CNA phone screen questions: registry status, the 24-month rule, resident assignment, lifts and shifts

A CNA phone screen is a 15 to 20 minute recruiter call that confirms the nursing assistant is active and in good standing on the nurse aide registry of the job's state, has worked for pay as an aide recently enough to stay eligible, and has handled a resident assignment like the client's. Confirm the registry state or states, the last date they worked as an aide for pay, the setting and number of residents per shift, a current BLS card if the client requires one, and the shifts. Then cover lifts and care routines, charting, why they want to move and the hourly rate they need. Federal rules set the floor for nursing facilities and states add their own, so screen against the job's state as of November 2026.

This page is the first-call version. The deeper bank, with daily care, charting, abuse reporting and shift reliability questions, is in CNA screening questions, and the client's own loop is in the interview guide for healthcare roles. If the order is for a licensed nurse, use LPN phone screen questions; to find candidates, start with the Boolean search strings for CNAs.

What do you need from the client before the call?

An aide who copes well with eight residents on a day shift can drown with eighteen on nights. Get these facts first; the CNA job description template shows where each belongs in the posting.

How should a 20-minute CNA phone screen run?

1. Opening (1 minute). The setting, the assignment and the shifts in two sentences, how long the call will take, and your consent line if you record.
2. Knockouts (4 to 5 minutes). Registry, other states, last paid aide work, assignment size, shifts, work authorization.
3. Registry detail (3 minutes). Which registry, which name, any pending transfer to the job's state.
4. Care skills and charting (5 minutes). Lifts, a refusal, charting, reporting.
5. Motivation, pay expectations and logistics (4 minutes). Why now, hourly rate needed, start date.
6. Their questions and the next step (2 minutes). Consent to submit and interview availability.

The timings are a planning example. If a knockout fails, say so kindly and end the call or redirect to another opening.

Which knockout questions come first?

The authorization wording follows the Justice Department's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section FAQ, which says an employer may generally ask whether applicants have the legal right to work in the United States and whether they will need visa sponsorship (as of November 2026). American Heart Association cards, including BLS, can be checked through the AHA's course card information process.

How do you check registry status on the first call?

Nursing facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid follow the federal nurse aide rules, and states run the registries. The rules that shape a phone screen, from the current eCFR text as of November 2026:

The agency row matters most for staffing firms: a candidate who has not yet completed a state-approved training and competency evaluation program, or a competency evaluation program, cannot be placed in a certified nursing facility as an agency aide. One who has passed but is not yet on the registry needs proof of completion, and the facility must follow up to make sure the listing happens (42 CFR 483.35(d)(4)(ii)). Facilities must also give nurse aides at least 12 hours of in-service training a year under 42 CFR 483.95(g); ask the client how agency aides fit into its program.

States build on that floor. Florida is a clear example, as of November 2026. Its Board of Nursing certifies CNAs, and section 464.203 of the Florida Statutes requires background screening, lets a certificate be renewed only until the aide lets 24 consecutive months pass without nursing-related work for pay, and requires 24 hours of in-service training each biennium. An aide certified in another state qualifies by endorsement under section 456.0145, which requires an active, unencumbered credential from another state, at least 2 years of practice during the 4 years before applying, and no disciplinary action in the 5 years before applying. Check Florida certificates on the Department of Health's license search, and California's on the Department of Public Health's certificate verification.

Is the order really for a CNA?

Ask the client before you screen, because the rules differ:

• Home health aides working for a Medicare home health agency have their own training standard: at least 75 hours, with at least 16 hours of classroom training before at least 16 hours of supervised practical training (42 CFR 484.80). Use the home health aide screening questions.
• Hospitals often hire patient care technicians, sometimes without a state CNA certificate; see patient care technician screening questions.
• Medication aides pass medications under a separate state permit; see certified medication aide screening questions.

How do you check care skills and charting in five minutes?

• "Walk me through moving a resident who needs a mechanical lift from bed to wheelchair." Good: checks the care plan and sling, gets the second staff member the policy requires, explains each step to the resident, locks the wheels. Weak: does it alone "when the floor is short".
• "A resident refuses a shower. What do you do?" Good: respects it, offers another time or a bed bath, tells the nurse and documents. Weak: insists, or skips it without telling anyone.
• "When do you chart your care, and in what system?" Good: during the shift, at the kiosk or tablet, names the system. Weak: at the end of the shift from memory.
• "If you saw a coworker handle a resident roughly, what would you do?" Good: reports it to the nurse or supervisor right away, under the facility's abuse policy. Weak: any hesitation, or "I'd talk to them first."

The full care and reporting bank is in CNA screening questions. Keep the phone screen to these four; the client's nurse will check skills on the floor.

How do you test motivation on a CNA phone screen?

How do you ask about pay without asking salary history?

Many states and cities bar employers and their agents from asking about current or past pay, as of November 2026; the list is in salary history ban states. CNA pay is hourly, usually with evening, night and weekend differentials, and per diem rates differ from staff rates, so ask in the model the job uses.

If the candidate volunteers a number, keep it out of your notes and the submittal and record the expectation instead. This is general information, not legal advice; check the law where the job is located.

When should you advance a CNA?

An example rule to agree with the client: advance when every knockout passes, registry and eligibility and care and reporting score at least 2, and two other areas score 3. Hold when one fact, such as another state's registry result, needs confirming. Decline when a knockout fails.

What should you not ask a CNA on a phone screen?

The EEOC says pre-employment inquiries should be limited to what is essential for deciding whether someone is qualified, and its guidance on pre-employment questions allows asking whether a candidate can perform the job's functions, with or without reasonable accommodation, but not disability-related questions before an offer. The same guidance says employers may not ask applicants about job-related injuries or workers' compensation history, a question that comes up often in a job full of lifting.

Leave criminal history to the background screening the state requires and the client's process after an offer, under the fair chance rules where the job is; ban-the-box interview questions explains when it may be asked. If you take CNA screens through your computer, Interview Signal keeps the registry, last-paid-work and assignment questions pinned until asked and writes the notes, with no bot in the call.