How do I write a CNA resume with no experience?

Lead with certification and clinical hours from your training program: facility type, skills practiced, and patient interactions. Add any caregiving, service, or volunteer work with quantified, care-adjacent bullets.

Should a CNA resume list clinical skills individually?

Yes: postings screen for specific terms like vital signs, ADLs, transfers, and infection control. A skills section of 8-12 named skills matched to the posting outranks a paragraph.

How long should a CNA resume be?

One page. Certification, setting, patient load, and safety record carry the decision.

Do facilities check the state registry?

Yes, always, and 'in good standing' is verified. State your registry status accurately; a mismatch ends candidacy.

Certified Nursing Assistant resume example

What makes it work

A strong CNA resume leads with state certification and registry status, quantifies patient load and care setting (long-term care, med-surg, memory care), and names the concrete skills postings screen for: vital signs, ADLs, Hoyer lift, EHR charting. Hospitals and facilities filter high applicant volumes through ATS, and certification is a hard pass/fail field.

Amara Diallo

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) | Long-Term Care and Med-Surg | 3 Years

Louisville, KY • (555) 555-0100 • name@email.com • linkedin.com/in/example

Summary

State-certified nursing assistant with 3 years across long-term care and hospital med-surg. Provides ADL support, vital signs, and mobility assistance for 10-14 residents per shift; zero patient-safety incidents across employment. Skilled in Hoyer lift transfers, dementia care, and PointClickCare charting.

Experience

Certified Nursing Assistant | Baptist Health Louisville, Med-Surg Unit | Apr 2023 - Present

•Support 10-12 patients per shift with ADLs, ambulation, repositioning, and vital signs on a 36-bed med-surg unit.
•Record vitals and intake/output in Epic; charting flagged 3 early deterioration cases escalated to RNs.
•Perform safe transfers with gait belts and Hoyer lifts; zero patient falls on assignments across two years.
•Orient 5 new CNAs to unit workflows as a designated peer trainer.

Nursing Assistant | Maple Ridge Senior Living (Long-Term Care) | Jun 2022 - Mar 2023

•Cared for 14 residents per shift in long-term and memory care: bathing, dressing, feeding assistance, and toileting.
•Used PointClickCare for shift documentation with 100% same-shift completion.
•Recognized twice by families in facility satisfaction surveys for dignity-centered dementia care.

Education

State-Approved Nurse Aide Training Program, Jefferson Community College, 2022

High School Diploma, 2021

Skills

Activities of daily living (ADLs) • Vital signs monitoring • Patient transfers (Hoyer lift, gait belt) • Infection control • Dementia and memory care • Intake and output documentation • Epic EHR • PointClickCare • HIPAA compliance • CPR / BLS

Certifications

• Kentucky State Registered Nurse Aide (active, in good standing)

• BLS / CPR, American Heart Association (2025)

Keywords ATS look for in a certified nursing assistant resume

These terms appear across certified nursing assistantpostings and are what screening software ranks on. Use the ones that are true of you, in the posting's exact wording.

certified nursing assistant
CNA
state registry
ADLs
vital signs
patient care
long-term care
med-surg
Hoyer lift
infection control
HIPAA
charting
Epic
PointClickCare
dementia care
BLS
patient safety
mobility assistance

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Common certified nursing assistant resume mistakes

Certification not immediately visible

State certification and registry standing are pass/fail screening fields. Put CNA status in the headline and a certifications block with state and standing, exactly as the posting words it.

No patient numbers

Residents or patients per shift, unit size, and falls/incident record are how facilities judge whether you can handle their ratios. Numbers rank; adjectives do not.

Setting mismatch

Long-term care, hospital, and home health postings screen on different terms. Mirror the setting language of the posting you are applying to.

Leaving out the EHR

PointClickCare, Epic, and MatrixCare are named filters in many postings. List the systems you have charted in.

Start from an ATS-safe template

The Graduate template suits most certified nursing assistant applications: Students, new graduates, and career changers whose education is stronger evidence than work history.

Download Graduate (DOCX)See all templates

Frequently asked questions

How do I write a CNA resume with no experience?: Lead with certification and clinical hours from your training program: facility type, skills practiced, and patient interactions. Add any caregiving, service, or volunteer work with quantified, care-adjacent bullets.
Should a CNA resume list clinical skills individually?: Yes: postings screen for specific terms like vital signs, ADLs, transfers, and infection control. A skills section of 8-12 named skills matched to the posting outranks a paragraph.
How long should a CNA resume be?: One page. Certification, setting, patient load, and safety record carry the decision.
Do facilities check the state registry?: Yes, always, and 'in good standing' is verified. State your registry status accurately; a mismatch ends candidacy.