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Nursing Student

Nursing Student resume examples & templates

Selecting the best format for nursing student resumes

How to display your contact information, tips for writing a career summary, charting your nursing student experience: your real-life credentials, choosing relevant key skills that show your nursing student expertise, detail your education & relevant nursing student certifications, choosing the best resume layout and design for a nursing student resume.

So, you want to be a nurse. Congratulations! Right now, you’re either finishing your degree or you’ve just graduated and you’re looking for a position in the medical field that will give you hands-on experience and boost your future job prospects. An exceptional nursing student resume could land you the Grey’s Anatomy job of your dreams—but probably with more stress and less romance. 

Standing out as a nursing student can be difficult. When all candidates have gone through similar training, it can be hard to explain why you’re more qualified for the job. That’s where a compelling resume enters the picture. 

A well-crafted resume highlights your educational achievements and clinical experiences, while showcasing your unique skills, including the soft skills—empathy, communication, teamwork—which make you an even more effective nurse.

Resume guide for a nursing student resume

As a leading provider of job search resources, Resume.io is here to help. This nursing student resume is just one of our more than 500 guides. The resume examples you’ll find in our resume builder are crafted to help you finish your application in just a few clicks.

This guide and nursing student resume example will show you how to:

How to write a nursing student resume

• Choosing the right resume format for nursing students 
• How to add your contact information
• Using summaries
• Adding your nursing student experience
• Listing education and relevant experience
• Picking the right resume design/layout

Before you jump into writing your resume, take some time to learn about its key components. The following elements are crucial and should be a part of your resume:

• The resume header
• The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The resume skills section
• The education section

As the world’s population ages and the healthcare industry expands to meet growing demands, (registered) nurses will become more valuable than ever. Your chosen profession can lead to a lifelong career of meaningful connections and rewarding work.

To kick your career off right, you first need to craft a great resume. To make things easier, consider using the following formula:

• Focus on your certifications . The type of certification you have will help you decide what type of job you qualify for. For example, if you’re completed your CNA training, CNA jobs are found not only in hospitals but also nursing homes and outpatient care centers.
• Tailor your nursing student resume for each position to which you apply . That means focusing your work experience list and summary differently, depending on if you're applying for medical scribe positions or EKG tech ones.  
• Include relevant nursing skills that show your healthcare expertise and knowledge. Don’t forget to sprinkle these throughout your resume.
• Design your resume around the keywords mentioned in the job description so ATS screening software will flag your resume. Using ATS resume templates is a great way to do this.

Optimize for the ATS

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are the harsh reality of today’s health worker hiring systems. These algorithms are often built into online job application portals and make life easier for hiring managers. They scan resumes for keywords and rank them against the others in the applicant pool. Only the best candidates are forwarded to the hiring manager's desk for review by human eyes. That’s right—after all that work, your resume may never even reach a real person.

For example, if a nursing student job posting lists the following requirements: 

• “Assist in providing attentive care to pediatric patients”
• “Basic nursing tasks”
• “Medication administration”
• “Document patient information and treatment plans”
• “Assist in educating patients and their families about treatment plans”

Using this as a guide, this is what your profile summary might look like:

“Dedicated and compassionate nursing student with hands-on experience in pediatric care. Skilled in performing basic nursing tasks, medication administration, and accurate documentation of patient information and treatment plans. Adept at assisting in educating patients and their families about treatment plans.” 

To learn more about how you can beat an ATS scan, read our article on Resume ATS optimization .

The most commonly used reverse chronological order resume format is preferred by recruiters. That means your work experience is listed under employer headings, in order from most recent to earliest positions.

Some nursing student job applicants might want to consider a different resume format, particularly if their relevant employment history is limited. For instance, the functional resume and hybrid resume formats allow you to emphasize special skills and education that may be valued by the employer you hope to work for. These strengths can be listed in a section labeled “Experience.” 

We have many resume templates available in our resume builder, so you’ll have plenty to choose from. You can also see examples of what we have available in our resume examples section.

Gain the recruiter’s attention off the top with an eye-pleasing resume header . Displaying your name, occupation, and contact information distinctively sets your resume apart from the rest and makes it easier for duly impressed hiring managers to get in touch.

Take this a conscientious step further by making your cover letter and resume match using consistent design elements. This reflects well on your professionalism and attention to detail.

• Name and title . Your name should be the first thing a hiring manager notices, followed by the title of the job you are applying for.
• Email address . A professional email is always the best option for your resume. Choose something like [email protected] to ensure your resume looks professional.
• Phone number . Don’t forget to add a professional message to your voicemail in case a hiring manager needs to leave a message.
• Location . It’s no longer necessary to include anything more than your city and state on your resume. However, if you plan to relocate, you can note 'Willing to Relocate'.
• LinkedIn . The final element you should have on your header is a link to your LinkedIn profile . Hiring managers tend to look at your profile as part of the application process, so make sure it is up-to-date and active.

Don’t include:

• Date of birth . Remove your birthdate from your resume because including it could lead to age discrimination .
• Personal details . Your social security number, marital status, and any other personal information should not be included on your resume.

Jose Melano

414-899-6212

[email protected]

In the nursing field, there will be victorious days and challenging ones. So you have to love what you do. The summary is the best place to convey this passion to your future employer. 

If you truly have no experience in the medical field, then you may want to create a resume “objective” instead, which briefly describes yourself and your intentions. But if you have a bit of medical knowledge and training, then it’s best to create a summary. 

This short paragraph conveys your top personality traits, a bit of your education, previous work experience, and your skills. Since your other resume sections will be more straightforward, don’t be afraid to add a touch of personality to the summary. 

Whether it’s compassion, perseverance, determination, or stamina, these innate qualities are truly sought after by recruiters in the healthcare industry—so let your true colors shine.

For even more inspiration for your summary, check out our related resumes: 

• Medical student
• College student

Below are some nursing student resume example summaries you can customize.

Aspiring registered nurse with a strong foundation in patient care and clinical skills. Experienced in patient care, medication administration, and accurate documentation. Skilled in monitoring vital signs and providing empathetic care while building positive patient relationships.

Experienced nursing student with hands-on experience in various clinical environments, including emergency, pediatric, and geriatric care. Recognized for leadership skills and ability to mentor junior students during clinical rotations. Skilled in patient assessment, wound care, and health education, with a track record of improving patient outcomes through effective communication and teamwork.

Highly skilled and experienced senior-level nursing student with a robust background in delivering exceptional patient care in diverse healthcare settings. Advanced skills in patient management, medication administration, and care coordination. Demonstrates strong mentorship skills, collaborative team dynamics, and the ability to achieve optimal patient outcomes.

As a nursing student, your biggest resume challenge might just be filling out the employment history section. At this point, your experience may be limited and may include work similar to many other nursing students at your level. Therefore, the difference may come down to how you present yourself. Using precise action verbs and listing your accomplishments in each position is a good way to start. 

It’s also important to give substance to your claims and not use vague descriptions, such as these:

• “Managed patient files.”
• “Worked in pediatric unit.”
• “Watched over older patients.”
• “Handed out pamphlets.”
• “Took care of patients.”

If your experience is limited, include your clinical rotations by listing the job or unit first, followed by the name and location of the hospital or medical center. List your clinical experience in the order that is most relevant to the position you’re applying to. You may choose to list skills under each clinical rotation, but you can save space and keep the resume flowing by creating a cumulative list of all the abilities you acquired during clinicals after you’ve listed the names and locations.

For other work experiences, you’ll want to give attention to the tasks you performed as well as the size and status of the institution. Facts and figures can go a long way in adding weight to your experience, e.g. the number of patients you worked with daily or the number of tests you ran. With all this information in mind, here are some reworked examples of the vague statements mentioned above:

• Organized over 200 patient files as medical receptionist in busy private practice.
• Took vital signs and performed essential skills, like drawing blood and bandaging wounds as aide in pediatrics unit.
• Offered support to older patients as hospital sitter making more than 20 visits a week.
• Educated patients and families on best practices for home recovery upon release.
• Assisted nurses with daily rounds, administering medication, and cleaning and dressing patients.

Below is a nursing student employment history resume sample you can modify.

Intern at Greenfield Hospital, Greenfield  September 2017 - Present 

• Worked as a passionate and dedicated Intern in the Pediatrics Department. 
• Greeted patients and recorded their medical history. 
• Helped to maintain meticulous medical records, and made changes when necessary. 
• Worked well with nurses, doctors, and medical professionals. 
• Followed instructions and physician orders with accuracy.

Student Nurse at Greenfield Hopital, Greenfield  September 2015 - September 2017 

• Worked as a Student Nurse in the maternity care unit, assisting patients and medical professionals. 
• Provided optimal care for antepartum, labor, delivery, post-partum and mother-baby care units. 
• Worked with with multidisciplinary team members to provide comprehensive care. 
• Documented medical histories, concerns, and changes in patient's condition.

In some nursing circles, it's debated whether a skills section is even necessary on a nursing student CV. If you’ve been advised against it, then make sure to wrap all the most pressing skills into your experience section and summary (a good idea anyway). But if not, a skills section can be valuable when it comes to showing an employer that you’ve got exactly the right qualities for the job at hand. 

And what’s more, it’s one of the ATS’ favorite sections when it comes to scanning for keywords. Your resume should contain a balance of both hard skills and soft skills . Hard skills are your clinical competencies, medical terminology, and anything else you learned in your coursework relating to treating patients and using medical equipment. 

Soft skills are your innate personality traits like compassion, patience, gentleness, discipline, stamina, and motivation. Hiring managers don’t overlook these traits and you shouldn’t either. 

Foreign language skills are some of the most needed abilities in the medical field. If you speak a second or third language, it’s great to highlight that prominently on your resume in the skills section. In the U.S., Spanish is the most sought-after second language, but it’s certainly not the only one in demand.

Check out a nursing student CV sample for the skills section below.

• Patient Care 
• Excellent Communication Skills 
• Teambuilding Skills
• Leadership Skills 
• Clinical and Academic Experience

One way to handle the writing of the skills section is by creating a master list. Brainstorm your abilities, both hard and soft, picked up during all your work experiences. Cherry-pick the skills most relevant to the job at hand. When tailoring your resume to a new position, simply return to your master list and adjust your skill section as needed. For example, highlight your

• Patient interaction skills by showing your ability to communicate effectively, provide clear explanations, and offer emotional support.
• Technical skills by demonstrating your experience conducting physical exams, administering medication, and providing wound care.
• Patient advocacy skills by presenting your experience in patient education, rights, and support.

As a nursing student, your education is is your biggest focus. Take the time to make sure the education section accurately captures everything you’ve learned, including additional certifications or memberships. While it may not be recommended for other occupations, nursing students can place their education sections toward the top of their resumes, sandwiched between the summary and experience. 

List your highest degree first, including your GPA and expected graduation date, followed by any other degrees you hold, licenses, state designations, national certifications, and awards or honors, in that order. These are the guidelines set forth by the American Nurses Credentialing Center to help standardize the way nurses report their education.

In addition, consider adding:

• Clinical rotations and internships . Include details of your clinical experience, including the healthcare facility and specialty area as well as your key responsibilities and skills.
• Academic achievements . If your GPA is notably high or if you were recognized on the Dean’s List, received academic honors, or received any scholarships, grants, or academic awards.
• Continuing education . List any relevant workshops, seminars, or additional training you’ve attended.

Master of Nursing, Boston College, Boston  August 2015 - Present 

Bachelor of Biology, Villanova University, Villanova  August 2010 - May 2014

While your resume's summary might be the first thing the hiring manager reads, its layout and design is truly the first thing they see. 

As a student nurse, you might be tempted to list all your professional experiences in great detail to have the best chance of impressing a hiring manager. However, a well-crafted and focused nursing resume will always be more effective than a lengthy, wordy one. One page is the standard resume length for most career levels, especially for students. Quality is key.

For roles in the medical field, your resume should visually convey professionalism and discipline. While a sense of style or a touch of personality might be OK, a resume template that could be described as “whimsical” or “fun” probably isn’t the way to go. 

So how do you create a layout that captures this delicate balance? Resume.io’s field-tested resume templates take the guesswork out of pleasing employers and are professionally designed to give you the best chance of landing the role you want. For the medical field, we recommend a template from the professional style category—such as the Dublin, Stockholm, or Milan templates.

When it comes to submitting your resume, you’ll want to make sure that the formatting you create is the formatting the hiring manager sees. That means saving and uploading your resume as a PDF—the best resume format to be processed by human eyes and the ATS too.

Nursing student text-only resume example

Dedicated Nursing Student with the ability to multitask and work well with others. Patient-care oriented, bringing forth a compassionate and friendly attitude. Highly organized, and skilled in written and verbal communication. Committed to utilizing my skills to help others, while working towards the mission of a company. A strong leader who works well under pressure, and exudes positivity.

Employment history

• Worked as a passionate and dedicated Intern in the Pediatrics Department.
• Greeted patients and recorded their medical history.
• Helped to maintain meticulous medical records, and made changes when necessary.
• Worked well with nurses, doctors, and medical professionals.
• Worked as a Student Nurse in the maternity care unit, assisting patients and medical professionals.
• Provided optimal care for antepartum, labor, delivery, post-partum and mother-baby care units.
• Worked with with multidisciplinary team members to provide comprehensive care.
• Patient Care
• Excellent Communication Skills
• Leadership Skills

Key takeaways for building a nursing student resume

Hiring managers are looking for a balance of hard and soft skills and they’re especially interested in passion, compassion, and the ability to work quickly and under pressure. List your education before your work experience section and make sure to include your credentials in the right order so hiring managers can get to the good stuff first.

