CNA Job Description: Template, Duties, Requirements & Pay (2026)
A certified nursing assistant (CNA) provides hands-on daily care to patients and residents — bathing, dressing, feeding, repositioning, taking vitals — under the supervision of an LPN or RN. Below is a copy-paste CNA job description template, the requirements that actually matter, and what it costs to reach CNAs on social media, drawn from 32 Boostpoint campaigns.
What a CNA does
CNAs do the physical work of care. In a skilled nursing facility, one CNA is typically responsible for 8–15 residents on a shift: getting them up, washed and dressed, helping at meals, toileting, turning bed-bound residents every two hours, recording intake and output, and flagging changes to the nurse. In hospitals the title is often patient care technician or nursing assistant, and the work adds vitals, blood glucose checks and transport. In assisted living it leans toward companionship and medication reminders.
About 35% of CNAs work in nursing care facilities, 33% in hospitals and 11% in assisted living, per the BLS. It's a state-certified role: candidates complete a state-approved training program (75 hours federally; many states require 100–180) and pass a competency exam to be listed on the state nurse aide registry. That registry check is non-negotiable for any facility that bills Medicare or Medicaid.
CNA job description template
Copy this into your ATS or job board, replace the bracketed fields, and cut anything that doesn't apply. It's written the way applicants read — pay, schedule and location first — because those are the three things people screen on before they read a duty list.
Job title
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) — [Day / Evening / Night] Shift, [Full-time / Part-time / PRN]
Summary
[Facility name] is hiring CNAs for [shift] at our [skilled nursing facility / hospital unit / assisted living community] in [city, state]. Pay starts at $[XX.XX]/hour plus [shift differential] for evenings and nights, with [sign-on bonus / weekend premium] available. You'll care for [8–12] residents on a consistent assignment, working with a charge nurse who knows your floor.
Responsibilities
- Assist residents with bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting and mobility
- Take and record vital signs, weights, intake and output
- Turn and reposition residents on schedule; use lifts and transfer equipment safely
- Serve meals and assist residents who need help eating; document intake
- Answer call lights promptly and report changes in condition to the charge nurse
- Keep rooms and equipment clean and stocked; follow infection-control procedures
- Chart care in [EHR name] before end of shift
Requirements
- Active CNA certification in [state] and in good standing on the state nurse aide registry
- Ability to pass a background check and [state]-required health screening (TB test, immunizations)
- Able to lift 50 lbs, stand and walk for the full shift, and assist with two-person transfers
- Available for [rotating weekends / every other weekend] as scheduled
- Reliable transportation to [location]
Preferred
- 6+ months of experience in long-term care, rehab or acute care
- BLS/CPR certification (we'll provide training if you don't have it)
- Experience with [PointClickCare / Epic / MatrixCare]
Schedule and pay
- $[XX.XX]–$[XX.XX]/hour based on experience; [+$X.XX] evening and [+$X.XX] night differential
- [12-hour / 8-hour] shifts, [3 / 5] days a week; [every other weekend]
- Consistent assignment — you keep the same residents
Benefits
- Health, dental and vision from day [1 / 30 / 60]
- Paid time off and [6] paid holidays
- [401(k) with X% match]
- [Tuition assistance / CNA-to-LPN pathway]
- Daily pay option
Requirements: what's required, what's preferred, and what kills applications
Almost every CNA posting lists the same requirements, and about half of them are copied from a template rather than checked against the job. Here's what each one does to your applicant flow.
