Certified Nursing Assistant Resume Example
A CNA resume that shows the patient care you deliver, the setting and patient load, your state certification and your charting accuracy.
How to write a certified nursing assistant resume that lands interviews
A great certified nursing assistant resume isn't a list of responsibilities — it's a tight stack of quantified outcomes, written in language an ATS scores and a human reader believes. Below: the 8 bullets a strong candidate uses, the 4 they avoid, the keywords the ATS expects, the pay figures to anchor your negotiation against, and the FAQs we hear most often.
Sample bullets — good vs weak
Each “good” bullet leads with the outcome, includes a measurable result, and shows scope. The “weak” versions describe activities without showing impact. Use these as templates; rewrite them in your own voice with your real numbers.
✅ Bullets that get the call
- Provided daily care for 10 to 12 residents per shift on a long-term care unit, including bathing, dressing, feeding and toileting.
- Took and charted vital signs for every assigned resident each shift in PointClickCare, flagging changes to the charge nurse the same hour.
- Performed safe transfers with gait belts and a Hoyer lift, with no resident injuries during transfers over 2 years.
- Turned and repositioned high-risk residents every 2 hours and reported early skin changes, supporting the unit's pressure-injury prevention plan.
- Recorded intake and output for residents on fluid monitoring with complete records at every audit.
- Worked in the memory care wing, using redirection and routine to calm residents with dementia during evening hours.
- Oriented 6 new CNAs to unit routines, call-light response and documentation standards.
- Picked up extra shifts during staffing shortages, covering both day and evening rotations.
❌ Bullets to rewrite
- Helped patients.
- Took vital signs.
- Caring and compassionate.
- Worked with nurses.
ATS keywords to weave into your bullets
The four-component ATS rubric weights keyword density inside experience bullets more heavily than the keywords-only skills section. These are the 14+ keywords most often scored on a certified nursing assistant resume — fold them into your bullets where they're honestly applicable.
Certified Nursing Assistant salary
Annual pay across the United States, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of these workers earn between the 25th and 75th percentile figures. Your offer will depend on the state, the employer and the shift.
| Annual pay | Amount |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $34k |
| 25th percentile | $37k |
| Median | $42k |
| 75th percentile | $47k |
| 90th percentile | $52k |
Want a deeper salary breakdown by city + role + experience? See the full Certified Nursing Assistant salary guide →
Common mistakes (and how to fix them)
- No patient load or settingFix: State residents or patients per shift and the type of unit.
- Certification missing detailsFix: Include the state and expiration date.
- Only describing compassionFix: Show it through specific care tasks and outcomes such as no transfer injuries.
- Skipping documentationFix: Name the charting system and what you recorded.
ATS tips specific to certified nursing assistant resumes
- Write 'Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)' once in full so both forms are searchable.
- List BLS, CNA and any other certifications with dates in their own section.
- Mention the charting system by name if you used one.
- Use the facility type from the posting, for example 'long-term care' or 'acute care', where it matches your experience.
Frequently asked questions
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Start freeAbout this guideThe ApplyVita Career Team — The ApplyVita Career Team builds the resume-scoring and job-matching tools at the core of ApplyVita. Our guidance is grounded in the same four-component ATS rubric our product scores resumes on — content and impact, keyword match, formatting, and skills — and in current recruiter and hiring-manager practice. Every guide is checked against that rubric before it is published, and updated as hiring norms change.