Negotiating pay when I have been out of work - any advice?

A recruiter asked for my salary expectations on a first call as I look for work as a nurse's aide. I have read a lot of threads here and could not find my exact situation. I also do not want to sell myself short. What did you say?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 12 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.