CNA resume example for certified nursing assistants

Activities of daily living (ADLs)

ADLs fill most of a CNA shift, so be concrete: which ones, for how many residents, and how much help they needed.

• Bathed, dressed, groomed and toileted 11 residents per day shift on a long-term care unit, most needing extensive assistance.
• Fed residents on mechanical soft and pureed diets and followed the aspiration precautions in each speech therapy plan.
• Gave perineal and catheter care every 2 hours and told the nurse about any skin redness the same shift.

Vital signs, observation and reporting

Nurses count on the aide to notice change first. Bullets that show you measured, recorded and spoke up are the ones a charge nurse looks for.

• Recorded vital signs and weekly weights for 22 residents and flagged a 5-pound weight gain that the nurse escalated to the physician.
• Measured intake and output for residents on fluid restrictions and indwelling catheters, totaling each shift on the flowsheet.
• Reported a resident's sudden confusion to the charge nurse within minutes of noticing it, which led to a same-day evaluation.

Mobility, transfers and fall prevention

Transfers are where residents and aides get hurt. Name the equipment you are trained on and the safety habits you keep.

• Moved residents with sit-to-stand and full-body mechanical lifts, always as a two-person assist per facility policy.
• Repositioned bedbound residents every 2 hours and floated heels; no new pressure injuries on my assignment in 10 months.
• Walked residents to meals and therapy with walkers and gait belts as part of the restorative ambulation program.

Charting, infection control and teamwork

Directors of nursing need aides who finish documentation, follow isolation rules and help on short-staffed shifts.

• Documented ADLs, meal percentages and behaviors at PointClickCare point-of-care kiosks before the end of every shift.
• Followed contact and enteric isolation for C. diff rooms, including PPE donning and doffing checks at the door.
• Picked up 20 open shifts in a year and oriented 3 new aides to the unit routine and lift procedures.

Dementia care and resident dignity

Memory care and long-stay residents need the same faces and routines, so patience and respect are skills worth proving with specifics.

• Calmed residents with dementia during evening agitation using music, snacks and short walks before involving the nurse.
• Kept each resident's routines and preferences (wake time, clothing, favorite foods) on the care card and followed them.

Nursing home and long-term care

• Lead with resident count, the unit type (long-term, memory care or short-term rehab) and the lifts you are trained on.
• Dementia care and relationships with residents and families carry weight here, because the same aides see the same residents for months.

Hospital nursing assistant

• Hospitals may call the role patient care technician, nursing assistant or patient care assistant. Use the title on your badge and add CNA if you hold it.
• Show the unit, how many patients you supported with the RN team, and extra skills the hospital trained you on, such as EKG lead placement, bladder scans or phlebotomy.
• Mention the EHR and the pace: hospital patients turn over in days, not months, so admissions and discharges are part of every shift.

Home health aide (HHA)

• List the agency as the employer and describe clients without identifying details, such as "3 clients a week, two living with Parkinson's disease."
• Show what the care plan allowed: personal care, medication reminders (not administration), light housekeeping and meal preparation.
• Driving record, schedule reliability and working without a nurse on site matter more here than in a facility, so say so.