Not only does the person who wrote this example admit they don’t have any experience, but they’re also not very specific with their skills. How many CNA applicants do you think are compassionate and enjoy helping others? Likely all of them! This won’t help you stand out at all.
Instead, you should always use concrete, specific details about your communication skills, nursing knowledge, work experience, and goals. Here’s an example of a good CNA resume objective:
Certified nursing assistant with a strong commitment to providing patient comfort and care seeking a position at the ResumeGiants Medical Center. I have experience using medical instruments in a variety of healthcare settings and excellent written and verbal communication skills. CPR and BLS certified.
Now that’s a resume objective you can get behind! Not only does it provide concrete details about the applicant’s skills and goals, but it also uses the employer’s name for some extra brownie points.
Experience is one of the most important parts of your resume. Anyone can go to school and learn about a topic, but not everyone can apply that knowledge to real-life situations. Professional experience proves to potential employers that you can apply your skills.
The experience section of your CNA resume should cover three very important aspects:
Similar to your CNA resume summary or objective, the key is to provide enough information about your professional experience without boring potential employers with too much detail or fluff. Hit the highlights and move on.
Any experience you put on your resume should be relevant to the position you’re applying to.
Here are a few CNA resume experience section tips to help you stand out from the competition:
You might have noticed that we’ve said to personalize your resume based on the specific job description, and we’ll say it a few more because it’s super important!
Read the job description thoroughly and update your resume accordingly. It shows you put in the effort and pay attention to detail, which is essential for a certified nursing assistant. If you notice a certain requirement in the description, like you must be CPR certified, then make sure you put it in your resume.
It might be easier to use the same resume for every job, but if you want to stand out from the competition, customizing your resume is the way to go—and that includes your CNA resume experience section.
Now that we have what goes into writing an experience section down, let’s take a look at some examples.
First, here’s an example of what not to do in your CNA resume experience section:
Certified Nursing Assistant – 2021
What’s wrong with this experience section? There aren’t any real details!
Remember, you’re competing with possibly hundreds of other CNA applicants, all of whom have relevant experience. How many of them have “helped patients?” Likely all of them. This type of experience section doesn’t get you noticed; it gets your resume thrown into the trash can.
If you want your experience to stand out, always use concrete details and back them up with real numbers and statistics.
Here’s an example of what a good CNA resume experience section looks like:
Boulding Mill Medical Center – Charlotte, NC
Certified Nursing Assistant
Specific and concrete details, that’s how you write a solid CNA resume experience section. This example shows off the exact responsibilities and achievements of the applicant. While other applicants might have worked in busy hospitals, this one cared for 20 patients per shift.
That specificity will help them stand out to potential employers, and the specific number helps to lend credibility. Anyone can say they can handle fast-paced environments, but this experience section proves it.
Using specifics and facts in your CNA resume experience section is great and all, but what if you don’t have much (or any) experience? That’s okay! Everyone has to begin their CNA career somewhere.
There’s a good chance you have more experience than you think. Consider everything you’ve done in the past that might count as nursing experience. Perhaps you helped an elderly neighbor in their day-to-day life for a few months or even years? That counts as experience!
Let’s take a look at a beginner CNA resume experience section that likely won’t land the applicant a job:
Nursing School Graduate
I recently graduated from nursing school as a certified nursing assistant. I don’t have much experience, but I’m compassionate and love to work with patients.
Not only did this candidate admit they don’t have much experience (which won’t raise any heart rates in the hiring manager’s office), but the experience they did provide wasn’t entirely relevant to working as a certified nursing assistant.
Whether you have experience or not, it’s always important to provide enough detail. The same CNA resume experience section rules apply:
Here’s an example of a good beginner CNA resume experience section:
Morganton Point Family Practice – Durham, NC
Medical Office Assistant
This applicant might not have experience as a CNA, but they customized their previous experience as a medical office assistant to fit the needs of an employer looking for a certified nursing assistant.
Instead of talking about filing and organizing paperwork, they tailored their experience to fit the job by focusing on their specific responsibilities and achievements working with patients, managing their time well with fast-paced workloads, and understanding basic medical supplies—all of which are important for a successful CNA.
To become a certified nursing assistant, you might not need a college degree, but that doesn’t mean your education section is any less important.
There is one essential thing every CNA needs, and that’s the “C” in CNA.
To earn your “C”, you have to be educated. That’s why it’s important to show off your education on your resume. That lets potential employers know you’ve been properly trained to handle the essential duties of a CNA and help keep people alive and comfortable.
All CNAs have to be certified. Otherwise, they’d just be NAs! Your education section is a great place to show off where you got your certification from.
Most employers want to know three things about your education:
Here’s a quick example of what a good CNA resume education section looks like:
Concord Community College | Concord, NC
Nursing Assistance Program
West Charlotte High School | Charlotte, NC
It might not seem like a lot, but this education section shows all the information employers need to see. They can tell where you went to school, when you were there, and the program you completed.
You’re also welcome to add your GPA to your CNA resume education section, but only if it’s high enough to impress potential employers.
Maybe you participated in community outreach programs when studying. These kinds of extracurricular activities can give your resume a boost too, so add them as bullet points under the name and dates of the school.
If you have a college degree, you can omit your high school diploma. If you went to college, it’s a pretty safe bet that you graduated high school. It would just take up precious space on your resume.
Your experience and education might say a lot, but they don’t tell employers everything. To fill out your resume, adding a skills section is a great way to showcase your more unique qualifications that might help you stand out from the pack.
Skills can be broken down into two categories:
It’s best to provide a nice mix of both hard and soft skills on your resume. Still not quite sure what we mean? Here’s a quick list of skills that look great on a CNA resume:
