Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) – Long-Term Care & Hospital
A CNA job description template for long-term care and hospital roles, with clear duties, required skills, ADA-friendly essential functions, and pay transparency placeholders.
Trusted by frontline teams 15 years of frontline software AI customization in seconds
Built for: Long Term Care · Hospitals · Skilled Nursing Facilities · Rehabilitation Centers
Overview
This Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) – Long-Term Care & Hospital template is a ready-to-edit job description for frontline patient care roles in nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation settings, and hospital units. It gives you a structured way to describe what the CNA actually does, what skills are required, what experience is preferred, and how the role is compensated.
Use it when you need a posting that is specific enough for applicants to understand the work, but flexible enough to adapt to your unit, shift, and employment type. The template is especially useful when you want to separate essential functions from preferred skills, keep the language bias-free, and include salary range and benefits placeholders for compliant posting. It also helps hiring teams stay aligned on scope before interviews begin.
Do not use it as-is if the role is substantially different from a standard CNA job, such as a specialized sitter, sterile processing support, or a role that requires advanced clinical duties outside CNA scope. It also should be reviewed carefully if the position includes unusual lifting demands, float expectations, or unit-specific competencies. The goal is a posting that matches the real job, supports applicant screening, and reduces back-and-forth during hiring.
Standards & compliance context
- The essential functions section supports ADA documentation by describing the actual tasks the CNA must perform, which helps with accommodation review.
- The requirements should stay bias-free and skills-focused to align with EEOC and OFCCP guidance on fair hiring language.
- If the role is nonexempt, the posting should not imply exempt treatment, and the salary or hourly pay language should match FLSA classification.
- Where state or local pay transparency rules apply, include a realistic salary range with minimum, maximum, and pay type before posting.
- Use required skill and preferred skill distinctions to avoid overloading the posting with unnecessary qualifications that could screen out qualified candidates.
General regulatory context for orientation only — verify current requirements with counsel or the relevant agency before relying on this template for compliance.
How to use this template
- 1. Replace the placeholders for {company_name}, {department}, {benefits}, employment type, role level, and salary range so the posting reflects the exact opening.
- 2. Edit the title template and summary to match the care setting, such as long-term care, hospital med-surg, rehab, or memory care, without adding unrelated duties.
- 3. Review the essential functions and required skills with the nurse manager or hiring manager to confirm the CNA will actually perform those tasks on the unit.
- 4. Add shift, weekend, holiday, floating, and supervision details so candidates understand the schedule and patient-care expectations before applying.
- 5. Publish the posting, then compare applicant questions and interview feedback against the description to tighten any unclear or missing requirements before the next opening.
Best practices
- List the CNA’s essential functions in plain language, such as bathing, feeding, repositioning, ambulation support, and vital sign collection.
- Keep required skills to the few that truly matter, and move nice-to-have items like specialty unit exposure into preferred skills.
- State the employment type, shift, and schedule expectations directly in the posting so applicants can self-select accurately.
- Use outcomes and patient-care tasks rather than vague traits like teamwork or compassion alone, since those are hard to screen for.
- Include salary range, pay type, and any shift differential language in the posting if your jurisdiction or policy requires pay transparency.
- Review the physical demands section carefully so it matches the actual lifting, standing, transfer, and mobility support requirements of the role.
- Avoid years-of-experience as the only screen; pair experience level with concrete skills and demonstrated care tasks.
- Tailor the description to the unit and patient population so hospital, long-term care, and rehab applicants can see the difference immediately.
What this template typically catches
Issues teams running this template most often surface in practice:
Common use cases
Frequently asked questions
Is this CNA template meant for long-term care, hospitals, or both?
It is written for both long-term care and hospital CNA postings, so you can adapt the same core structure to either setting. The duties section supports bedside care, hygiene assistance, mobility support, and documentation, which are common across both environments. You should customize the workflow details, patient population, and unit-specific expectations to match the actual role.
What should I customize before posting this CNA job description?
Update the title template, employment type, role level, salary range, shift details, and any unit-specific requirements such as dementia care, med-surg support, or rehab experience. Replace placeholders like {company_name}, {department}, and {benefits} with your actual information. You should also review the essential functions and required skills so they reflect the real job, not a generic checklist.
How often should a CNA job description be reviewed?
Review it whenever the schedule, unit assignment, patient population, or reporting structure changes. It is also smart to revisit the template when pay ranges, state posting rules, or internal competency standards change. For active hiring, confirm the posting still matches the actual shift and care setting before each repost.
Who should use this template to create the final posting?
HR, recruiting, and the hiring manager should review it together before publishing. In healthcare settings, the nurse manager or unit leader should confirm the essential functions and required skills, since they know the day-to-day work. If your organization has compliance review, include that step before the posting goes live.
Does this template help with ADA and job description compliance?
Yes, it is structured to support ADA-friendly essential functions by focusing on the actual tasks the CNA must perform. That makes it easier to separate essential functions from preferred experience or nice-to-have skills. You should still verify that physical demands, lifting expectations, and accommodation language match your workplace and legal review process.
How does this compare with writing a CNA posting from scratch?
A template gives you a consistent structure for duties, qualifications, compensation, and benefits, which reduces missed details and speeds up approvals. It also helps avoid vague language and overly long requirements lists that can discourage qualified applicants. Compared with ad hoc postings, it is easier to keep the role aligned with SHRM-style job description structure and posting best practices.
What salary information should be included in this CNA template?
Include a realistic salary range with a minimum, maximum, and type, such as hourly pay, if your location or policy requires pay transparency. The range should reflect the role level, shift, and local market rather than a generic company-wide number. If you offer shift differentials, overtime eligibility, or premium pay, note those clearly in the compensation section.
Can this template be used for contract, part-time, or PRN CNA roles?
Yes, but you should change the employment type and adjust the schedule language to match the assignment. For PRN or temporary roles, clarify availability expectations, unit coverage, and whether the CNA may float between departments. For contract roles, confirm whether the posting should mention agency coordination or assignment length.
Related templates
Go deeper on the topic
-
Healthcare employee engagement ideas to reduce burnout, boost retention, and improve patient outcomes in your health system.
-
Discover how digital transformation improves healthcare employee experience—streamlining communication, reducing admin burden, and boosting frontline...
-
Discover how technology and employee engagement strategies reduce healthcare burnout, protect staff well-being, and improve patient care quality.
-
Learn the key signs of physician burnout—emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and more—and discover proven methods to measure and address them in...
Ready to use this template?
Get started with MangoApps and use Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) – Long-Term Care & Hospital with your team — pricing built for small business.
