What should an rn resume look like

Want to find out what kind of extra information can go in an education section? That works best if you have one or two licenses. Otherwise, you can create a separate section for your licenses. Pro Tip: License numbers are in the public domain. Show recruiters right away that you have the required licensure.

Win, win. Put the name of the state after your license information to show a state designation. Nursing resume tips are great, but you might want to take a second to check out the tips that take any resume from average to amazing. Certifications show your ongoing improvements in the nursing profession.

They also show that you have specialized skills. Accredited and nationally recognized institutions issue certifications. But many hospitals are willing to pay extra. Some at least focus on candidates who have this certification.

You should never assume the reader knows all industry jargon. Be sure to include acronyms that you find in the job description. The American Board of Nursing Specialties - includes a list of organizations and the certifications they issue. At this point, you may start to worry about resume length. How long should a resume be? Awards and Honors can include recognition received from school, nursing organizations, social clubs, hospitals, and other healthcare units.

One other section you can consider adding is a Hobbies and Interests section. It adds personality to your resume. Adding personal interests works best on entry-level or new grad nursing resumes.

These are your resume keywords. They are also the skills that recruiters try to find while scanning your resume. Sometimes the job description will tell you that a skill is desirable or mandatory. If not, you can try checking out other job descriptions like yours. Look for repeated skills. You can assume that these are important skills for a nursing resume.

Many hospitals are switching to electronic records. So, having computer skills can give you a leg up. Focus on the skills matching the position. This will give you an advantage over the other candidates. Especially in the context of a large skills gap in the healthcare sector. Want more examples of skills that recruiters like to see on resumes? Not sure how to list skills for a nursing resume? The chances are that you belong to a professional nursing association of some sort.

Some of them are academic affiliations. Others are national organizations or groups for specific kinds of specialists. Regardless, recruiters will want to know if your affiliation with any professional associations. If you decide to add associations to your professional nursing resume, include the following information:. Pro Tip: There are different ways to order such information on your resume. Put associations at the top if you held an office or had an important role.

You can also lead with affiliations that have prestigious reputations in the industry. But first, you need to tailor it to the job description. It is still necessary to write a cover letter. For a nursing resume, write a brief letter that focuses on your highest qualifications. Apply Now. And your professional nursing resume is just the tool to do it. Registered nurse resumes that stand out from the crowd are accomplished through proper planning, careful review and continual refinement.

So how do you know what NOT to do? The right content for a registered nurse resume includes your contact information, level of education, licenses and certifications, employment history, professional affiliations, accomplishments and any honors or awards.

Do multiple checks for content, grammar, spelling and punctuation. Perhaps you started out in a certain job role and during that time you became more specialized, or were promoted due to your success in leadership roles. I am applying for RN jobs, but am still waiting to take my boards will take them within the next months.

How should I address this on my resume? Thanks for the question, Emily! Yes, I recommend adding a great GPA to your nursing resume. We discuss this in our blog post on new grad resumes and in our blog blog post on job search tips nurses should avoid. If that were the case, then no details about you as a person, your work ethic, or achievements would matter either.

Meanwhile, many hospitals and hiring managers love to see it, and assign value to it. So yes, by all means, add it. Great work, by the way! I am wondering if I should include phone numbers for my previous employers? If yes, which number should I use — the general number, the unit, or HR? Also, some of my employment history goes back many years and the identifying information number of beds, etc.

I do not have the correct information from when I worked there. How should I list this information? Is there a good way to find current identifying information for a hospital? Thanks for posting these great questions! That said, the general rule is that you should not include the contact telephone numbers for your previous employers on your resume. The city and state will suffice for your resume. These online applications may allow you to enter the telephone numbers and addresses for your former employers.

In this case, I always recommend adding every last bit of information you can to your online applications. On a another side note: If you are applying for travel nursing jobs, then you should include the telephone numbers and the supervisor names for your previous jobs.

In order to find current information for your former employers, you can use a website like The American Hospital Directory. They have a free hospital profile lookup tool. Please note that the links to these pages are underlined in blue.

Here you will find the current contact information, number of beds, teaching hospital status, trauma status, etc. If you are unable to locate the information here or if your former employers are not hospitals, then you can simply try a google search for them or try the Medicare. If your former employer does business with Medicare, then they should be in the database with current information…assuming they want to get paid Now, about your older work history.