A clean and professional resume without typos or grammatical errors is essential to beat the ATS and impress a hiring manager. Our online resume builder can help you create your resume in just a few simple clicks.

Beautiful ready-to-use resume templates

• • Successfully analyzed data from over 500 respondents, leading to the implementation of targeted health education programs in three key areas identified as needing the most attention.
• • Successfully reached over 1,000 listeners in the first three months.
• • The initiative educated over 200 students on important health practices.

7 Nursing Student Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

Nursing students play a crucial role in providing patient care, supporting healthcare teams, and learning to apply clinical knowledge in real-world settings. When crafting your resume, consider highlighting your clinical placements, relevant coursework, and any volunteer experiences related to healthcare. Including attributes like strong communication abilities, empathy, and critical thinking can significantly enhance your resume. Lastly, mentioning any leadership roles or certifications can effectively demonstrate your potential contributions to prospective employers.

All resume examples in this guide

Nursing Student No Experience

Nursing Student For Externship

Nursing Student Clinical Experience

Nurse Practitioner Student

Graduate Nursing Student

Resume guide.

Nursing Student Resume Example

Resume Format

Resume Experience

Hard & Soft Skills

Certification & Education

Resume Objective Tips

Key Takeaways

By Experience

You’ve put in the time as a nursing student and know how to operate critical care machines and use other technical tools specific to healthcare.

You’re comfortable in complex, fast-paced environments and have learned in clinical settings.

Now you’re ready to get your first nursing job in the field, but how do you write a nursing student resume with no experience?

We’ve created a guide to help you write a nursing student resume that shows you have the right skills and qualifications for an entry-level nursing position.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• How to focus on transferable skills so that recruiters can see you’ve developed the knowledge necessary for the job
• How to format your nursing student resume to take the focus off of your experience section and highlight other ways you’ve prepared for the role
• What skills hiring managers look for and how to find the right balance of soft skills and hard skills required for nursing
• How to present your certifications and education clearly so potential employers can see you have the right qualifications for the position

If nursing student resume examples aren’t exactly what you’re looking for, check out some of our guides in a similar field:

• Nursing assistant resume example
• Nursing student with clinical experience resume example
• Nurse practitioner student resume example
• Nurse extern resume example  
• Nursing student cover letter example  

Nursing student  resume example

Here’s what this applicant does well in their resume:

• Academic foundation : Highlights a strong educational background in nursing from Case Western Reserve University, emphasizing a robust base of knowledge.
• Practical experience : Showcases involvement in various health-related projects and volunteer work, like the American Red Cross and community health survey analysis, demonstrating real-world application of skills.
• Relevant skills and certifications : Lists specific skills and certifications relevant to nursing, such as patient care and medical terminology, aligning with the demands of the nursing profession.

How to format a nursing student  resume

As a nursing student you need to show hiring managers that you’re ready to work in the field despite your lack of work experience.

Have you gained hands-on clinical experience? Are you up to date on healthcare tech? Do you have the compassion and interpersonal skills to work with patients?

Focus on transferable skills throughout your nursing student resume so potential employers get a good impression of you at first glance.

Here are a few areas to focus your attention when formatting your nursing student resume:

• Functional resume: A functional resume highlights transferable skills  instead of your work experience. It’s important to show how you have developed industry skills during your time as a student.
• Header : The top of your resume should include a brief but important header  that provides professional contact information and a link to your online profile. Make it easy for hiring managers to contact you for any follow-up questions.
• Key achievements : Industry achievements demonstrate your strengths and show potential employers the kind of success you will bring to their company. Focus on tangible accomplishments from your time as a student or other roles.
• Keep to one page : Use space wisely on your nursing student resume so your information is limited to one page and has no unused white space. Include only the strongest and most relevant information and tailor every section to fit your target job .

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The top sections on a nursing student resume:

• Contact information : To ensure recruiters have necessary details to reach out for further process.
• Objective statement : To express career goals and indicate why you’re a good fit for the nursing job.
• Skills & certifications : To highlight relevant technical skills and medical licenses that qualify you for the nursing role.
• Education & training : To demonstrate your nursing education, internship experience, and specialized training.
• Work experience : To showcase your industry experience, hands-on skills, and contributions in previous nursing roles.

What recruiters want to see on your resume:

• Clinical skills : Recruiters prioritize these as they demonstrate the candidate’s practical, hands-on experience in performing nursing tasks.
• Certifications : These are given priority because certain nursing jobs require specific certifications like CPR, BLS, or ACLS.
• Communication skills : These are crucial in nursing for effective interaction with patients, doctors and other healthcare professionals.
• Attention to detail : As the nature of the job often involves administering medication and maintaining records, any mistakes could have serious consequences.
• Adaptability : Nurses often have to handle unexpected situations, so recruiters look for candidates who can adapt quickly.

How to write your nursing student resume experience even if you have none

Your resume experience section  is where you show your work history along with accomplishments from each job.

As a nursing student, your focus will be on transferable skills from school or outside experience. Keep your experience section short and highlight any relevant successes or use of industry skills.

If you’ve had jobs outside the field, demonstrate how they’ve prepared you for a career in healthcare. For example, a customer service position can highlight communication and active listening skills.

Let’s look at an example of highlighting transferable skills in a nursing student's resume experience section.

• • Provided direct childcare to children ages 3-12 with patience and adaptability
• • Used eCare software to manage confidential client records
• • Certified in CPR and First Aid

What works in this example:

• Use of soft skills:  "Provided direct childcare  to children ages 3-12 with patience and adaptability" shows how this candidate has experience with a particular age group and has exercised interpersonal skills that are important for nursing.
• Industry tools:  "Used eCare software to manage confidential client records" shows that this candidate has experience with record-keeping software relevant to the healthcare industry.
• Relevant certifications:  "Certified in CPR and First Aid" highlights a key skill and training in the field.

Alternatively, you may choose a different section of your resume to focus on if you have no previous work experience .

Let’s look at an example of a project section on a nursing student's resume.

• • Trained 75 students in basic first aid
• • Received 100% on satisfaction survey from teachers
• Highlights experience:  Including a project where you used relevant nursing skills outside of work history shows hiring managers how you have prepared for the role.
• Shows commitment:  Showing projects outside of work experience show a dedication to your career path and commitment to growth in the industry.
• Quantifies success:  "Received 100% on satisfaction survey from teachers" shows how this candidate achieved measurable success while using relevant industry skills.

How to quantify impact on your nursing student resume

Using real numbers and measurable outcomes on your resume shows potential employers how you will impact success at their organization.

It can be difficult to quantify impact as a nursing student due to the intangible nature of the work or limited hands-on experience.

Here are a few areas to consider when quantifying impact on your nursing student resume:

• Include the number of direct patient care hours during clinical rounds to illustrate the extent of your hands-on experience.
• Specify the volume of patients you handled per shift at past clinical experiences to demonstrate your capability to deal with workload.
• Mention the percentage or rate of patient satisfaction received in your previous nursing roles to show your effectiveness.
• List any quantifiable achievements such as a high-grade point average, a perfect attendance record, or any honors received during your education.
• Quantify the number of team collaborations or interdisciplinary team meetings at past experiences to highlight teamwork skills.
• State the number of medical procedures you assisted with or performed, emphasizing your practical skills.
• Indicate the number of health education sessions you gave to demonstrate your ability to educate patients/caregivers.
• Disclose any reductions in medication errors, falls or increased patient safety metrics you contributed to, showing your value to patient care and safety.

How to list your hard skills and soft skills on your resume

Nurses are skilled medical professionals with dynamic jobs. You have the interpersonal skills to provide compassionate care to patients and clinical knowledge required for healthcare.

Your nursing student resume will present your skills in two major categories.

Hard skills are the technical knowledge  and abilities needed to perform job duties, whereas soft skills are the interpersonal and communication skills  needed to interact with others.

Hard skills tend to be straightforward and can appear in a simple list form. Here is an example of hard skills on a nursing student’s resume.

Only include hard skills that you’re proficient in and are relevant to your target job. Show potential employers that you have the right combination of skills to fill the role.

Here are a few more hard skills to consider for your nursing student’s resume.

Best hard skills for your nursing student resume

• Clinical Assessment
• Patient Care
• CPR Certification
• Medical Software Proficiency
• Medication Administration
• Basic Life Support (BLS)
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
• Nursing Informatics
• Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems
• Disease Management
• Anatomical Knowledge
• Emergency Room Care
• Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Experience
• Surgical Assistance
• Pediatric Nursing Skills
• Labor and Delivery Skills
• Oncology Care
• Proficiency in Siege/ Syringe Pumps
• Patient Education
• Medical Terminology

Soft skills can be open to interpretation and are most effective when provided with an example. Be specific in your soft skills and avoid overused buzzwords on your resume .

Here is an example of a soft skills section on a nursing student’s resume.

Here are a few more soft skills to consider for your nursing student’s resume.

Best soft skills for your nursing student resume

• Communication
• Active Listening
• Adaptability
• Decision-Making
• Time Management
• Multitasking
• Problem-Solving
• Stress Management
• Detail Orientation
• Critical Thinking
• Attention to Detail
• Cultural Sensitivity
• Professionalism
• Interpersonal Skills

How to list your certifications and education on your resume

Minimum education requirements for entry-level nurses typically include an associate's degree in nursing (ADN) or a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN). Qualifications also include being a registered nurse (RN).

Additional licensure and clinical experience requirements may vary by location and organization. Be sure to research the necessary qualifications for your target job.

Your education section should include :

• Name of institution
• Name of degree
• Years attended

Let’s look at an example of a nursing student’s resume education section.

Your nursing student certification section will include  any certifications in nursing and specializations.

Here is an example of a certification section on a nursing student’s resume.

Show a commitment to your career by continuing to gain certifications in the industry as trends and demand evolve. Increase your employability by keeping your nursing student resume up to date.

Here are a few more certifications to consider for your nursing student’s resume.

Best certifications for your nursing student resume

• Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
• Certified Pediatric Nurse (CPN)
• Oncology Certified Nurse (OCN)

How to write your nursing student resume objective

A summary or objective is a great way to introduce yourself to hiring managers and highlight your top industry accomplishment in 3-4 sentences.

Though the terms are often used interchangeably, there is a slight difference between a summary and an objective.

A summary is a brief introduction  that communicates your position and value in your industry. An objective looks to the future  and captures what you are hoping to achieve in your new position.

As a nursing student with no experience, it is optimal to choose an objective that looks to the future and highlights a goal you share with your target employer.

Let’s look at an example of a nursing student resume objective that doesn’t quite hit the mark.

What doesn’t work with this example:

• No quantifiable achievements:  Even with no direct work experience, it is important to highlight how you have achieved success. Show potential employers what you’re capable of.
• Not tailored for target job:  This candidate doesn’t provide any specifics on their training or areas of interest. Show hiring managers why you’re the right candidate for their specific organization.
• Unclear goal:  Having the goal of working at your target company is not enough. Show potential employers that you’ve done your research and will provide solutions to their problems.

Let’s make a few updates and try this nursing student resume objective again.

• Shows specific niche: "Aspiring nurse with 2 years of experience volunteering in pediatric hospital” shows that this candidate is familiar with a particular area of nursing.
• Highlights qualification: “ Certified in Pediatric Nursing” shows hiring managers that this candidate has the right qualifications for the job and is committed to their career path.
• Clear goal: “ Seeking a new position as Pediatric Oncology Nurse to apply my training and expand my skill set at Family Care Hospital" demonstrates how this candidate can use their relevant skills to support the organization and grow within the role.

Key takeaways for writing a great nursing student resume

Congratulations! You’re almost ready to send off that amazing nursing student resume that gets callbacks! Before you start applying to entry-level nursing jobs, let’s review a few key points.

• Format your nursing student resume with a functional layout that highlights transferable skills that have prepared you for the role instead of work history.
• Include additional sections on your nursing student resume like projects that highlight relevant achievements and commitment to the field.
• Show a wide range of hard skills and soft skills necessary for nursing so hiring managers know you can interact with patients as well as use medical tools.
• Clearly present education and certification requirements so recruiters can find the information they need from your nursing student resume quickly and efficiently.

Nursing Student resume examples

Explore additional nursing student resume samples and guides and see what works for your level of experience or role.

With a distinct link to healthcare, nursing roles are highly influenced by changes in patient care and medical advancements.

Consider the following tips to better apply for jobs involving Nursing Student Clinical Experience:

• Highlight your hands-on skills acquired from clinical rotations. Remember to focus on skills related to patient care, operating medical equipment, medication administration, and documentation.
• Make sure to stress your understanding of safety practices, like infection control measures and safe patient handlingand.
• Showcase your ability to collaborate with a multidisciplinary team, including doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.
• Rather than listing these experiences, establish how these enhanced the overall patient experience or improved the unit's workflow, adhering to the 'skill-action-result' pattern.

Being a Nurse Practitioner Student involves becoming adept at the diverse patient care scenarios and medical technology.

