7 Best Ideas to Celebrate CNA Week

CNA Week is a time to celebrate all the hard work that nursing assistants do for patients and nursing teams. If you’re a nurse manager, this is a chance to show your nursing assistants how much you appreciate their efforts. And if you’re a CNA, it’s a great excuse to treat yourself.

When is CNA Week? It’s typically the second week in June, and in 2026 it’s from June 11–17. The first Nursing Assistant Week was celebrated in 1977, and also signifies appreciation for the following professionals:

• Patient care technicians
• Home health aides
• Geriatric aides
• ER technicians
• Personal care assistants
• Medication aides

7 CNA Week Ideas to Help Units Celebrate

Don’t leave CNA appreciation to the last minute — your staff deserves to feel recognized. And while nice gifts can be a great addition, there are also several low-budget and free ways to let your nursing assistants know you value them.

1. Staff Notes or Cards

One economical yet high-impact way to appreciate your CNAs is to give each of them handwritten notes from management, peers, or other staff members. There are a few ways to do this: You might set up cubbies for each CNA, ask the team to write notes, and drop off goodies for each person. Alternatively, a nice card passed around to staff can work as well.

If you’re stumped about what to write in these cards, consider answering one or more of the following questions:

• What are this CNA’s strongest qualities as a team member and person?
• What is a time that you remember this CNA going above and beyond for others?
• What kind words have others said about this person that they may not know about?

2. Pocket Gifts and Snacks

Goodie bags can be a great way to spread out your celebration week budget, but avoid cheap or clichéd items. Consider stuffing a tote bag with a few thoughtful or practical treats:

• Small giftcards
• Pocket-sized hand sanitizer
• Hand lotion
• Pens and highlighters
• High-protein snacks
• Water flavor or electrolyte packets
• Hair ties or clips
• Handheld pulse oximeter
• Stickers
• Pins

3. Personalized Goodies

If you have a larger budget and the time to order ahead, consider a personalized gift for each of your CNAs. You might add the name of your unit, the staff member’s name, their nickname, or a unit slogan to the following staff appreciation gifts:

• Badge reels
• Tote bags
• Silly socks
• T-shirts or scrub tops
• Tumblers
• Reusable water bottles
• Lunch bags

4. Patient Appreciation

Give patients, residents, and families the chance to show their appreciation as well. This may take some planning and coordination, but consider ways you can work CNA recognition into a resident activity.

For example, some resident populations may enjoy crafting handmade cards, painting, or creating collages for CNAs. Family members may enjoy the chance to add small gifts or notes for the occasion. Presents from long-time residents and their loved ones may be treasured by staff.

5. Catered Meal

Pizza parties are a nursing meme at this point, and there are many other ways you can feed your staff a meal or a treat without breaking the bank. Additionally, taking advantage of some Nurses’ Week deals may help bring costs down. Here are some of our ideas:

• Taco or nacho bar
• Sandwich platters
• Rice bowls
• Family-style pastas and salad
• Ice cream bar
• Candy grab bowls

6. Decorate the Unit

Make sure staff and patients know it’s Nursing Assistant Week by making fun signs and posters for the unit. This can help add a cheerful flair in settings where the environment may not change very much. Homemade or store-bought banners and printed flyers help make the week feel special and ensure that patients and their family members know about the occasion.

Staff might enjoy a chance to decorate themselves with accessories for the week (provided that they don’t get in the way of tasks). Bright beaded necklaces, fun headbands, silly glasses, or patterned t-shirts can brighten up the week for everyone.

7. Consider Strategies to Improve CNA Work Conditions

The most impactful way you can celebrate CNAs is to advocate for them. This Nursing Assistant Week, consider asking staff how you can make their lives easier. This may mean revisiting staffing ratios, hiring more security personnel, finding a way to increase salaries, or developing a self-scheduling system.

Another way you can invest in your CNAs in the long term is by promoting professional development opportunities. Consider offering a scholarship for certification or a course your staff is interested in. Perhaps your facility could offer partial tuition reimbursement for CNAs paying for LPN training. These efforts may cost more on the front end, but they’re an excellent way to show your staff that you value them.

Why CNAs Need Appreciation

These facts are just a few reasons CNAs are so:

• There are over 1.4 million nursing assistant jobs in the United States. The majority of them are in nursing care facilities, followed by acute care hospitals.
• CNAs deliver 90% of hands-on care to nursing home residents.
• In many states, there is no limit to the number of patients a CNA may be assigned per shift.
• While CNAs deliver the bulk of care in many settings, they experience some of the lowest salary averages in healthcare.
• CNA turnover is higher than that of other professionals due to factors like salary, lack of resources, and staffing issues. In nursing homes, about 42% of CNAs leave within a single year.
• When a single CNA leaves a position, it can cost a facility between $3,000 and $6,000 to replace them.

A Short History of the Nursing Assistant Role

Nursing assistants have existed alongside nurses since the beginning of the modern nursing profession. The first time nurses’ aides were recognized was during the Crimean War, when Florence Nightingale saw the value of assistants who worked closely with nurses on the wards.

Healthcare has grown much more complex since Nightingale’s time — patients live longer and are generally sicker, with chronic health issues that require more assistance from CNAs and other nursing staff. CNAs help nurses stay focused on their work while providing compassionate care to patients.

Despite their expanding role, nursing assistants have largely been unrecognized in the healthcare workforce, and wages in this profession typically do not address the risk and labor that it entails. RNs have a state-regulated scope of practice, while CNAs responsibilities can be murkier. This ambiguity can make teamwork and delegation difficult.

The upshot of the history of CNAs is that they are the backbone of nursing care, especially as populations age. Their person-centered care helps patients and residents maintain dignity and comfort during times of illness or long-term stays. For residents, a CNA may be the last person they see before bed and the first person they see when they wake up.

Whether you are a staff member, leader, patient, or family member, show appreciation for the nursing assistants in your life this CNA Week.

Celebrate CNA Week With Opportunities

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