Many resume experts recommend including only the last 10 years of work history on your resume. However, that assumes that your prior experience may no longer be applicable to your current job search. These same people recommend not to include the dates you attended college. Now Ive been laid off it was a large comp layoff. What do I need to do to get into these fields? Any suggestions? However, it sounds as though you have some experience to build on. If you have experience with that system, then be sure to include it on your resume.

Otherwise, see if you can obtain some training in it. Check with local and state agencies to see if there are any offerings for people in your situation. Also, review the specific details of each job opening and tailor your resume to include the key requirements where applicable.

Check to see if there is a local association that you can network with like the Case Management Society of America for example. If so, look into certification. Hi Raquel! Thanks for reaching out! Thanks so much for your interest though. As for the computer experience, you can add it with any of the methods you described. The resume builder on BluePipes.

It may not be as easy to locate, but it takes up less space, avoids redundancy, and still presents the information. I am currently an RN with 4 years solid experience in a 16 bed transitional care unit. Prior to immigrating to America I was a medical doctor for 9 years in ER. Would it be wise to mention that experience? Kyle, I work in a program that enrolls military medic and corpsman and gives credit for their military experience towards an intensive BSN-RN program.

My question is what should the graduates highlight on their resumes? Many have extensive trauma and nursing care experience. I just finished my 2nd year of nursing and on a med Surg unit. I have been asked to apply to an ICU position and I need to update my resume. I really enjoyed your blog and will refer to it when updating my resume! Congratulations on being asked to apply for an ICU position. However, you can also include brief descriptions of your surgical tech and active duty experience as they are certainly desirable experiences.

Relate all your work history descriptions to the ICU position. To do so, find out as much as possible about the job and the unit. We hope this helps!! Oh MY! Especially with the value of the keyword in electronic filing. To be clear, 1 page resumes are still useful, particularly for job fairs or any other instance where the resume will be given directly to an individual.

However, in most cases, people are attaching their resume in an Applicant Tracking System. Thank you for this article! I realized that my resume was not up to par by reading this. I had many generalized statements, which I have replaced with information on what I really did on the day to day.

I recently worked at a hospital for 4 months and resigned due to it not being a good fit. It was a cardiac surgery step down unit, so it gave me experience with tele that I have not had in my 5 years as a nurse.

Should I include it on my resume? This is a tough question. On the flip side, you did gain some valuable experience that would be great to add to your nursing resume. There is another issue to consider. Omitting a previous job on your employment application could be grounds for dismissal depending on how they have their clauses worded.

Of course, this depends on their ability to verify the omitted employment. Utltimatly, the decision is yours. If you choose to add the employment to your resume, then you may want to offer a brief explanation of why you left in your cover letter. This is all great information but I do have a question. Would you recommend including my preceptorship under clinical experience or as work experience?

I have seen it both ways in examples online. Thanks, Kristin. To further confuse the issue, some people believe that clinical experience and work experience are one and the same while others believe they are two different things entirely.

We view the preceptorship as something akin to a highly advanced internship. For all intents and purposes, it is work experience.

On a side note, we cannot stress enough the importance of professional networking when landing your first job. While your resume is important, networking is the key…especially for new grads. We hope this information helps. Best of luck!! Great info — I could have used that for my last job application!

Thanks, Heidi! Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, you can view our sample nursing resume which you can create for free as a member of BluePipes. You can view our recommendations on writing a nursing cover letter. We hope this helps! I LOVE this information! Thank you. How far back should I go? None relate to my current field new nursing graduate. Is it appropriate to ask a nursing instructor to be a reference? Are references included now-a-days?

Many, many thanks! Congratulations on your recent graduation from nursing school! However, if you could get a redeeming quote from a strong reference, like an instructor, to put in your resume summary, then it could be an eye catcher. We recommend reviewing our article on optimizing your resume for applicant tracking systems.

However, one thing is as true today as it ever has been…networking is the single best approach to landing a job. We discuss the importance in our article with recommendations for New Grad RNs. Excellent information! Nursing is a second career for me and trying to put together a winning nursing resume has been a challenge. You are right on the money…. I was destined to be one of those that got lost in the system. The tips you provided have been so helpful.