To make your application for Nurse Practitioner roles stand out, consider these tips:

• Your advanced clinical experience should be front and center, especially in specialized areas like family health, pediatrics, or geriatrics.
• Show off your knowledge about patient assessments, diagnosis, treatment plans, and prescription medications.
• Display your experiences working with or under direct supervision of seasoned Nurse Practitioners or doctors, showcasing your ability to learn and adapt.
• Don't just enumerate these skills. Illustrate how they improved patient outcomes, quality of care, or healthcare delivery, using the 'skill-action-result' strategy.

Looking to build your own Nursing Student resume?

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Nursing Student Resume: Examples and Templates for 2024

A nursing student resume is a vital tool that can help graduates kickstart their career in the healthcare sector. It serves as a platform for students to showcase their achievements, skills, and competencies. A well-crafted resume helps students stand out from the competition by highlighting their unique qualities and relevant experiences.

Purpose of nursing student resumes

The primary purpose of a nursing student resume is to land a job. It is a reflection of the students’ qualifications and experiences that can persuade the recruiter to hire them. Students use it to demonstrate their potential and suitability for a particular role in a healthcare facility. A well-written nursing student resume can obtain an invitation for an interview.

Importance of a Well-Written Nursing Student Resume

A well-written nursing student resume can be the difference between being selected for an interview or not. It is important that students create a resume that effectively represents who they are, what they’ve accomplished, and the value they can bring to a healthcare team. It helps students market themselves to employers and highlight their strengths.

With the right format and content, a nursing student resume is a powerful tool in landing a first job in the healthcare industry. It captures the attention of hiring managers and showcases the experiences and qualities they need to succeed.

A nursing student resume serves as a stepping stone that can lead to future career success. It is essential to create a compelling resume that stands out from the competition to increase the odds of getting hired. The next sections of this article are dedicated to providing nursing student resume examples and templates that can help guide students in crafting their own unique resume.

Essential Components of a Nursing Student Resume

A well-crafted nursing student resume can be the difference between landing your dream career in the healthcare industry or being overlooked by potential employers. Therefore, it is essential to ensure your resume includes all the necessary components to showcase your qualifications and abilities effectively.

Here are some essential components that should be included in your nursing student resume:

Contact Information

Your contact information should be located at the top of your resume and should include your full name, email address, phone number, and professional social media handles (such as LinkedIn).

Objective Statement or Professional Summary

An objective statement or professional summary should be a concise, compelling statement that summarizes your career goals and key achievements. It should be tailored specifically for the position you are applying for to make you stand out from the crowd.

Education is a crucial component of your nursing student resume. Be sure to include your full degree name, institution name, expected graduation date, and any notable academic achievements, such as honors or awards.

Clinical Experience

Your clinical experience section should include details on any hands-on experience you have gained at hospitals, clinics, or medical facilities during your academic program. It should include the name of the facility, duration of the experience, and the types of patients you worked with.

Certifications and Licenses

Certifications and licenses are essential for nursing professionals. Make sure to include any relevant certifications, such as Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), or Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS).

Your skills section should include any skills relevant to the nursing profession, including technical skills, such as proficiency in electronic medical records (EMRs), clinical skills, and soft skills, such as communication and teamwork.

Volunteer Work

Volunteer work can be included in your resume to show your dedication to the nursing profession and your community. Be sure to include the type of volunteer work, the location, and the length of the commitment.

Awards and Honors

Awards and honors can help set you apart from other candidates, so be sure to include any relevant academic or professional awards you have earned.

Professional Memberships

Being a member of a professional nursing organization can demonstrate your commitment to the profession and a desire to continue your education and professional development. Include any relevant memberships, such as the American Nurses Association or the National Student Nurses Association.

A well-tailored nursing student resume that includes all the essential components can help you stand out in a highly competitive job market. Ensure that your resume is concise, clear, and accurately represents your qualifications, achievements, and goals as a nursing professional.

Writing Tips for Nursing Student Resumes

When it comes to creating a nursing student resume, there are several important writing tips that can help set you apart from the competition. Follow these guidelines to showcase your skills, achievements, and relevant experience in the best possible light.

Highlighting Relevant Experience

The healthcare field is highly competitive, so it’s important to showcase any relevant experience you may have. This could include clinical rotations, internships, or volunteer work. Make sure to include the name of the organization, the dates you worked there, and a brief description of your role and responsibilities.

Emphasizing Skills and Achievements

In addition to relevant experience, highlighting your skills and achievements is crucial. This could include clinical skills such as medication administration, assessment, or wound care. You may also want to highlight any leadership experience or awards you’ve received.

Using Action Verbs

Using action verbs can help make your resume stand out and demonstrate the impact you made in previous roles. Some examples of action verbs relevant to nursing might include “assessed,” “administered,” or “collaborated.”

Keeping it Concise

Although it’s important to include all relevant information, it’s also important to keep your resume concise. Stick to a one page resume if possible, and avoid using long paragraphs. Use bullet points to convey information in a clear and concise manner.

Customizing the Resume

Finally, customizing your nursing student resume to the specific job you are applying for can help make a strong impression on potential employers. Research the job posting and company to get a feel for what they are looking for and tailor your resume accordingly.

By following these guidelines, you can create a nursing student resume that highlights your relevant experience, emphasizes your skills and achievements, uses action verbs to demonstrate impact, keeps things concise, and is customized to the job you are applying for.

Nursing Student Resume Examples

When it comes to crafting a strong nursing student resume, it’s important to showcase your skills and experience in the best light possible. To help you get started, we’ve gathered three nursing student resume examples, with varying levels of experience and skillsets.

Example 1: Nursing Student Resume with Clinical Experience

Samantha Wilson

123 Main Street | City, State | (123) 456-7890 |  [email protected]

Highly motivated nursing student seeking to leverage clinical experience and hands-on training to provide exceptional patient care. Eager to contribute to a dynamic healthcare team and gain further experience in a fast-paced clinical setting.

Clinical Rotation, XYZ Hospital

• Assisted registered nurses in providing direct patient care and monitoring vital signs.
• Administered medications under the supervision of nursing staff.
• Documented patient information and maintained accurate records.
• Collaborated with healthcare professionals to ensure effective care delivery.

Pediatric Clinical Rotation, ABC Clinic

• Assessed pediatric patients’ physical and emotional well-being.
• Assisted in administering vaccines and performing routine screenings.
• Educated patients and families on preventive care and health maintenance.
• Participated in multidisciplinary team meetings to discuss patient cases and treatment plans.
• Expected Graduation: Month, Year

Certifications

• Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Certification

Volunteer Experience

Volunteer Nurse, Community Health Clinic

• Assisted in providing healthcare services to underserved populations.
• Conducted health screenings and educated patients on preventive care.
• Collaborated with a team of healthcare professionals to deliver comprehensive care.
• Clinical procedures and patient care
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills
• Proficient in medical documentation systems
• Strong attention to detail and problem-solving abilities
• Team collaboration and coordination

This nursing student resume example is perfect for those with previous clinical experience. The candidate begins with a strong objective statement, highlighting their desire to pursue a nursing career and their years of hands-on clinical work. Then, they focus on their specific clinical experiences, breaking down their responsibilities and accomplishments in each role. The resume also includes sections on education, certifications, and volunteer work, all of which are essential for any nursing student resume.

Example 2: Entry-Level Nursing Student Resume

Emily roberts.

456 Oak Avenue | City, State | (987) 654-3210 |  [email protected]

Dedicated nursing student with a strong academic background and a passion for providing compassionate patient care. Seeking an entry-level position in a healthcare setting to apply theoretical knowledge and gain practical experience in the nursing field.

Relevant Coursework

• Anatomy and Physiology
• Nursing Fundamentals
• Pharmacology for Nurses
• Medical-Surgical Nursing
• Maternal-Child Health Nursing
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Proficient in medical terminology and documentation
• Ability to prioritize and multitask in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent problem-solving and critical-thinking abilities
• Compassionate and patient-centered care approach

Volunteer, Local Nursing Home

• Assisted residents with activities of daily living, such as bathing and grooming.
• Engaged in social interactions and provided emotional support.
• Assisted nursing staff in patient monitoring and documentation.

Extracurricular Activities

• Member, Student Nurses Association
• Volunteer, Community Health Fair
• Participant, Nursing Simulation Lab

If you’re an entry-level nursing student with little to no practical experience, this resume example is for you. This candidate highlights their education and training at the top of their resume, including their GPA and any relevant coursework or honors. They also include any volunteer work or extracurricular activities that demonstrate their dedication to the nursing profession. The key is to focus on transferable skills, such as communication and critical thinking, that can be applied in a nursing setting.

Example 3: Nursing Student Resume with Relevant Skills

Ethan Mitchell

789 Maple Street | City, State | (456) 789-0123 |  [email protected]

Highly motivated nursing student with a strong focus on developing and utilizing relevant skills to provide quality patient care. Seeking opportunities to contribute to a healthcare team and enhance skills in clinical settings.

• Clinical skills: Vital sign monitoring, medication administration, wound care.
• Technological proficiency: Electronic health records (EHR) systems, medical devices.
• Interpersonal skills: Effective communication, empathy, teamwork.
• Critical-thinking abilities: Problem-solving, prioritization, decision-making.
• Patient-centered care: Compassion, advocacy, cultural sensitivity.
• Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)

Medical Mission Trip Volunteer

• Assisted healthcare professionals in providing medical care to underserved communities.
• Conducted health screenings and administered basic medical treatments.
• Collaborated with a diverse team to ensure efficient and effective care delivery.
• Member, Nursing Student Association
• Participant, Nursing Skills Workshop
• Volunteer, Local Blood Drive

Professional Development

• Attended seminars on patient safety and infection control
• Completed workshops on effective communication in healthcare

This nursing student resume example highlights the candidate’s relevant skills, including clinical skills, technology proficiency, and interpersonal skills. This can be a great option for those with a mix of clinical and non-clinical experience, or for those who want to emphasize their skills in a particular area. In addition to their skills, this candidate also includes their education and certifications, along with any volunteer work or extracurricular activities that demonstrate their commitment to nursing.

The key to a strong nursing student resume is to showcase your skills and experience in a clear and concise manner. Whether you’re highlighting your clinical experience, your education and training, or your relevant skills, each of these examples can serve as a starting point for crafting a winning nursing student resume.

Frequently Asked Questions About Nursing Student Resumes

As a nursing student, crafting a resume that stands out can be challenging. Here are some commonly asked questions and answers regarding nursing student resumes:

How long should my nursing student resume be?

The length of your nursing student resume should be one page. This is an industry-standard that allows potential employers to quickly scan your key qualifications, education, and experience without getting overwhelmed.

Ensure that you keep your resume concise, yet effective, by including only the most relevant details that relate to the job you are applying to. Avoid vague language and focus on concrete achievements.

Can I include non-nursing related experience on my nursing student resume?

Yes, you can! Including non-nursing related work experience can be beneficial in highlighting transferable skills and demonstrating a well-rounded background.

For example, if you worked at a restaurant as a server, you could list skills such as teamwork, communication, and customer service. Be sure to also highlight how these skills can apply to a career in nursing.

Incorporating volunteer work or internships in related fields can also be advantageous. These experiences can demonstrate your passion for healthcare and commitment to helping others.

Should I include a cover letter with my nursing student resume?

A cover letter is an important aspect to include alongside your nursing student resume. A well-crafted cover letter allows you to demonstrate your personality, work ethic, and passion for nursing. It also provides the opportunity to address any gaps or inconsistencies that may be present on your resume.

When drafting your cover letter, focus on your unique strengths and accomplishments that align with the job description. It is also important to research the company and tailor your cover letter to their mission and values.

A nursing student resume should be concise and relevant to the job description. Non-nursing related experiences can be included, as well as a well-crafted cover letter that highlights your personality and alignment with the company’s mission.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Nursing Student Resume

When writing a nursing student resume, it’s essential to avoid common mistakes that can hinder your chances of getting a job. In this section, we’ll discuss the four most common mistakes nursing students make when writing their resumes.

Including Irrelevant Information

One of the biggest mistakes nursing students make on their resumes is including irrelevant information. While it might seem tempting to include every experience you’ve had, it’s crucial to focus only on the relevant ones.

The best way to avoid this mistake is to tailor your resume based on the job description. Highlight the skills and experiences that match the requirements of the job you’re applying for. Avoid listing too many part-time jobs and unrelated roles, as this gives the impression that you are not focused.

Focusing Only on Education

Education is crucial when applying for a nursing role, but it’s not the only thing employers look for. Focusing only on your education can be a mistake as it doesn’t provide a full picture of your capabilities and experiences.

To avoid this mistake, include both education and work experience. If you don’t have any relevant work experience, highlight extracurricular activities and volunteer work. Nursing programs often have a range of clinical experiences and internships available, which are highly valued by employers.

Not Highlighting Relevant Skills

Another mistake that nursing students often make when writing resumes is not highlighting relevant skills. Employers look for specific skills, such as clinical proficiency, communication, and problem-solving abilities.

To avoid this mistake, carefully review the job description to identify the skills required for the role. Then, highlight your relevant skills and provide examples of how you’ve demonstrated them in previous roles.

Forgetting to Proofread

Finally, one of the most critical mistakes that nursing students make when writing resumes is forgetting to proofread. Typos and grammatical errors can give the impression that you don’t pay attention to detail.