| Requirement | What to know |
|---|---|
| State CNA certification | Required. It's the credential that defines the job, and it's the one thing to verify before an interview. Ask for the registry number in the application; don't ask for a certificate upload — that step alone cuts mobile completions sharply. |
| Background check and health screening | Required by regulation in licensed facilities. Say it plainly in the posting so nobody is surprised at offer stage. |
| Experience | Optional. Listing “1+ years” excludes new graduates, who are the majority of the CNA supply in most markets. If you'll train, say “new CNAs welcome.” |
| BLS/CPR | Nice to have. Most facilities provide it in orientation; don't make it a knockout. |
| High school diploma | Usually unnecessary. State certification already requires it or an equivalent in most states, and asking again adds a question for no filtering value. |
| Physical requirements | Include them. Lifting, standing and transfer ability are honest and legally useful to state, and they don't deter people who already do this work. |
How to customize it for your setting
Skilled nursing facility
Lead with resident ratio and consistent assignment; they matter more to experienced CNAs than anything else on the page. If your ratio is above 12, don't state it — fix it or say “manageable assignments” and be ready to discuss.
Hospital
Use the title your applicants search for — many hospitals post “Patient Care Tech” and lose CNAs searching “CNA jobs.” Consider posting under both titles. Emphasize the clinical skills they'll add (phlebotomy, EKG) and any CNA-to-nursing pathway.
Assisted living and memory care
Lower acuity, more relationship. Say so. Memory care needs candidates who are calm under repetition; ask one screening question about dementia experience rather than requiring a certification.
Home health
CNAs in home care work alone. Cover mileage, scheduling autonomy and whether shifts are consecutive. See our home care agency recruiting data for how those campaigns differ.
What it costs to reach CNAs on social
Across 32 CNA and nursing assistant campaign-months in our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark, the median cost per applicant was $7.72, with the middle half of campaigns landing between $6.18 and $12.06. 18% of people who clicked went on to finish the application — a healthy rate for a credentialed role, and roughly double what we see for RNs.
That number is advertising cost only. It doesn't include screening, registry checks or onboarding, and it buys an applicant, not a hire. What it tells you is that CNAs are reachable: they're on Facebook and Instagram on their breaks, they're rarely searching job boards, and a plainly written ad that names the shift and the pay gets a response. The full picture for RN, LPN and CNA hiring is in our RN, LPN and CNA recruiting cost breakdown, and the industry view is on our healthcare recruiting page.
Writing the ad version
The job description above is for your ATS and careers page. The ad that runs on social is shorter and answers three questions in the first two lines: how much, what shift, where. Something like: “CNAs — $21–$24/hr + $2 night differential. 12-hour nights, 3 days a week, consistent assignment. [Facility], [City]. Apply in 60 seconds, no résumé needed.” Then two or three knockout questions on the form — certification state, shift availability, distance — and nothing else.
Every added field costs completions. In our data the employers who ask only what genuinely disqualifies someone convert at nearly double the rate of those who front-load document uploads and long applications. Our frontline hiring benchmarks cover application completion by role.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main duties of a CNA?
Personal care (bathing, dressing, toileting, feeding), mobility and repositioning, taking vitals, answering call lights, and reporting changes in condition to the nurse. Duties expand in hospitals (blood draws, EKGs in some states) and contract in assisted living.
What qualifications does a CNA need?
Completion of a state-approved nurse aide training program and a passing score on the state competency exam, which places the person on the state registry. Facilities also require a background check and health screening. No college degree is required.
How much do CNAs make?
The national median was $20.32 an hour ($42,260 a year) in 2025 per O*NET/BLS data. Hospitals and unionized facilities tend to pay above the median; rural long-term care tends to pay below it. Shift differentials of $1–$4 an hour are common for evenings, nights and weekends.
What's the difference between a CNA and a caregiver?
A CNA holds a state certification and can work in licensed facilities that bill Medicare/Medicaid. A caregiver or personal care aide typically has no state certification (requirements vary), works mostly in homes and assisted living, and focuses on non-medical support. We have a separate caregiver job description.
Pay, employment and outlook figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook (Nursing Assistants and Orderlies) and O*NET OnLine, 2025 wage data. Cost-per-applicant figures: Boostpoint 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark, 32 CNA campaign-months. Last updated August 2026.