I feel confident that I am submitting a resume that will get me noticed. Thank you again for providing such valuable information. Congratulations on your new career path! We wish you the best of luck in your job search. I have read this post with great interest. Due to a job opportunity for my husband, we moved from KS to PA in Even securing an interview has been daunting!

How is that possible? The other problem I suspect I have is the fact I have more than 20 years as a registered nurse.

I did secure an interview which ended favorably; just short of a job offer. I have been in nursing since ! AND, that was the last I heard from them. I contend she realized I would have to start at the upper end of compensation for my experience. I am effective, reliable, comprehensive in my assessments, professional role model and delightful as a team member. Please give me some feedback relating to these concerns. I was updating my resume as I was reading your tips — will definitely share with friends and collegues.

Thank you so much! Hello, This was very thorough advice. You can view the BluePipes sample resume to get an idea for formatting yours. Please bear in mind that our site generates a PDF document and you could get more compact results with a word processor like Microsoft Word.

Also, you might be interested in reading our post on resume length. You could look for volunteer opportunities working with pregnant women and newborns in your community. Thank you for this very interesting article. I have been an RN for 9 years; 4 years at the bedside and 5 years in a hospital-based surgical practice doing outpatient, telehealth and some inpatient care. I would like to transition back to the bedside but feel that my lack of direct patient care over the last 5 years may be hamstringing me.

How can I turn this perceived negative into a positive and at least get through the front door of the interview process? Yours is a legitimate challenge that many nurses share. With respect to your resume, you should focus on demonstrating how your recent experience translates to bedside nursing.

Carefully review the job duties and qualifications of bedside nurses, and not just those found in the job descriptions of online job postings, to get ideas for framing your recent experience in a way that applies to bedside nursing.

Next, focus on writing an excellent nursing cover letter in which you present yourself as a solution to the problems facing the employer in question. Therefore, networking is a must. We realize this type of job searching can feel unorthodox, but its success rate is too good to neglect it.

Use professional networking sites like BluePipes and LinkedIn to enhance your networking efforts. We hope this information helps…and Good Luck!! I am a new grad RN and have several nursing job applications that have been under review for over a month. Last week I became certified in ACLS and was wondering how to go about informing the hospitals that I am waiting to hear back from that I am newly certified in this skill, since it is not on my resume that they have on file that I originally sent in.

Congratulations on your recent achievements! This is a great question. Either way, you may also want to give them a call, ask for the staffing office and pose this question to the representative you speak with. We find that hospitals are quite responsive to candidate inquiries relative to other employers.

Good luck! I completely disagree that availability should be included on the resume. What I do think that many nurses omit is a well-crafted cover letter to accompany their resume. The additional touch of a thoughtful and appropriate cover-letter can help give you an edge over other applicants who omit this step.

Thanks for the feedback, Brittney. Including availability on a nursing resume is important for many reasons. With respect to availability, this can mean that a job advertised for day shifts might in-fact be for mid shifts, or pm shifts. Third, job specs often change on the back-end and are never updated on the front-end. Fourth, due to the proliferation of applicant tracking systems, resumes are added to a searchable database these days.

So resumes are searchable for future job openings. Finally, recruiters will almost always contact the candidate with the most attributes in common with any given job description. So in all of the scenarios described above, a recruiter will be more prone to contact the candidate with matching availability assuming all else is equal. However, a plurality of jobs are filled via networking and referrals. Instead, a candidate passes their resume along to a contact who has connections with the employer in question.

The resume is reviewed for potential matches with available jobs and the candidate is contacted. Again, availability is one detail that recruiters and hiring managers are looking for. Hobbies and interests, exactly! We have a guide for that! Surely the nursing skills on my resume speak for themselves!

Having a solid cover letter with your resume can significantly boost your chances of getting the job. The first step to writing a convincing cover letter is to get the structure right. Your personal contact information, including full name, profession, email, phone number, location.

Your introduction should be very strong. So, mention:. Some of the points you can mention here are:. Need more inspiration? We get it - creating a cover letter is very hard work. Applying for a different position in the medical field? Our related resume examples can come in handy:. As a nurse, you know a lot about taking care of people and helping them be healthy.