CNA screening questions: registry status, care skills, assignments and shifts

CNA screening questions should settle three things before anything else: whether the candidate is active and in good standing on the nurse aide registry of the state where the job is, whether they have worked for pay as an aide recently enough to stay eligible, and whether their setting and resident assignment look like the client's. After that, test hands-on care skills, charting and shift reliability, where most CNA placements succeed or fail.

This bank is for recruiters placing certified nursing assistants in skilled nursing facilities, long-term care, assisted living, hospitals and rehab units, on per diem, contract or permanent terms. For licensed nurses, use the nurse phone screen questions. For aides who work in patients' homes, the home health aide screening questions cover the separate training rules and visit verification.

The federal baseline and where states go further

Nursing facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid follow federal nurse aide rules, and states run the registries, approve training programs and often set higher requirements. As commonly summarized from the regulations, as of September 2026:

• Training: a state-approved program of at least 75 clock hours, including at least 16 hours of supervised practical training, with 16 hours of set topics before any direct resident contact (42 CFR 483.152).
• The four-month rule: a facility may not use someone as a nurse aide full time for more than four months unless they have completed training and competency evaluation (42 CFR 483.35(d)).
• Registry checks: before an aide works, the facility must receive registry verification, and must seek information from every state registry it believes has information on the person (same section).
• The 24-month rule: 24 consecutive months without paid nursing or nursing-related work means a new training and competency evaluation program (same section).
• In-service training: at least 12 hours a year for aides in the facility (42 CFR 483.95(g)).

States add to this. California, for example, requires 160 hours of training, 60 of classroom theory and 100 of supervised clinical training (California Department of Public Health). Renewal, continuing education and reciprocity rules also differ by state, so look up the job state's nurse aide registry before your first screen for a new client.

Registry, certification and eligibility questions

1. "Which state is your CNA certificate on, and when does it expire?"
   • Strong answer: the state, the certificate number or the name it is listed under, and an expiration month and year.
   • Red flags: "I passed the test" with no idea whether they were added to the registry. Unsure of the expiration date.
2. "Have you been certified or worked as an aide in any other state?"
   • Strong answer: lists every state, including ones where the certificate has lapsed.
   • Red flags: leaves out a state that appears on the resume. The facility must check every registry it believes has information, and a finding on another state's registry is what gets missed.
3. "When did you last work as a CNA for pay, and where?"
   • Strong answer: a recent employer and date, with pay stubs or a reference if needed.
   • Red flags: a gap approaching or over 24 months, or recent "work" that was volunteer or family caregiving. Under the federal rule, unpaid work does not keep eligibility.
4. "The job is in [state]. Have you transferred your certificate there?"
   • Strong answer: already on that state's registry, or has applied and knows the status.
   • Red flags: assumes their certificate works everywhere. Confirm the state's reciprocity process before agreeing a start date.
5. "Do you hold any other credentials: medication aide, restorative aide, phlebotomy, BLS?"
   • Strong answer: names each with the issuing body and whether it is current. Knows that medication aide titles and scope are state-specific.
   • Red flags: says they "passed meds" in a state that does not allow aides to administer medication, or at a facility where they were not certified to.

Record exactly what you saw on the registry and the date you checked. A registry listing shows status at that moment; the client's own verification before the first shift is still required.

Setting and resident assignment

A CNA who thrived on a hospital med-surg floor with a nurse close by may find a 30-resident long-term care hall on nights very different. Ask for the setting and the numbers.

Hands-on care questions with strong answers and red flags

You do not need clinical training to hear the difference between an aide who does these tasks every day and one who is repeating the textbook. Listen for sequence, safety and when they call the nurse.

1. "Walk me through getting a resident who needs extensive help up and dressed in the morning."
   • Strong answer: checks the care plan for transfer status and preferences, knocks and explains, provides privacy, lets the resident do what they can, uses the gait belt or lift as ordered, checks skin while dressing.
   • Red flags: does everything for the resident to save time. No mention of the care plan or privacy.
2. "What do you do if you find a resident on the floor?"
   • Strong answer: stays with them, does not move them, calls for the nurse, follows the facility's fall process.
   • Red flags: picks the resident up first, then tells the nurse.
3. "How do you prevent pressure injuries on your assignment?"
   • Strong answer: turning and repositioning on the schedule in the care plan, keeping skin clean and dry, checking heels and the sacrum, reporting redness right away.
   • Red flags: "the nurse handles skin".
4. "Tell me about a time a resident's condition changed on your shift."
   • Strong answer: a specific change (new confusion, not eating, a vital sign out of the usual range, a fever) reported to the nurse immediately and documented.
   • Red flags: waited until the end of the shift, or charted without telling anyone.
5. "What would you do if you saw another aide handle a resident roughly?"
   • Strong answer: makes sure the resident is safe and reports it right away to the charge nurse or administrator, following the facility's abuse reporting policy.
   • Red flags: would talk to the coworker privately and leave it there. Hesitation here matters more than any skills answer.
6. "How do you record intake and output, and meal percentages?"
   • Strong answer: measures rather than estimates fluids, records at the time, knows how their unit recorded meal percentages.
   • Red flags: fills in the shift's documentation from memory at the end.

Charting systems, infection control and boundaries

Shifts, reliability and pay

Call-offs are the biggest cost of a bad CNA placement. Ask about the schedule as the client runs it, and ask about attendance with specifics.

Knockout checklist and scoring

Lawful phrasing for CNA screens

The work is physical and facilities often require TB testing, immunizations and a health screen, but those happen after the offer through the client's occupational health process. The EEOC's guidance on pre-employment disability-related questions allows questions about ability to do the job, not about medical conditions before an offer.

On a per diem desk, you may run fifteen of these screens a day, and the registry state, last paid shift and assignment size are the details that blur by the afternoon. Interview Signal keeps a question guide on screen and ticks off each one as it is covered, so the eligibility questions get asked every time. When you check references, ask for a charge nurse who worked the same shift; the reference check template has the structure.