How to Write a Resume for a Nursing Job, Career Near Me
How to Write a Resume for a Nursing Job, Career Near Me
Steps.
1. Adhere to general conventions that go into writing a resume. These include:
Proper spelling and grammar.
Avoiding the use of first-person pronouns.
Consistent tenses throughout the document. For example, if you are currently employed, use present tense when referring to your job. If you are no longer employed, use past tense.
Keep it to one page. Often times employers do not have the time to read through two pages of a resume.
Make sure it is organized and easy to read. Make it easy for your employer to navigate.
Quantify. Instead of saying "Earned a high GPA", mention your specific GPA and any courses you've particularly excelled in.
2. Write a section mentioning your honors, awards, and any volunteer work. Since many positions in nursing are competitive especially for new grads, it's important to list your personal achievements to help stand out above the rest of the applicants.
3. List your skills and attributes. As a newly graduated nurse, you'll want to demonstrate your knowledge in clinical skills and concepts. These may include:
Nursing theory: formulating a nursing diagnosis and implementing a care plan.
Physical assessment and vital signs measurements.
Medication administration according to your scope of practice. Some facilities require nurses to have additional training in order to administer high-risk drugs (e.g. chemotherapy, narcotics) or via IV bolus rather than infusion.
Charting and documentation using SOAP notes or electronic medical record (EMR) systems.
4. Mention all of your current certifications and licenses. This includes Registered Nurse (RN), Nurse Practitioner (NP), Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN), and (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA).
You may also wish to mention certifications in first aid, CPR, and basic/advanced life support.
Depending on where you are in the world, you may need additional education to be qualified to engage in more advanced skills, such as placing arterial lines or central venous catheters.
It is your responsibility to ensure your nursing credential and license remains current. In many jurisdictions, nurses are not permitted to refer to themselves "registered" without passing a licensing exam from the regulatory college.
5. Provide details about your education. In this section, you will need to mention your nursing degree and the school you went to. It helps to include your GPA and relevant coursework.
Nursing students typically undergo clinical rotations (known as practicums, clinical work experiences, or preceptorships) at set intervals during their nursing programs. List the facility you participated in as well as the specific rotation (e.g. psych, med-surg, OB/GYN, etc.) You may also wish to include your preceptor as a reference in another section.
6. Describe your prior work experience. Work experience is usually emergency room nursing, but can also be a variety of other things such as registered nursing, assistant nursing, intensive care unit nursing, etc.
Tips.
Make sure your resume is in PDF format rather than a Microsoft Word document. PDF is preferred in order to preserve the layout and aesthetics of the document.When creating your resume, you need to keep in mind who your audience is and what things are appropriate to put on the resume. For nursing resumes, your audience would be someone in the medical field. If you put experience that does not relate to nursing, they won’t be interested because they are looking for medical experience.