The psychological factors associated with paranursing expertise were examined in a study of 135 certified nursing assistants (CNAs) at a geriatric nursing facility in Amarillo, Texas. Data were collected through a project-developed screening tool called the Geriatric Employee Screening Tool (GEST), which is a true-false instrument patterned after several existing personality profiles. The GEST's 207 items addressed the following basic personality dimensions that interviews with several nursing home directors established as critical for effective nursing: (1) conveying a sense of tenderness; (2) possessing a knowledge of the elderly; (3) approaching many areas of life with a strong sense of independence, assertiveness, and responsibility; (4) having a general sense of duty; and (4) willingness to accept a lack of order (in other words, showing more concern for large-scale duties than for minor duties). After the CNAs had completed the GEST, a four-member panel of supervisors and managers reviewed the list of participants and ranked them on a five-point Likert-type scale. A simultaneous, multiple-regression analysis technique was used to analyze the effects of the five variables against the participants' composite ranking score from their supervisor and manager. The model explained 36.6% of the adjusted variance and was deemed highly predictive. (Contains 28 references.) (MN)