To avoid this mistake, take the time to proofread your resume carefully. Read it out loud to yourself to catch any errors that you might have missed before submitting it to the employer.

Writing a nursing student resume requires attention to detail and an understanding of what employers are looking for. Avoiding these common mistakes and tailoring your resume to the job description can significantly increase the chances of getting a job interview.

Nursing Student Resume Templates

As a nursing student, crafting a winning resume is essential to landing your dream job. However, with so many different formats and styles available, it can be difficult to know which one is right for you. To help you get started, we’ve put together three nursing student resume templates that will help you stand out from the competition.

Basic Nursing Student Resume Template

For those looking for a simple and straightforward resume template, the Basic Nursing Student Resume Template is the way to go. This template features a clean and professional layout, making it easy to read and understand. It includes sections that showcase your education, clinical experience, and relevant skills.

Sample Basic Nursing Student Resume Template:

Name: Contact Information: Objective: Education: Clinical Experience: Relevant Skills:

Creative Nursing Student Resume Template

If you’re looking to showcase your creativity and personal style, the Creative Nursing Student Resume Template is the way to go. This template features a unique design that includes graphics, color accents, and a more modern layout. It includes sections that showcase your education, clinical experience, and relevant skills.

Sample Creative Nursing Student Resume Template:

Professional nursing student resume template.

For those looking for a more traditional and polished resume, the Professional Nursing Student Resume Template is the perfect choice. This template features a classic design that includes a professional font, formal layout, and a clear hierarchy. It includes sections that showcase your education, clinical experience, and relevant skills.

Sample Professional Nursing Student Resume Template:

No matter which template you choose, it’s important to note that your resume is a reflection of you and your skills. Make sure to showcase your best self and highlight your achievements and experience. And remember, always tailor your resume to the specific job you’re applying for to increase your chances of landing an interview.

Tips for Landing Your First Nursing Job

As a nursing student, your ultimate goal is to land your first nursing job. However, it can be challenging to secure a job opportunity in a highly competitive market. Here are some essential tips that can help you stand out from the crowd:

Networking is one of the most effective ways of securing a nursing job. Establishing connections with other nurses, doctors, and healthcare professionals can increase your chances of getting your dream job. Attend job fairs, conferences, and seminars to meet potential employers and gain insight into the nursing profession. Additionally, consider joining professional nursing organizations to expand your network.

Applying for Internships and Residencies

Applying for internships and residency programs is another way to land your first nursing job. These programs provide real-world experience, exposure to various healthcare settings, and opportunities to work alongside seasoned professionals. Participating in internships and residencies can also strengthen your nursing skills and increase your chances of getting hired in the future.

Volunteering

Volunteering is an excellent way to gain firsthand experience in the nursing profession. Consider volunteering in hospitals, clinics, or nursing homes in your area to gain practical experience and demonstrate your commitment to the nursing profession. Volunteering opportunities can also help you establish connections with healthcare professionals who can provide you with valuable nursing job leads.

Continuing Education

Continuing education is crucial in the nursing profession as it helps you stay up-to-date with the latest healthcare trends and best practices. Consider taking courses and attending training sessions to improve your nursing skills and demonstrate your commitment to the profession. Moreover, continuing education can make you a more attractive candidate for nursing job opportunities.

Landing your first nursing job can be a daunting task, but it’s not impossible. Utilize these tips to expand your network, gain practical experience, and stay up-to-date with current healthcare trends to increase your chances of securing your dream nursing job.

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The Ultimate Guide to Nursing Resumes in 2024

How to write a nurse resume, nurse resume research, nursing resume readers & robots, choose a nurse resume format, nurse resume format & design, writing your nursing resume, common resume mistakes, nursing resume templates, nurse resume faqs.

Expert Reviewed by: Amanda Guarniere, NP, Founder of the Resume RX

In 2024, a vague, uninspiring nursing resume just won't cut it. Recent years have fostered growing competition for the best nursing jobs , creating a greater need for nurses to learn how to write exceptional nursing resumes. With vast opportunities and diverse requirements from various employers, every nurse must put their best foot forward to market themselves for the best positions. 

However, this ever-changing world of online applications and robotic resume readers makes it more complex for nurses to get to the first rounds of interviews. This article will help you tackle the daunting task of writing a nursing resume that stands out. We'll help you build a better nursing resume by giving you an inside look at how robotic resume readers work and providing tips on how to make your resume, things you should and shouldn't include, and provide examples and templates.

Think of your job search as your own personal marketing campaign. And the product is you! Your resume is an advertisement for your professional nursing brand. A brand is more than a logo - it’s the overall impression you give your audience. In this case, your audience is a potential employer. 

As with any advertisement, the goal of your nursing resume is to pique your audience’s interest in a limited amount of time. It’s commonly said that hiring managers will spend less than ten seconds reading your resume. And in many cases, it has to first be screened by a resume-reading robot before it reaches human hands.

So, you must carefully curate your brand for these employers. Captivate them with your professionalism, unique skillset, experience, and personality using your nursing resume. These tactics may help get your foot in the door for an interview, where you can close the deal by impressing them in person.

The first and most important step in any marketing campaign is the research phase. The more you learn about potential employers, the better you can tailor your registered nurse resume to their requirements.

Initial Employer Research for Nursing Resumes

Before you begin tailoring your resume for specific jobs, take some time to answer the following questions about each company:

• Who are they?
• What is their company culture?
• What do they struggle with as an organization?
• What qualities are they looking for in a potential candidate?
• Which of their desired qualities do you possess?

Researching Company Culture and Values

The internet has made it fairly easy to hop online and start your research right now from your mobile device. Employers' websites and social platforms will give you an inside glimpse at their culture and values.

Instead of simply reading a job posting, take a few extra steps to investigate the employer's online presence:

• Check out the company website - what does their mission statement say?
• See what they tweet about
• Investigate what photos they post on Instagram
• Learn about the articles they share on Facebook
• Check their LinkedIn - do you have any connections at the company?
• Look at their Google ratings

Examine Required vs Preferred Nursing Qualifications

The research phase isn't just about investigating the company - you also need to understand the job description. Specifically, understanding the difference between "required" and "preferred" qualifications will help you build a tailored resume for each job:

Required Qualifications

These are just what they say - requirements. Those who do not possess these qualifications will not be considered. 

Preferred Qualifications

Skills that are desired but are not deal-breakers for the employer. You may still be considered even if you do not possess these. 

As you personalize your nursing resume to different opportunities, these qualifications will, in part, guide what you do and do not include. You should include any and all required qualifications if you want an employer to consider your candidacy. 

If you do not possess some or all of the preferred qualifications, you can apply anyway and still be in the running. However, including the ones you do possess on your tailored nursing resume is always the best practice.

Build a Master Resume

You may want a solid starting point from which you can use your research to build a dedicated resume for each position you apply for. Queue the "master resume," a comprehensive working document that highlights everything you've accomplished and every skill you've fostered as a nurse thus far. 

We recommend starting with a foundational nurse resume so that you can alter it for each role you apply to. This way, you won't be rewriting a new resume for every single position. But you'll also avoid submitting "cookie-cutter" resumes that employers won't bother looking at twice.

Use Research to Personalize Your Nursing Resume

Dale Carnegie once said that “A person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Personalizing your RN resume matters, with both how you mention and address the future employer and how to include your specific qualifications that match what they are looking for.

Using your research and leveraging your professional brand and personality to target your nurse resume could lead to the interview of your dreams. Not targeting it, however, could lead you on the fast track to nowhere.

The internet revolution transformed the hiring process, impacting the entire labor market in a very short time. 15 years ago, printing your resume on off-white linen paper and hand-delivering it to employers was the status quo. But as little as five years later, doing so might only get you some perplexed looks and urges to apply online.

Technological advances will continue shaping the job market in 2024.  USC Annenberg reports that up to 55% of companies are making investments in AI recruiting measures. But even now, many employers screen online applicants using resume-reading robots. 

This section explores how these bots impact the hiring process and how to get your nursing resume past them and into a real person's hands.

What Is a Resume Reading Robot?

ATS systems are highly technical but can only do what their program says, unable to come close to human discretion. So, knowing how ATS systems work can help you write a resume that passes their screening.

Here's a brief overview of how employers use ATS software to screen nursing applicants:

1. Knockout Questions

Recruiters can use an ATS to scan for keywords or "knockout questions" like "Do you have an active Washington State Nursing License?" These functions help them swiftly eliminate unqualified candidates.

2. Disqualifying Statements

They may also configure the ATS to include “disqualifying statements.” An ATS searching for these statements will automatically reject nursing resumes with certain keywords or phrases. 

For example, an ATS screening for bachelor's-trained nurses might reject resumes that mention an associate's degree. If you have both, consider listing only your BSN.

3. Keyword Screening

Finally, recruiters may use the ATS to find resumes with exact keywords or phrases. These may include qualifications listed in the job description, degrees, or skills. They can program the ATS to reject any application that does not include their specified keywords.

How Does ATS Work?

Not all ATS systems are created equally. They vary greatly in their functionality and behavior. Most ATS systems are programmed to score resumes according to keywords. However, they can be configured to search and score resumes based on various other criteria.

The results are imperfect. Some ATS systems can't differentiate between titles, such as Clinical Nurse II and Registered Nurse, or distinguish between the terms BLS and Basic Life Support. So how do you navigate these intricacies in your nursing resume?

Best Practice:   R ead the job description and use the exact wording for the qualifications listed that you possess.

If you use acronyms and abbreviations, make sure to spell out the entire word, followed by the shortened version. It would be disappointing to have all the requested qualifications but be filtered out by the ATS because you used only the acronyms when the robot was programmed for the full phrases spelled out.

What Are the Shortcomings of ATS?

The problem is that ATS does not ‘read’ a resume as a human would - it simply collects data. It doesn’t care about aesthetics, either. It is programmed by an employer to search for the right keywords, in the right order, on the right part of the resume.  

Also, the system can get confused pretty easily. For example, if the font is too fancy or if it encounters unrecognizable symbols, it may score the resume as ‘unqualified’ and move on to the next resume. It does what it is configured to do, nothing more and nothing less.

While ATS has streamlined the hiring process for employers, it’s also made job search extremely challenging for the job seeker. In fact, 94% of hiring professionals say that ATS has positively influenced their hiring goals, while 80% of job seekers say that their online job search is stressful.

What Other Hiring Technology Might I Encounter?

Recently, some employers have started to use artificial intelligence in a different way - during the interview process. Rather than having strict ATS filters, they offer more candidates the opportunity to interview, but there is a catch.

You don't interview with the employer but with a computer. In these one-way or “on-demand” interviews, you essentially get the opportunity to record your video response to interview questions. After you submit it, hiring managers or recruiters review the video responses before choosing the candidates for formal interviews.

Does Every Employer Use ATS?

While many employers use ATS, there are definitely employers who still rely on human resource professionals to screen resumes. In those instances, a human resources professional usually skims the resumes and invites the most qualified candidates in for an interview.

The problem here is that most employers will receive hundreds of resumes for a single opening. To get through the resumes quickly, the HR professional may resort to a simple scan of the resumes knowing that even qualified applicants may not make it. It’s simply a way to reduce the number of applicants.

In either case, the goal of the modern resume is to ‘sell’ yourself in an organized, targeted manner for a specific role. The best way to design an effective, attention-grabbing resume is by making strong assertions in the beginning followed by supporting evidence.

How to Get Past the ATS

• Target your resume to the specific position. Do this by reading job descriptions and selecting keywords noted in the descriptions - competencies, skills sets, education, and experience.
• Match individual experiences to keywords/key skill sets found within the job posting.  
• Research the employer and target the resume based on the facility's values and culture. 
• Make strong assertions within the top ⅓ of the resume.
• Follow those assertions with supporting evidence.
• Include a “ Professional Summary ” if you are an experienced Nurse.
• Only apply to roles that you match 100% of the “Required Qualifications.” 
• Use simple fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri.
• Never use smaller than 10-point font. See Part 5 for more styling suggestions. 
• Use simple black bullet (dots) points, not special bullet symbols.
• Save your resume as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf format.
• If using an abbreviation, always spell out the words followed by the abbreviation or acronym. You never know how the abbreviation was entered into the ATS. 
• Use standard, simple section headers such as “Work History” or “Education.”
• Settings you’ve worked in 
• Patient demographics
• Policies/procedures
• EMR/EHR used
• Medications administered
• Equipment used
• Don’t use the same title as at your current employer if it is different from the title in the job description. Use the title in the job description. 
• Don’t overload your resume with keywords. Use them appropriately. Overusing keywords will flag a resume and could cause the ATS to lower your score.
• Don't forget to support the keywords you use with evidence throughout your resume.
• Do not put your contact information in the header section because ATS will not see it.
• Do not include tables because most ATS can’t read them. Other ATS can only read them if their operator programmed them to do so. 
• Do not use creative section headers such as “Where I’ve Worked” because the ATS likely doesn’t understand what that means.
• Don’t include a headshot, graphics, special fonts, photos, colored fonts, or unique bullets. 
• Do not state, “References available upon request.” It takes up too much space and is unnecessary. If employers want references, they’ll ask. 
• Don’t place skills at the bottom of the resume. Many ATS systems only scan the top ⅓ of the resume for keywords. If you have important keywords at the bottom, the ATS may not see them and could disqualify your resume. 
• Don’t use “I” statements; resumes should be written in the third person. 
• Do not rely on resume builder software. Stay in control of your registered nurse resume.

