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A certified nurse aide job description covers the person who delivers most of the hands on care in a hospital, nursing home or client’s home. Nursing assistants help patients bathe, dress, eat and move, record patients’ vital signs such as blood pressure and pulse, and report changes to the nurses and medical staff above them. “Certified nurse aide”, “nursing assistant” and “certified nursing assistant (CNA)” are the same job under different state and employer titles.
Quick answer: a certified nurse aide provides basic patient care under the supervision of a licensed nurse. The role needs a state approved CNA training program, a passed competency exam and a listing on the state nurse aide registry. Most employers also ask for a high school diploma or GED and CPR or BLS certification. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $42,260 for nursing assistants as of May 2025.
A nursing assistant is the member of the care team who spends the most time at the bedside. Nurses plan and direct care. The CNA carries out much of it and is often the first to notice that a resident is eating less or more confused than yesterday.
Job postings often undersell that observation role. A nurse aide who reports a subtle change early can head off a fall or a pressure injury, so say plainly that noticing and reporting are part of the job.
Core duties in almost every setting:
The BLS reports that about 36 percent of nursing assistants work in nursing care facilities, 32 percent in hospitals, 11 percent in continuing care retirement and assisted living communities, and 5 percent in home healthcare services. The duties overlap. The pace and level of independence do not.
| Setting | What the CNA role looks like |
|---|---|
| Long term care and skilled nursing | Steady caseload of residents. Heavy on activities of daily living, mobility and dementia care. Relationships with residents last months or years. |
| Hospital | Faster turnover of patients, more frequent vital signs, help with admissions, discharges and post surgical mobility. Works closely with a larger team of medical staff. |
| Home care | One client at a time in the client’s home, with less direct supervision. Adds light housekeeping, meal prep and more independent judgment about when to call the nurse. |
Name the setting in the title and first line of the posting. Candidates who want hospital experience will self select out of a long term care role, which saves both sides time. See also our long term care nurse job description and geriatric nurse job description.
Certification rules are set by each state, on top of a federal floor. Under federal rules for Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing facilities, a nurse aide must complete at least 75 hours of training, including at least 16 hours of supervised practical training, and pass a competency evaluation. Many states require more hours than that.
A standard requirements list:
Registry listings can lapse after a stretch without paid nursing work, so ask candidates to confirm their status is active today. If you hire people still in training, say whether you offer a “nurse aide in training” track.
Credentials show a candidate cleared a minimum bar. They do not show who will be reliable on a short staffed night shift, so test these skills rather than taking them on faith.
Clinical and technical skills:
Interpersonal and behavioral skills:
Language matters too. A CNA who cannot follow a care plan or explain a change clearly is a safety risk, however warm their bedside manner.
Copy this template and edit the bracketed parts.
Job title: Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) / Certified Nurse Aide, [Unit or setting]
Location and schedule: [Facility name, city]. [Full time / part time / per diem]. [Shift: days, evenings, nights, weekends].
About the role: We are hiring a certified nurse aide to provide daily care to [residents / patients / home care clients] under the direction of our licensed nurses. You will be the person our patients see most, and our nurses rely on what you notice and report.
What you will do:
What you need:
What we offer: [Pay range, shift differentials, benefits, tuition support for LPN or RN programs].
Put the pay range in the posting. CNA candidates compare offers quickly, and a posting without pay loses them to one that has it.
CNA hiring is high volume by nature. The bottleneck is rarely finding applicants. It is working out which ones hold an active certification, can do the work and will show up.
A practical screening checklist:
This is where Glider AI fits. Glider is built for high volume, evergreen roles like CNA hiring. An AI recruiter reaches applicants by phone, SMS, WhatsApp, email or web chat to collect availability and shift preferences. Skill assessments, drawn from a bank covering 200+ non technical and functional roles or built from your own questions and rubrics, check knowledge before the interview. One way video interviews let candidates answer scenario questions on their own time, scored against the same rubric for everyone. ID Verify matches photo ID, a live selfie, location and voice across each hiring stage, so a mismatch gets flagged before the offer. Browse the skill test library for ready made assessments.
A nursing assistant needs weeks of training and a state certification, and works under supervision. A registered nurse holds a nursing degree or diploma, passes the NCLEX RN exam, gives medications and directs the care plan, including CNA work. Many CNAs treat the role as a first step toward an LPN or RN license. For the next level of the care team, see our registered nurse job description.
A certified nurse aide gives basic daily care under a licensed nurse’s supervision: bathing, dressing, feeding and moving patients, recording vital signs, and reporting any change in condition to the nurse.
Yes, in practice. “Nursing assistant”, “nurse aide”, “certified nurse aide” and “certified nursing assistant (CNA)” describe the same role. “Certified” means the person passed the state competency exam and is listed on the state nurse aide registry.
Federal rules set a minimum of 75 hours, including 16 hours of supervised practical training, for aides in Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing facilities. Many states require more hours, so check your state’s rules.
The BLS reports a median annual wage of $42,260 for nursing assistants as of May 2025. Pay varies by state, setting and shift.
A good certified nurse aide job description includes the care setting, shift and schedule, core duties, certification and registry requirements, physical demands, preferred experience and a clear pay range.
Confirm registry status first, then use a short role specific assessment and scenario questions on safe transfers, infection control and escalation. Verify identity so the candidate you assess is the one who starts.
Browse more templates in the job description library, or talk to Glider AI about assessing and verifying CNA candidates before they reach your nurse managers.
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