Certified nursing assistant interview questions

Six questions to practice out loud

Written by AI from certified nursing assistant job postings. Each one is the kind of question a certified nursing assistant interview asks, and each tests one of the five skills you are scored on.

1. QUESTION 1 · ROLE RELEVANCE

   Tell me about yourself and why you want to work as a nursing assistant, in under two minutes.

   They are listening for: Where you trained or what care you have already given, one moment that made you want this work, and why this facility.

   What a strong answer includes

   Where you trained or what care you have already given, one moment that made you want this work, and why this facility. Keep it under two minutes. Weak answers list every job since school or stop at 'I like helping people.'

2. QUESTION 2 · CLINICAL JUDGMENT

   You take a resident's blood pressure and it reads 86 over 50. This morning it was 130 over 80, and the resident says they feel fine. What do you do, and what exactly do you tell the nurse?

   They are listening for: Recheck the reading, keep the resident safe where they are, and tell the nurse now rather than at the end of your round.

   What a strong answer includes

   Recheck the reading, keep the resident safe where they are, and tell the nurse now rather than at the end of your round. Give the numbers, the earlier numbers and what you saw, in a clear order such as SBAR, then chart it. Weak answers wait because the resident feels fine, or decide on their own what the number means.

3. QUESTION 3 · COMMUNICATION & WARMTH

   A resident's son stops you in the hall and asks why his mother seems more confused today and whether something happened overnight. What do you say to him, and what do you do next?

   They are listening for: Stay calm and kind, and do not guess.

   What a strong answer includes

   Stay calm and kind, and do not guess. Tell him what you know and are allowed to share, and that you will get the nurse to answer the rest. Then report the new confusion to the nurse, because it may be a change in condition. Weak answers brush him off or speculate about what happened.

4. QUESTION 4 · STAR STRUCTURE

   Tell me about a time a resident refused care you were there to give. What did you try, what did you say, and who did you tell?

   They are listening for: One real resident, the care they refused, and why you think they refused.

   What a strong answer includes

   One real resident, the care they refused, and why you think they refused. What you tried first, such as a choice, a different time or a different approach, and the words you used. Who you told and what was charted. Weak answers describe forcing the care or quietly skipping it.

5. QUESTION 5 · CLINICAL JUDGMENT

   You are halfway through a bed bath when three call lights go on: a resident who wants water, a resident who needs the toilet, and a resident at high risk of falling who says they are getting up. Walk me through the next five minutes.

   They are listening for: Make the resident in front of you safe first: covered, bed low, call light in reach.

   What a strong answer includes

   Make the resident in front of you safe first: covered, bed low, call light in reach. Then go to the resident who is getting up, because a fall cannot wait, and ask a coworker or the nurse to help with the toilet request. Water comes last, and you tell that resident you are coming. Weak answers take the lights in the order they came on.

6. QUESTION 6 · SPECIFICITY & EVIDENCE

   Tell me about a transfer you stopped because it was not safe to do the way it was set up. What did you check, what did you say, and what happened next?

   They are listening for: The resident, the transfer and what made it unsafe: weight-bearing, the equipment or no second person.

   What a strong answer includes

   The resident, the transfer and what made it unsafe: weight-bearing, the equipment or no second person. What you checked, what you said to the resident and your coworker, and what you used instead. If you are new, use a transfer from your clinical training. Weak answers say they have never needed help.