How to Spot an ATS

If you’ve ever visited a job posting and seen an “APPLY NOW” button, you’ve encountered the elusive resume-reading bot. ATS requires candidates to enter data on the front end. 

Maybe you’ve gone through the steps to create a login, complete the application and upload your resume. Perhaps you didn’t realize at the time that you were entering your information into an applicant tracking system.  

Raise your hand if you never heard back from an employer after applying online. Raise your other hand if you received an automated response “thanking” you for your interest and never heard back!

Now, keep in mind that it can be difficult to stand out when you are applying for a job online, especially when there is an ATS involved. As you consider your overall job search strategy, try to think of other ways that can increase your chances of getting a job. Don’t be afraid to ask your network connections for referrals and recommendations, or let friends and family know what type of position you are looking for and where. While your resume is absolutely important, it isn’t the only tool that can lead to you getting a job.

Prior to ever typing words onto your resume, it’s important to first decide on a resume format. There are three types of resume layouts. While we highly recommend the reverse-chronological layout for most nursing professionals, we’d encourage you to make the best choice for yourself.

Here’s a breakdown of the three most popular types of resume layouts: 

1. Reverse Chronological Nursing Resume

This layout focuses on career history and lists jobs in reverse chronological order. We recommend this type of registered nurse resume for the majority of healthcare professionals and will focus the details of this article on the format. It is best suited for:

• New nursing graduates
• Nurses with fewer than 5 roles within the past 5-7 years. 
• Travel Nurses with <10 completed assignments
• Nurses with experience in only 1-2 specialties
• Nurses applying for a similar role
• Nurses wanting to show vertical career progression 

2. Functional Nursing Resume

This nurse resume layout places emphasis on skills and deemphasizes work history. However, it does not pass the ATS test well, and hiring managers overall do not prefer it. We recommend against this layout for the majority of nursing professionals. Typically, people who use this format are: 

• Changing careers
• Have large gaps in employment
• Do have years of experience in the role in which they are applying

3. Combination Nursing Resume

This layout is a mixture of the reverse chronological and the functional resume. While it places emphasis on skill sets, abilities, and accomplishments, it also highlights applicable work history. We recommend combination resumes for nursing professionals with the following background, goals, and barriers: 

• Nurses with experience in multiple specialties and/or medical professions
• Seasoned travel nurses with >10 completed assignments
• Nurses with multiple small gaps in employment
• Nurses looking to change specialties
• Nurses interested in changing careers

Writing a nursing resume can feel overwhelming. It’s no easy task! Nowadays, nursing resumes must be able to pass through resume reading software before it even reaches a recruiter. That’s why we’ve put together THREE nurse resume templates to cater to your unique professional needs and employment situation.

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The first formatting and design consideration you should make when creating your nursing resume is how well an  ATS will read them. We recommend the following comprehensive design and formatting guidelines to appease common ATS systems:

Many experts believe you can achieve the perfect balance of text to white space in your nursing resume using the following margin settings:

• Top Margin: 1"
• Side Margins: .63"

Left alignment is standard since that’s how most people (and robots) read. You may think a justified alignment looks tidier, but it can leave uneven gaps between words and ultimately make text harder to read. 

In the nursing profession, length should not be the focus of the resume. While we recommend 1-2 pages, some nurses may have resumes with 3 (or more) pages.

Don’t stress over length too much. If the resume is slightly over the page amount by a few lines try changing the margin, font style, font size, or shortening statements. The bottom line is it should look visually appealing and should include keywords.

We recommend  Times New Roman or Arial to best utilize the functionality of the ATS. However, this is your personal preference. Take note that Times New Roman can be difficult to read if it is smaller than 11pt.

If you are striving for a resume that looks visually appealing when printed, there are great ways to achieve that without going overboard with design. For example, you could use the “small caps” feature for headings, which keeps the font the same but adds a bit more character and differentiation. Or, you could try a font pairing, using serif fonts for headers and sans serif for body text.

Important Note: Different font styles will take up different amounts of space. See how these identical statements look vastly different despite both being in 11 pt font:

Experienced Travel Nurse with 8 years experience in critical care nursing.

Throughout the resume, there should be different-sized fonts. We recommend the following for each section: 

It’s important to note that 10-point font should be the smallest size on the resume. 

While some ATS systems claim to read colors, we encourage you to simply use black. 

Special Characters

We recommend keeping the resume very simple. Basic bullet points (black dots) may be used when desired. Simple lines are acceptable as well. 

Design Features to Avoid

The following design features are best left off the resume: 

• Multiple font styles
• Special characters

As you’ve learned, ATS systems skim resumes and locate specific information in the correct order. We’d suggest using the following categories and section headers to optimize your nursing resume for ATS scoring.

Contact Information

This is the first section of the resume and does not require a title. Your name should be front and center. Don’t make the recruiter search for it. Make sure it’s the largest font on the page. While there are varying opinions on the exact placement of the name, we recommend a simple classic version in the following format:

Your name should be the first thing a recruiter, hiring manager, or ATS system sees on your nurse resume. It should share a line with your nursing credentials and be in a bold, readable, 18-22 pt font. If you go by a different name, make sure to list both in this section.

Nursing Credentials

Your nursing credentials should directly follow your first and last name on a nursing resume. The preferred order to list these in is Highest degree earned, Licensure, then National Certifications.

We've included a  credential quick reference guide below to help you fill out your resume perfectly.

The days of listing your home address on a resume are over - most employers don't need this information, and we advise against including it on your resume as a security precaution. However, this is a personal decision you can make at your own discretion.

You should never leave your location off completely because many employers have location parameters set in their ATS systems. Ensure you include your city and state in the contact information portion of your nursing resume.

Phone/Texting Number

Oh, technology! Yes, some employers will actually text their candidates. Make sure to indicate if you receive texts and whether the phone number is a cell phone or a home phone. This is a great time to make sure your voicemail message states your full name and is professional.

Email Address

It is in your best interest to ensure that you have a professional email address that does not reveal your age. Age discrimination is real, and listing your birth year or using an antiquated email service like AOL can definitely trigger it.

Your email address should include a variation of your name and some numbers if necessary. You can even make a totally separate email account and use it only for your job search.

LinkedIn Profile

If you have a LinkedIn profile definitely include it. If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, you could be missing out on opportunities. Now is the time to create one!

In your settings, you can easily create a shortened LinkedIn URL that doesn’t have a bunch of random numbers and letters.

How Your Digital Footprint Impacts Your Nursing Job Search

Though you may not list it, you should consider your social media and online presence when you complete the contact information portion of your resume. Potential employers will likely look you up online. Many Recruiters tell us that looking a candidate up on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter is one of the first things they do. So, make sure everything you post online is what you would want an employer to see. 

Additionally, online behavior can benefit you. Do you have a nursing-related website or blog? Are you an Instagram celebrity? Maybe you created a successful YouTube channel when you were a newbie nurse. Include all this on your resume if it relates to nursing. This is all part of your unique brand!

Nursing Resume Credential Quick Reference Guide

According to the American Nurses Credentialing Center (AACN), the preferred order is Highest degree earned, Licensure, and National Certification.

Educational degrees include doctoral degrees (Ph.D., DrPH, DNS, EdD, DNP), master’s degrees (MSN, MS, MA), bachelor’s degrees (BS, BSN, BA), and associate degrees (AD, ADN).

Licensure credentials include RN, LPN, CNA, and APRN.

National certification , which is occasionally voluntary for nurses and obligatory for advanced practice nurses, is awarded through accredited certifying bodies such as the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), includes RNBC (Registered Nurse-Board Certified) and FNP-BC (Family Nurse Practitioner-Board Certified).

You may also choose to include awards and honors:

Outstanding achievements in nursing, such as FAAN (Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing).

Other certifications that recognize additional skills, such as the EMT-Basic/EMT, awarded by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.

Here is an example of contact information on a nursing resume that puts it all together:

Penny Lite, BSN, RN   Los Angeles, CA | Text/Call: (987) 654 - 3210 | [email protected] | www.linkedin.com/pennylitern

Professional Summary

Don’t make an employer (or ATS) search your entire resume for reasons to invite you to an interview. Tell them right off the top exactly why you are the best candidate for the role.

Every position is unique, and this is your first opportunity to optimize the resume for ATS and to also catch the employer’s eye. Spend a little time to target it and let your qualifications and accomplishments shine. 

While there is some debate about how to introduce your resume, we suggest using a professional summary as opposed to a career objective. The professional summary can be formatted in either a short paragraph or a bulleted list asserting qualifications and providing a concise career snapshot.

How to Write a Professional Summary for a Nursing Resume

Think of your resume summary as an “elevator pitch” - a quick, attention-grabbing, loaded statement that entices the reader to want to continue on. Your professional summary is unique to you and should be targeted to a specific role, just like the cover letters career counselors used to tell us about.

However, it could definitely include the following information: 

• Number of years of experience in a specialty 
• Common keywords found in nursing job descriptions e.g., excellent patient care, acute care, family education, compassionate
• Facility designations or info about facilities 
• Supervisory experience and number of subordinates
• Special certifications or awards
• Language abilities
• Soft skills such as patience, compassion, and a cooperative spirit

Nursing professional summary example: 

4+ years nursing experience with strong clinical background in critical care (CCU) and intermediate care nursing (IMCU). Proactively streamlines operations, initiates tasks, and supports the healthcare team while prioritizing excellent patient care. Champions patient and family education by providing compassionate, inclusive care that encourages self-sufficiency. Recipient of the Daisy Award. Bilingual in English and Spanish.

Nursing Skills and Areas of Expertise

List your nursing skills within the top ⅓ of the resume - Don't make the common mistake of adding them last. With the popularity of ATS, this mistake could cost you an interview. This is especially true in nursing, as the profession requires very specific skills. 

Additionally, your hard skills should be directly targeted to the role as expressed in the job description. Is the employer asking for a specific EMR that you are experienced with? List it! Are you an expert at starting IVs because of your five years of experience in the emergency room? List it!

This should not be a generic list of skills but a specific list that is as quantified as possible. It’s possible that if you are a newer nurse or are making a specialty pivot you may not have hard skills to include. In that case, it’s okay to omit this section and highlight your transferable  soft nursing skills within your job history.

While most nurses list their license titles on their resumes, it’s been our experience that they leave off a few very important details - most notably, whether the license is active and the expiration date. 

Why is this important? Including this information lets potential employers know that you are ready to start work ASAP. They don’t have to wait for the licensing process. Including your license number is optional, and you can make this decision based on your privacy comfort. The employer will likely be verifying your license online anyway (this is all public information).

If you are an advanced practice nurse, you may decide to leave off license numbers for privacy purposes, especially your DEA number or controlled substance registration number.

Here’s an example of how to list your licensure:

Registered Nurse - California, #RN00101, expires 4/17/2024.

Certifications and Credentials

This is another key section where some important details are typically missing on the nursing resumes we’ve seen. While most nurses list their credentials, it’s important to list them in a specific manner.

Don’t simply list acronyms, as some ATS systems may not be programmed to read shortened versions. Make sure to list the accrediting body, credential/certification number (where applicable), and expiration date. 

Here’s an example of how to list your certifications and credentials: 

Basic Life Support (BLS), American Heart Association, expires: 12/1/2021

Work History

Employers want to know what you can do for them, period.  Nurse recruiters we’ve talked to will zero in on this section. What are they looking for? Evidence, facts, quantifiable points - proof to support the assertions made in your resume summary.

Vague work histories are particularly frustrating to employers - especially when applicants copy and paste job descriptions. To avoid falling into those pitfalls, try incorporating these tips: 

Use simple section headers such as “Work History” or “Relevant Experience,” these are ATS friendly. “What I’ve Done” is not. 

List your experience in reverse chronological order.  If you have a lengthy employment history, you may consider only including the most recent 10-15 years of experience. This will shorten your resume and also limit the chances that you’ll encounter age discrimination. Looking at the big-picture experience from 25 years ago doesn’t necessarily speak to your recent nursing experience because employers care about what you can do for them now.

Work History Format

Adding your work history in a logical format can help your nursing resume beat the ATS and impress recruiters. We recommend using the following format for each work history segment:

1. Job Title and Specialty

This is a controversial subject, but we believe employers care more about what you’ve done than who you’ve worked for. Use the job title as it is listed in the job posting, or use a more industry-wide job title. Registered Nurse as opposed to Clinical Nurse II. 

2. Facility Name

Add the name of the facility or company you worked for after your job title. You can add this on the same line or a different line, but using the same line will optimize space.

3. Employment Dates  

These are important and can be listed in a number of ways. However, it’s been our experience that specific dates are not necessary for a resume. On an application, yes, on a resume, not so much. You can simply list the months and years (mm/yy - present).

4. Facility-Specific and Unit-Specific Information

This information is helpful and important to employers but is left off the majority of resumes we’ve seen, it includes: 

• Trauma level: level I, II, III
• Facility Designations 
• Total Hospital beds
• Total unit beds

Primary Duties and Accomplishments

This section looks best in a bulleted list of no more than six points and should include duties, noteworthy accomplishments, and achievements. It’s important to emphasize specific duties and not be too vague.

