Application guide
CNA resume guide: examples, skills, and current job keywords
Your resume should prove what you're trained and certified to do — not more, and not less. Build it around your real certification, clinical training hours, and the setting you're applying to.
One-screen checklist
Anatomy of a CNA resume
- Header: name, phone, email, city/state (no full street address needed).
- Certification line: your certification name, issuing state/registry, and status (active, pending exam, or renewal date).
- Clinical training or work experience, most recent first, each with setting and dates.
- Skills: only what you actually hold.
- Education: program name and completion date.
Example
Newly certified CNA, no paid clinical experience
Every name and detail below is a fictional placeholder — replace all of it with your own real information.
Jordan Alvarez
(555) 555-0134 · jordan.alvarez@email.com · Springfield, OH
Certification: State Tested Nursing Assistant (STNA), Ohio registry — active, exam passed [month/year]
Clinical training: [Program Name], 75-hour state-approved nurse aide training program, including 16 hours of supervised clinical practice at [Facility Name] — assisted with activities of daily living, vital signs, transfers, and documentation under supervision.
Experience: Caregiver (unpaid, family), 2023–2024 — provided daily mobility and personal-care support for an aging relative, coordinating with home health staff.
Skills: Activities of daily living support, vital signs, safe transfers and repositioning, documentation, teamwork with licensed nursing staff.
Education: [Program Name], nurse aide training, completed [month/year].
Tailoring
Match your resume to the setting
| Setting | What to emphasize |
|---|---|
| Hospital / acute care | Fast-paced patient turnover, vitals frequency, teamwork with RNs, documentation in a hospital EHR. |
| Skilled nursing / long-term care | Consistent patient assignments, ADL support, restorative care routines, and family communication. |
| Assisted living / rehab | Independence-focused care, mobility assistance, and coordination with therapy staff. |
| Home health | Working independently, one-to-one care, travel between visits, and reporting changes to a supervising nurse. |
Before you send it
Scope and privacy checklist
- Do not claim medication administration, wound care, phlebotomy, EKG, or other procedures unless you actually performed them within your training and authorized scope.
- Do not include real patient names, dates of birth, diagnoses, or other identifying details — even in an example.
- Do not invent percentages or patient outcomes. If you don’t have a real number, describe your role in plain language instead.
- State your certification and registry status accurately, including if it’s pending or inactive.
CNA duties and terminology vary by state and facility policy. When in doubt, check your state nurse aide registry rather than a generic resume guide.
Common questions
CNA resumes, answered
- How do I write a CNA resume with no paid experience?
- Lead with your certification and clinical training hours from your program. List them clearly as training, not employment, and add any transferable experience — caregiving, retail, hospitality, or volunteer work involving people and responsibility.
- What skills should I list on a CNA resume?
- List skills you actually hold: activities-of-daily-living support, vital signs, transfers/mobility assistance, documentation, and teamwork. Only include a skill if you can speak to it in an interview.
- Is CNA the same as nurse aide, LNA, or STNA?
- These are largely the same occupation under different state or employer terminology. Use the term your state and the specific posting use, and don’t assume every title carries identical requirements.
- Should my resume be one page?
- Yes for most CNA applicants — one page is standard unless you have many years of directly relevant experience.
Find the posting to tailor this to
Match your certification, setting, and skills to a real, current opening.