Also, try your best not to simply regurgitate basic nursing duties that would be assumed of your role. This will take up valuable space on your resume and not really tell the reader much about you !

Wondering what specifics to include? Here are a few questions to get those wheels turning:

• What illnesses, injuries, or traumas do you care for? 
• What cases do you work on? 
• What type of medications do you administer and how? 
• What therapies do you perform? 
• What equipment do you use? 
• How have you improved processes? 
• When have I been first or best?
• No. 1 achievement in each position?
• Which achievements have the most impressive numbers?
• When have I been publicly recognized?

Write Strong Nursing Resume Bullets

Wondering how to order your bullets and what to include? Try this: start with a verb leading to quantifiable data or a specific point and include a relevant duty.

Use our comprehensive tables to build compelling nursing resume bullets that make your achievements shine:

Here is a brief work history resume example for nurses that puts it all together:

Registered Nurse, Acute Care - Example Medical Center 09-19 - Present

• Supervised staff of 15 registered nurses, 8 certified nursing assistants, and 7 paramedics while multitasking excellent patient care. 
• Cared for up to 4 patients per shift with acute neurological disorders, including strokes, spinal cord injuries, and head trauma.

Education and Training

In the nursing profession, education and training are of utmost importance. If you have work experience, this section can be fairly brief.  You should list your relevant degrees in chronological order. 

There are varying opinions regarding the specific ordering of education. However, we believe that the degree or certification title should be listed first. Employers care firstly that you have the education requirement they need and secondarily where you obtained the requirement. 

We suggest the following format:  Degree or Certification Title (acronym), Institution Name 

Here’s an example: 

Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (BSN), University of Washington 

Should I Include Graduation Dates on a Nursing Resume?

You are not required to include your college or high school graduation dates on your nursing resume , as it could reveal your age. Age discrimination is the top form of employment discrimination and affects all age groups. If you graduated more than 10-15 years ago, it may be a good idea to omit the date.  But this is a personal decision you should make at your own discretion.

Should I Include My GPA on a Nursing Resume?

Including your GPA in your nursing resume is optional. If you are particularly proud of your GPA, by all means, add it! However, it is not required. If you graduated with honors that you are proud of, you can definitely include that as well. Again the resume is a unique snapshot of you!

Should I Include my Non-Nursing Degrees and Credentials?

If you possess other degrees not related to nursing, it is not necessary to include those on your nursing resume. Some second-career nurses like to list this information, especially if there has been an interesting career pivot or one that brings a lot of value to your role as a nurse. Remember, you are telling your personal, unique story, and you get to decide what to include.

How Do I Add In-Progress Advanced Education Programs?

If you are currently enrolled in higher education to advance your studies within the nursing field, that should be listed on your resume and state that the degree is pending or in progress. However, if you started a graduate degree program, never finished, and do not plan on finishing, it is unnecessary to include it on the resume. 

Should I Include my High School Education?

Nurses do not need to include their high school diplomas on their resumes. The nursing profession requires completion of higher education, and therefore, your higher degree trumps your diploma. 

Awards, Accomplishments, and Affiliations

Though this section is not required, we encourage including awards and accomplishments that are relevant to the nursing profession. These details will provide the potential employer with more proof and evidence of who you are as a nurse. 

In this section, you can include: 

• Awards and recognitions that are specific to the hospital or facility where you work, e.g. the Daisy Award, Employee of the Month, and Nursing Excellence Award
• Professional memberships and affiliations relating to nursing and/or healthcare
• Volunteer work, if it relates to nursing

We suggest the following format: Title, organization, year

Here are a couple of examples:

• Recipient, Nursing Excellence Award, Washington Medical Center
• Volunteer, American Red Cross - Haiti - 2012

Naming Your Nurse Resume Save File

One last thing, saving! Don’t just give your resume any old name! Hiring professionals sometimes receive multiple documents from candidates, and they don’t want to waste time sorting through every document to find the resume. Some prefer to organize resumes by specialty. Tell them exactly which document is your resume. 

We suggest the following format: firstlast_specialty_resume.doc

Here’s an example:

PennyLite_ICU_resume.doc

We’ve seen a lot of resumes over the years, and you might be surprised by the amount of strange information people have included on them. So, here are the top mistakes we’ve seen:

Woot! If you’ve made it this far you should have an excellent understanding of how to write a great nursing resume. We know it’s a lot of information right now, and we hope that you’ll use the information to advance your career.

For a little more help, try using our free resume templates. And when you’ve landed your next interview, check out the next part in this series, The Complete Guide to Nursing Job Interviews .

>> Download free nurse resume templates!

What should be included in a nursing resume?

• A nursing resume should include your education, experience, including clinical, work, and volunteer, any certifications you have, and skills. 

How do I write a nurse resume?

• You can use a template to fill out your nursing resume or fill out your own. 

How do I list my nursing skills on my resume?

• List skills that are in the job description or outline on the facility’s website. For instance, common nursing skills include critical thinking, teamwork, communication, team management, and high ethical standards. 

Do you put RN after your name on a resume?

• You can include "RN" or "RN, BSN"  if you have other credentials. If you haven’t passed your NCLEX yet, you can put G.N. for Graduate Nurse.

How long should a nurse's resume be?

• A nursing resume should be no longer than 1-2 pages. 

What is your greatest skill as a nurse?

• The most valuable skill you have as a nurse may depend on your exact role and specialty, but in general, communication, kindness, empathy, and critical thinking are highly valued traits as a nurse. 

How far back should a resume go?

• If you’re a recent graduate, you don’t need to go to high school, just include your college experience and degree. For experienced nurses, include all relevant experience. 

Amanda is an Ivy-league-educated nurse practitioner and career mentor who helps nurses find and land their dream jobs. She founded The Résumé Rx  in 2018 to help nurses with career and résumé strategy  Learn more about Amanda and her products at  www.theresumerx.com  and follow her on Instagram  @theresumerx.

Angelina has her finger on the pulse of everything nursing. Whether it's a trending news topic, valuable resource or, heartfelt story, Angelina is an expert at producing content that nurses love to read. She specializes in warmly engaging with the nursing community and exponentially growing our social presence.

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Resume Worded   |  Proven Resume Examples

• Resume Examples
• Medical Resumes

44 Nursing Resume Examples - Here's What Works In 2024

The essential role that nurses play has never been so obvious. with the profession increasingly in demand, now is the perfect time to apply for nursing roles. this guide contains everything you need to write an effective nursing resume, including essential skills to include and resume templates you can use..

Nursing is a demanding but incredibly rewarding field, requiring dedication, compassion, and a lot of hard work. Nurses can choose from dozens of specialties and a variety of settings, including frontline hospital work, education, and private healthcare. Whatever your role, as a nurse, you’ll find that soft skills — including communication, problem solving, and conflict resolution — are essential, as are hard skills in patient care, technology, and basic medical procedures. There are multiple pathways leading to nursing, all culminating in the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). Aspiring nurses can pursue a Diploma, Associate Degree, or Bachelor of Science in Nursing, while accelerated programs are open to those with an existing undergraduate degree or experience in the field. In 2023, the face of nursing is expected to change significantly. Shortages elsewhere in the medical field are likely to lead to an increased demand and higher responsibilities for Nurse Practitioners and more nurses choosing to specialize. Nurses are also likely to see a greater emphasis on technology in healthcare, including telehealth visits, medical chatbots, and online education programs. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 12% job growth for nurses over the next several years, well above the national average.

Nursing Resume Templates

Jump to a template:

• General Nurse
• Experienced Nurse
• Certified Nursing Assistant
• Registered Nurse
• Psychiatric Nurse
• Nurse Case Manager
• Nursing Student
• Travel Nurse
• Nurse Practitioner
• New Grad Nurse
• Director of Nursing
• Nursing Supervisor
• Clinical Rotation Nurse
• Charge Nurse
• Remote Nurse
• Preceptor Nurse
• Relief Charge Nurse
• LPN Nurse (Licensed Practical Nurse)
• LVN Nurse (Licensed Vocational Nurse)
• ICU Charge Nurse
• Prior Authorization Nurse
• Clinic Nurse
• Medical Surgical Nurse
• Patient Care Technician

Jump to a resource:

• Keywords for Nursing Resumes

Nursing Resume Tips

• Action Verbs to Use
• Related Medical Resumes

Get advice on each section of your resume:

Template 1 of 44: General Nurse Resume Example

Nurses are integral to the healthcare system. Under the guidance of a doctor or surgeon, nurses support and perform crucial patient care duties. Nurses are often most hands-on with day-to-day patient treatment. They perform a wide variety of tasks, including administering medication, monitoring patients health status, performing blood tests, administering IV fluids, running testing, and more. To become a nurse, you can choose a few different educational paths. You may earn an associates in nursing and go on to earn your LPN (licensed practical nurse) license. You also could get a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and go on to receive your RN (registered nurse) license. LPN’s are slightly more limited in their job scope than RN’s. In any case, great nurses will have a strong medical background, a caring and calm demeanor, a deep understanding of safety procedures, and strong multi-tasking skills.

We're just getting the template ready for you, just a second left.

Tips to help you write your General Nurse resume in 2024

   gain hands-on patient experience.

While in nursing school, it’s wise to gain hands-on patient experience. This typically comes in the form of getting a position as a certified nursing assistant, healthcare aid, or medical assistant. You will learn how to perform basic activities of daily life with patients in these roles, and it gives you an opportunity to learn from the nurses you will work under.

   Consider learning a second language

Hospitals see everyone under the sun, and it’s no secret that many people speak a different language than English. Hospitals often look for bilingual staff and find them incredibly valuable when trying to communicate treatment and get consent from those who speak a foreign language. Find out what foreign language is most popular in your area, learn it, and highlight it on your resume.

Skills you can include on your General Nurse resume

Template 2 of 44: general nurse resume example.

The most important duty of a nurse is patient care, but that’s far from their only responsibility. As a nurse, you’ll be administering medication, monitoring and evaluating patient progress, and working closely with doctors to provide care in hospitals, clinics, residential homes, and a variety of less typical environments. To land a nursing position, you’ll need to emphasize both hard and soft skills in your resume.

   Good use of skills section to highlight nursing skills

If you feel like a comprehensive list of nursing skills could easily take up half your resume, you aren’t wrong. Even so, a good skills section shouldn’t include more than about 5-10 skills, which means you’ll need to read the job description carefully and pull out the most important skills recruiters are looking for.

   Lists additional qualifications relevant to nursing

At minimum, you’ll need a nursing degree or diploma to begin a career in nursing. If you have additional qualifications, like field-specific qualifications or general first aid, CPR, or basic life support (BLS) certification, it’s worthwhile to list those, too. You can include these in an additional section at the bottom of your resume or in your education section.

Template 3 of 44: Experienced Nurse Resume Example

As an experienced nurse, you've seen it all. You're the backbone of the healthcare system, working long hours to care for patients and being a team leader. In recent years, the healthcare industry has seen a growth in roles that require experienced nurses due to an aging population and the increasing complexity of care. When tailoring your resume for this role, it's important to highlight your experience, specialized skills, and the results you've achieved. While the pandemic has put nursing roles in the spotlight, it's also crucial to show how you adapted during these challenging times. Hiring managers are looking for nurses who can handle crises, adapt to changes quickly, and take a lead role in a team. Showcase your resilience and leadership skills in your resume and make sure it feels personal. No two nursing roles are ever the same, just as no two resumes should ever be identical.

Tips to help you write your Experienced Nurse resume in 2024

   highlight your specialized skills.

As an experienced nurse, you've no doubt gained some specialized skills. Perhaps you're an expert in critical care, or you've got a knack for pediatric nursing. Highlight these specialties on your resume. Not only do they showcase your experience, but they also show you're a nurse with a wider skill set.

   Show off your leadership skills

In a job where difficult decisions are made daily, leadership is crucial. You may have mentored new nurses, spearheaded a new initiative, or simply taken charge in a crisis. Show hiring managers you're not just a team player, but a potential team leader. It's these qualities that differentiate experienced nurses from the rest.

Skills you can include on your Experienced Nurse resume

Template 4 of 44: experienced nurse resume example.

As an experienced nurse, you’ll want to emphasize your experience in the field and advanced skill set. You may find yourself moving into positions of leadership or other increased responsibilities, which means highlighting transferable skills and evidence of solid career progression. Your accomplishments are key — instead of listing as many bullet points as you can, consider your most impressive achievements, particularly ones that demonstrate leadership and commitment.

   Bullet points feature strong action verbs to highlight nursing accomplishments

Choosing the right action verb is key to presenting your accomplishments in a positive, proactive light. Verbs like “assisted” and “collaborated” show your ability to work well in a large healthcare team, while ones like “organized,” “coordinated,” and “spearheaded” emphasize your willingness to take on leadership roles and higher-level responsibilities.

   Emphasize career growth in the nursing field

As you move on to more experienced roles, you’ll want to emphasize career progression in your resume. You can demonstrate growth through your job titles, bullet points, or both. Even if you haven’t been formally promoted or your job titles don’t show an obvious progression, you can make this clear by highlighting increased responsibilities in your accomplishments.

Template 5 of 44: Certified Nursing Assistant Resume Example

As a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), you're likely familiar with the critical role you play in patient care. While your daily tasks might involve things like personal care, taking vitals, and assisting with mobility, your resume needs to do more than just list these duties. Recently, employers have been valuing CNAs who can demonstrate empathy and effective communication, in addition to technical skills. When crafting your resume, remember to weave in how you've made genuine connections with patients and supported their wellbeing. Moreover, in light of the pandemic and the changing healthcare landscape, it's impressive if you can show adaptability and willingness to learn new protocols and technologies. This isn't just a list of your tasks - it's a narrative about how you've used your skills and traits to make an impact in your past roles.

Tips to help you write your Certified Nursing Assistant resume in 2024

   include relevant certifications.

As a CNA, you should include any specialized certifications, like CPR or dementia care, on your resume. This isn't just about meeting the job description requirements - it shows potential employers that you're committed to professional development and maintaining high standards in patient care.

   Demonstrate emotional intelligence

Aside from technical skills, you should reflect your emotional intelligence on your resume. Try to describe how you've managed sensitive situations, provided emotional support to patients, or how you've communicated effectively with patients' loved ones.

Skills you can include on your Certified Nursing Assistant resume

Template 6 of 44: certified nursing assistant resume example.

As a certified nursing assistant, you’ll work closely with patients under the supervision of registered nurses. Your nursing assistant resume should emphasize the hard skills you’ll need to do the job, including performing routine medical procedures like taking blood samples, monitoring vital signs, cleaning and sterilizing equipment, and assisting patients with eating, dressing, and bathing. You’ll also need a solid understanding of relevant policies and legislation, including HIPAA.

   Use a relevant resume title

One of the easiest ways to bypass resume screeners and ensure your resume lands on the desk of a hiring manager is to include the exact title of the job you’re applying for on your resume. Including a resume title not only does this, it also clearly shows that you’ve customized your resume for this particular job — always a necessity.

   Include volunteer work where you used your nursing skills

If you don’t have a lot of traditional work experience, consider including volunteer work on your resume. You can create a separate volunteer work section, or simply list it alongside paid work experience. If you do this, you should list it in the same way, with an employer heading, dates of employment, and action-oriented bullet points.

Template 7 of 44: Registered Nurse Resume Example

Registered nursing is a step up the nursing ladder, allowing you to provide care directly to patients. Licensure as a registered nurse (RN) is also a pathway to graduate nursing programs, practice as a nurse practitioner, and specialty certification. As an RN, you’ll provide education and advice to patients and coordinate with physicians and other members of your healthcare team, meaning communication skills are also essential.

Tips to help you write your Registered Nurse resume in 2024

   emphasize hard skills related to nursing.

As an RN, you’ll need a firm grasp on essential skills. Focus on technical skills you’ll need, like phlebotomy, rehabilitative care, triage, and electronic health record (EHR). If you want to include soft skills or more than a handful of hard skills, use your accomplishments to highlight accomplishments that demonstrate them in action.

   Use bullet points provide context on your nursing achievements

Focusing on accomplishments in your bullet points is good, but even better is if you can provide the context for those achievements. A bullet point reading “triaged 50+ patients daily” is far more descriptive than simply “triaged patients.” Try to give clear numbers when talking about the size of teams you’ve led or number of patients you’ve cared for.

Skills you can include on your Registered Nurse resume

Template 8 of 44: icu nurse resume example.

As an ICU nurse, you're stepping into a high-stakes world where precision, quick decision-making, and resilience are part of everyday life. Your resume should reflect this reality and showcase your competencies, experiences, and specializations. It's important to note that hiring trends within ICU roles are leaning towards value-based healthcare delivery. Hiring managers are on the lookout for nurses who are able to provide holistic care, focusing on patient outcomes and satisfaction. When crafting your resume, remember to highlight your accomplishments in these areas, rather than just listing your duties.

Tips to help you write your ICU Nurse resume in 2024

   highlight specialized icu skills.

As an ICU nurse, you've developed a unique skill set. On your resume, be sure to highlight your expertise in areas like critical care, advanced life support, and specific ICU equipment. Demonstrate how you've applied these skills in previous roles to deliver quality patient care.

   Emphasize on team collaboration and leadership

ICU environments are high-stress, high-intensity spaces that require strong teamwork and leadership. Be sure to showcase any experiences where you've effectively coordinated with a team, or led initiatives to improve patient outcomes or processes within the ICU.

Skills you can include on your ICU Nurse resume

Template 9 of 44: icu nurse resume example.

Working in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital means working in an emergency setting providing care to critically ill patients. As an ICU nurse, you may also work in an emergency room or burn center. The crucial and fast-paced nature of ICU nursing means you’ll need extensive nursing experience and additional certifications. Your resume should also emphasize transferable skills recruiters are looking for, including quick thinking and decision-making.

   Focus on ICU experience

When applying for a specific role like ICU nurse, it’s best to focus your resume on experience that’s relevant to that position. If you have past experience as an ICU nurse, it’s a good idea to include more bullet points for that job and cut down on the space you give to less closely related experience, like general nursing positions.

   Clearly list certifications related in nursing

The more specialized the role, the more likely it is that you’re going to need specific qualifications. If you already have the qualifications hiring managers are looking for — like critical care or life support certification — list them in your education section or in an additional section at the bottom of your resume.

Template 10 of 44: NICU Nurse Resume Example

As a NICU nurse, you'll be working in a fast-paced and highly specialized environment, caring for some of the most vulnerable patients. When crafting your resume, it's important to emphasize your skills and experience that are especially relevant to neonatal intensive care. There's a recent trend in the industry that focuses on evidence-based practices and mental-health support for families, so showcasing your knowledge in these areas will give you an edge. Additionally, with advancements in technology and medical devices, many NICU departments prefer nurses who are skilled in using the latest equipment. Mention your experience with different monitors, ventilators, and other NICU-specific devices on your resume, as this can demonstrate your ability to adapt to a rapidly evolving field.

Tips to help you write your NICU Nurse resume in 2024

   highlight relevant certifications.

In addition to your RN license, emphasize any advanced certifications that are relevant to neonatal care, such as the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) or the Certification for Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing (RNC-NIC). These certifications demonstrate your commitment to providing high-quality care for NICU patients.

   Showcase your teamwork and collaboration skills

NICU nurses work closely with a multidisciplinary team of professionals. Highlight instances on your resume where you collaborated effectively with physicians, respiratory therapists, social workers, and other nurses to develop and implement comprehensive care plans for your patients.

Skills you can include on your NICU Nurse resume

Template 11 of 44: nicu nurse resume example.

Neonatal intensive care (NICU) nurses provide critical care for premature and severely ill infants. As an NICU nurse, you’ll also run NICU equipment, support women during labor, provide neonatal services to healthy newborns, and document patient histories. You’ll need a high level of compassion, the ability to work in a stressful, fast-paced environment, and specific skills in neonatal care, telemetry monitoring, and neonatal medical equipment.

   Tailored to the NICU nursing job

Tailoring your resume to the specific job you’re applying for is essential. One easy way to do this is by including a resume title that matches the job title. Another is to tailor your skills list — for example, by listing NICU-specific skills like neonatal health monitoring and assessment.

   List skills and certifications separately

If you’re listing additional qualifications and skills together in an “other” section of your resume, make sure you don’t just lump everything in together. Using separate subsections for skills and certifications allows you to list more information while ensuring that a recruiter can still easily skim your resume to find the information they’re looking for.

Template 12 of 44: Psychiatric Nurse Resume Example

As a psychiatric nurse, your role entails assessing, supporting, and treating patients with mental health disorders in a variety of settings. In recent years, there's been an increased focus on the importance of mental health care, which has led to a higher demand for psychiatric nurses. When crafting your resume, it's crucial to highlight your clinical experience, therapeutic communication skills, and empathy for patients, as these are qualities that set you apart in this specialized field. In addition to showcasing your clinical skills, it's also important to mention any specific areas of expertise or certifications you hold within the psychiatric nursing field. This not only demonstrates your dedication to the profession but helps you stand out to potential employers who may be seeking nurses with specialized experience to meet the evolving needs of mental health care.

Tips to help you write your Psychiatric Nurse resume in 2024

   emphasize therapeutic communication skills.

As a psychiatric nurse, your ability to communicate effectively with patients is paramount. Highlight your proficiency in therapeutic communication techniques, such as active listening, empathy, and validation to show potential employers that you can provide exceptional care to patients in need.

   Showcase specific mental health certifications

If you have any mental health certifications, like a Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse (CPMHN) credential or training in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), include these in your resume. This not only showcases your advanced knowledge in the field but indicates your commitment to continually improving your skills in psychiatric nursing.

Skills you can include on your Psychiatric Nurse resume

Template 13 of 44: psychiatric nurse resume example.

A psychiatric nurse is a specialized healthcare professional who focuses on the identification and treatment of psychiatric disorders. These nurses are responsible for determining a patient’s mental status, providing appropriate treatments and solutions, monitoring patient safety, and more. Psychiatric nurses must have a strong educational background in both psychiatry and general nursing. To land this role, you should have an undergraduate degree in psychology or nursing and then go on to earn your LPN or RN credential. Many people who land this role will have a dual-degree with a major in nursing and minor in psychology, or vice versa. After you’ve become a licensed nurse, you should gain hands-on psychiatric experience. Hiring managers will look for nurses who are sensitive to the needs of psychiatric patients, display great listening skills, and problem solving abilities.

   Highlight your ability to de-escalate and negotiate with patients

When dealing with psychiatric patients, you will need to have the ability to de-escalate high emotion situations, provide useful mental health interventions, and negotiate with agitated patients. It’s important to highlight any experience you have using these skills.

   Highlight your knowledge in behavioral analysis

Psychiatric nurses will identify problematic behaviors in patients and have the knowledge to prescribe treatment plans based on behavioral symptoms. As such, any knowledge in behavioral analysis or behavioral therapy will be valuable for this role.

Template 14 of 44: Psychiatric Nurse Resume Example

Psychiatric nurses are responsible for supporting patients with mental health and substance abuse issues. As a psychiatric nurse, you’ll be spending more time with a smaller number of patients, developing strong relationships and building trust in order to support patients over the long term. Soft skills in this role are a must, so use your accomplishments to highlight your empathy, resilience, and people skills.

   Short resume summary tailored to psychiatric nursing field

Including a summary at the top of your resume is a great idea if you want to provide extra context for your work history or quickly highlight one or two particularly impressive accomplishments. It’s also a handy place to put anything that doesn’t fit elsewhere on your resume — for example, if you’re changing careers or transitioning to a new specialization.

   Highlight transferable skills

Never list soft skills in your skills section. Instead, use your bullet points to highlight transferable skills. Rather than listing something like “attention to detail,” which is far too subjective, include a bullet point like “administered medications while ensuring correct dosage, frequency, and accuracy,” which shows how you demonstrated that skill in action.

Template 15 of 44: Nurse Case Manager Resume Example

Nurse Case Managers are vital in the healthcare industry as they coordinate patient care and improve healthcare outcomes. They manage and monitor patient cases, ensuring the best possible care is provided to address patients' unique needs. To write a resume for a Nurse Case Manager role, it's essential to stay up-to-date on industry trends and showcase the skills that make you an exceptional candidate. Emphasize your ability to work with interdisciplinary teams, manage patient cases, and navigate complex healthcare systems. In recent years, the focus on preventive care and patient advocacy has grown significantly. Therefore, a Nurse Case Manager's resume should demonstrate the ability to assess patients' needs holistically and develop personalized, comprehensive care plans. It's essential to show your understanding of the importance of patient-centered care and the impact of industry trends on your role as a Nurse Case Manager.

Tips to help you write your Nurse Case Manager resume in 2024

   highlight care coordination skills.

In your resume, emphasize your experience in coordinating care, working with interdisciplinary teams, and managing communication between patients, families, and healthcare providers. Nurse Case Managers need to effectively collaborate with various stakeholders to ensure seamless, efficient care delivery.

   Showcase your expertise in patient advocacy

Nurse Case Managers play a crucial role in advocating for the needs and preferences of their patients. Highlight instances where you've successfully advocated for patients, secured resources, or facilitated access to necessary services. This demonstrates your commitment to patient-centered care and your ability to navigate complex healthcare systems.

Skills you can include on your Nurse Case Manager resume

Template 16 of 44: nurse case manager resume example.

Nurse case managers are registered nurses (RNs) who provide dedicated recovery plans to individual patients, often in a hospital or acute care setting. In addition to licensure as an RN, you’ll need an understanding of patients’ health needs, the ability to monitor patients and work with other care professionals to ensure continued recovery, and the knowledge and background to source cost-effective care solutions.

   Includes numbers and metrics to emphasize case manager achievements

Including numbers and metrics on your resume isn’t just for show. Quantifying your achievements makes them more objective and reliable, and numbers speak to the exact nature of your achievement and its impact on the company or organization. Plus, they’re also just more impressive — consider “managed clinic referrals” versus “managed an average of 400 clinic referrals per month,” for example.

   Focuses on hard skills as a case manager

As a nurse case manager, you’ll need more than just people skills to succeed. Your resume should list any hard skills the job requires, including HCPCS, MEDITECH, and billing software. You should aim to pick 5-10 of the top skills you need and list them at the end of your resume, in a skills or additional information section.

Template 17 of 44: Nurse Case Manager Resume Example

Unlike most nursing positions, the role of a nurse case manager is more administrative in nature. As a nurse case manager, you’ll be in a supervisory role, with responsibilities including making decisions regarding budgets and scheduling, managing a team of nurses, and developing patient care plans. Your resume should highlight soft skills like leadership, decision making, and communication alongside hard skills in patient care and technology.

   Use hard numbers and metrics relevant to nursing

Using concrete numbers in your bullet points can be the best way to demonstrate your achievements. Instead of “lowered spending costs,” be specific and write “lowered spending costs by 25%.” If you led a team of 30, managed records for 500 patients, or oversaw a 26-bed unit, including those details will help your accomplishments stand out.

   Highlight key skills in nursing

In a role like nurse case manager that requires specific hard skills, you can list these in a separate skills section at the bottom of your resume. This includes specific software like HCPCS or MEDITECH systems, which are often keywords that hiring managers or applicant tracking systems (ATS) will be screening for.

Template 18 of 44: Nursing Student Resume Example

As a nursing student, you’ll be relying less on traditional work experience to fill out your resume and more on the skills you’ve gained through coursework and student nursing placements. Even without much experience, you can distinguish yourself by listing your student nursing experience the same way you would paid experience, focusing on your accomplishments and making sure to include relevant skills and keywords.

Tips to help you write your Nursing Student resume in 2024

   emphasize student nursing experience.

If you’re still a student and don’t have any relevant paid work experience, that doesn’t mean your resume should be blank. You can list your student nursing experience in your professional experience section, listing the location you worked at as the employer and “student nurse” as your job title.

   Lists specific competencies relevant to nursing

Even without paid work experience, you’ll be graduating with plenty of the skills you’ll need in your first role. Include a skills section at the bottom of your resume where you list a few of the skills that are most relevant to the job you’re applying for — typically between 5-10 skills.

Skills you can include on your Nursing Student resume

Template 19 of 44: travel nurse resume example.

As a travel nurse, your resume should reflect your unique skill set and adaptability to different clinical environments. With the healthcare industry constantly evolving, it's important to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and practices in the field. When writing your resume, showcase your experience in various medical settings and emphasize any specialized skills or certifications you hold. Travel nursing is all about being flexible and reliable, so highlight your ability to adapt quickly and maintain high-quality patient care in an ever-changing environment. In recent years, travel nursing has become more competitive, and employers are looking for candidates who can easily transition between different roles and facilities. Your resume should not only highlight your clinical skills and experience, but also demonstrate your strong communication and interpersonal skills to ensure seamless collaboration with your colleagues.

Tips to help you write your Travel Nurse resume in 2024

   demonstrate adaptability in clinical settings.

As a travel nurse, you'll be placed in various medical environments, so it's crucial to showcase your adaptability in your resume. Mention instances where you've successfully adjusted to new procedures, protocols, or environments, making sure to highlight the positive outcomes for your patients and team.

   Emphasize specialized skills and certifications

In the competitive world of travel nursing, having specialized skills and certifications can set you apart from other candidates. List any relevant training or certifications, such as Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) or Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN), to show potential employers that you're well-prepared for the challenges of travel nursing.

Skills you can include on your Travel Nurse resume

Template 20 of 44: travel nurse resume example.

Travel nursing is a unique experience, allowing you to travel across the United States or even around the world. Many travel nurses still work in traditional hospital and clinic settings, but on temporary contracts. As a travel nurse, you may be entitled to additional benefits, including a higher salary and free accommodation or tax-free housing stipend. You’ll need a high level of flexibility to succeed in this role.

   Use metrics to emphasize soft skills, like communication, which is core to nursing

Want to show off your leadership and teamwork skills? That’s great! Just don’t fall into the trap of listing soft skills in your skills section. Demonstrate them through your accomplishments instead, using metrics like “educated 15 precept nurses in best practices” or “collaborated with 10+ medical specialists” to emphasize how you’ve used these skills in a professional setting.

   Contact information includes LinkedIn profile (make sure your LinkedIn is up to date too!)

Your contact information is a small but important part of your resume. If you don’t already list your LinkedIn profile as a contact option at the top of your resume, you should. This is particularly true as a travel nurse, since you may be more difficult to contact than local applicants — especially if you’re in a different time zone.

Template 21 of 44: Nurse Practitioner Resume Example

A Nurse Practitioner (NP) role is a step forward from a registered nurse, allowing you to really hone in on a specialty of your choosing. As more healthcare facilities are seeking out NPs for their advanced training, it's a hot position on the market. You’re often the first point of contact for patients; this calls for a well-rounded combination of clinical expertise, empathy, and excellent communication skills. When crafting your resume, you need to reflect this diversity of skills and your potential as a healthcare leader. Healthcare trends lean towards a team-based approach, so your resume should showcase not only your clinical competencies but also your ability to work within interdisciplinary teams.

Tips to help you write your Nurse Practitioner resume in 2024

   highlight relevant certifications and specializations.

You've worked hard to obtain your specialized certifications in addition to your RN license. It's crucial to list them proudly on your resume. This could be a Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate or a Pediatric Primary Care NP certificate, for example. This really sets you apart in the NP field.

   Showcase your patient care outcomes

As an NP, results matter. Don't just say you've managed patient care - show the outcomes. Did you achieve a high patient satisfaction rating? Or maybe you led a project that reduced hospital readmissions? Any data you can provide to demonstrate your direct impact on patient care will make you stand out.

Skills you can include on your Nurse Practitioner resume

Template 22 of 44: nurse practitioner resume example.

Nurse practitioners serve as primary care practitioners, often with responsibilities approaching those of physicians. Nurse practitioners need at least a master’s degree but command a higher salary and a greater return on investment than a full medical doctorate. As a nurse practitioner, you’ll have the ability to perform physical examinations, prescribe medication, assist in surgical procedures, and even practice independently in some states.

   List your most relevant and recent experience first

Your work history should always be listed in chronological order, with your most recent experience at the top. The more recent and relevant the position, the more space it can command on your resume — you can get away with listing as many as 5-6 bullet points under your current job, while much older or less relevant roles should only get 1-2.

   Includes appropriate keywords relating to nurse practitioners

The higher responsibilities of a nurse practitioner mean you’ll need to emphasize a high level of skill and competency. Make sure you’re highlighting keywords that show your range of experience, including medical diagnosis, physical examination, education, consultation, and patient care.

Template 23 of 44: New Grad Nurse Resume Example

As a new grad nurse, you're entering an ever-evolving healthcare field with unique challenges. Your resume should not only showcase your nursing skills but also emphasize your adaptability and eagerness to learn. Employers are looking for candidates who can adapt to changes in the industry and effectively communicate with patients and colleagues alike. Healthcare organizations are increasingly focusing on patient satisfaction and outcomes, so highlighting your clinical experience and ability to work in various settings will position you as a strong candidate for such roles. When writing your resume, it’s vital to be specific about your nursing education, clinical rotations, and any relevant certifications.

Tips to help you write your New Grad Nurse resume in 2024

   highlight clinical rotations and experiences.

Detail the clinical rotations you completed during your nursing program, describing the type of units you worked on and the skills you gained. Showcase any experiences in diverse or high-acuity settings to demonstrate your adaptability and competence.

   Emphasize soft skills and teamwork

Since new grad nurses often work in interdisciplinary teams, emphasize your soft skills, such as communication, empathy, and collaboration. Use specific examples from clinical rotations or team projects to showcase your ability to work effectively with others.

Skills you can include on your New Grad Nurse resume

Template 24 of 44: new grad nurse resume example.

As a new graduate nurse, you're entering a highly competitive job market where employers are seeking the best candidates to fill their open positions. In recent years, the nursing industry has seen an increasing demand for skilled nurses, but also a higher number of job applicants. To stand out, it's crucial that your resume effectively showcases your education, clinical experience, and key strengths. Crafting a tailored resume will not only help you land interviews, but also demonstrate your professionalism and commitment to a career in nursing. Resumes are particularly important in the nursing field, as hiring managers need to assess your clinical competencies, ability to work under pressure, and adaptability. Both tactical and strategic recommendations can help you create a resume that highlights your skills and makes you an attractive candidate for potential employers.

As a new grad nurse, you might lack extensive work experience, so it's important to emphasize your clinical rotations and any hands-on experiences you've had during your education. Include the facility's name, department, and a brief description of the patient population and any specialized skills you practiced.

   Focus on soft skills and certifications

While technical skills are essential, nursing is also about communication, empathy, and teamwork. Highlight your soft skills, such as active listening, problem-solving, and time management, throughout your resume. Additionally, mention any relevant certifications (e.g., BLS, ACLS) that showcase your commitment to continuous learning and professional development.

Template 25 of 44: New Grad Nurse Resume Example

As a new graduate nurse, you’ll face a steep learning curve, so be prepared to learn and adapt on the go. Without much professional work history on your resume, you should highlight any nursing experience you’ve gained during your studies, including student nursing placements, clinical practicums, and any experience as a technician or extern.

   Includes student nursing and practicum experience

As a new grad, hiring managers aren’t expecting you to have extensive work experience. Any experience you’ve gained as a nursing student or early in your career can go on your resume in place of paid work experience. Simply list your practicums and student nursing experience the same way you would any job, using action verbs to highlight your accomplishments.

   Lists specific skills relevant to nursing

Even graduate nurses need a firm grounding in essential skills. When it comes to your skills section, be explicit about the skills you’re proficient in, but don’t feel the need to list every skill you’ve ever learned — choose the top ten or so skills that fit the specific job you’re applying for and list those.

Template 26 of 44: Director of Nursing Resume Example

Also called a nursing director, this professional is tasked with managing and overseeing the nursing staff in a healthcare establishment. Some of your tasks will include distributing nurses and resources effectively, creating targets and strategies for the department, and ensuring that all nurses under you follow all healthcare protocols and regulations. To qualify for this job you will need a degree in nursing and an RN license. Beyond that, you will need to show managerial and leadership experience in the nursing field. You must have the ability to work under pressure and in a very fast-paced environment and you must have critical problem-solving skills. Take a look at this successful resume sample.

Tips to help you write your Director of Nursing resume in 2024

   show a career progression in nursing..

The director of nursing position is a very senior position. Recruiters will appreciate seeing a steady upward career progression reflected on your resume. It will give them confidence that you understand the jobs and functions of all your subordinates and will also show them that you are an excellent and driven employee. This applicant has risen in the ranks from a registered nurse to a director of nursing.

   Use metrics to show maximized efficiency and minimized cost.

As much as healthcare facilities are built to offer healthcare to the community, they still need to work to maximize efficiency and reduce costs without reducing the standard of care. It is usually a balancing game that all healthcare directors must play. It is beneficial to show recruiters how successful you have been at increasing efficiency or reducing costs without affecting the standard of care. Use metrics to further impress recruiters. This applicant has done this very effectively.

Skills you can include on your Director of Nursing resume

Template 27 of 44: nursing supervisor resume example.

As the name suggests, a nursing supervisor supervises the nursing staff at a healthcare facility. Tasks you can expect include assigning staff, interviewing incoming nurses, monitoring the nurses, and overseeing patient care. Your main function is to ensure your nursing staff is providing the best possible care and that they are satisfied and happy in their jobs. Your resume must show a degree or diploma in nursing and you must have a valid nursing license. Beyond that recruiters would appreciate any history as a nursing supervisor and evidence of great organizational and interpersonal skills. Here is a recruiter-approved resume sample.

Tips to help you write your Nursing Supervisor resume in 2024

   highlight the nursing teams you have worked with and their relevant achievements..

This is a leadership role and as such recruiters would like to see the size of nursing staff you have managed in the past and the kind of things the team has been able to achieve under your leadership. For example, this applicant supervised 25 nurses in their most recent position, and under the applicant’s leadership, the team managed to the reduce infection rate by 76%.

   Begin your resume with a key achievement.

Including a key achievement in the introduction is a great way to get recruiters impressed from the beginning of your resume. They are bound to look more favorably on the rest of your resume because of it. Try and include a nursing supervisor achievement that is rare or hard to achieve.

Skills you can include on your Nursing Supervisor resume

Template 28 of 44: er nurse resume example.

As an ER nurse, you're on the front lines of healthcare, providing immediate care and treatment to patients in crisis. Nowadays, hospitals and clinics are on the lookout for nurses who not only possess the necessary skills and qualifications, but also display resilience, adaptability, and the ability to work under immense pressure. When crafting your resume for ER nurse roles, remember it's your chance to show how you've excelled in high-stress situations, and how you've used your skills to improve patient outcomes. Moreover, with the recent impact of COVID-19 on healthcare settings, there's a significant increase in demand for ER nurses with experience in infectious diseases, as well as experience supporting critically ill patients. Your resume needs to reflect these industry demands and trends, displaying your comprehensive understanding of emergency care, including your familiarity with ventilators, and infectious disease protocol.

Tips to help you write your ER Nurse resume in 2024

   emphasize on-job emergency experience.

You should make a point to list the types of emergencies you've handled. Have you treated patients in trauma situations? Have you dealt with cardiac arrests, strokes, or acute respiratory issues? Showing your breadth of on-job emergency experience can make your resume stand out.

   Showcase infectious disease understanding

Given the recent pandemic, hospitals are particularly interested in ER nurses who understand infectious diseases. Include specific training or experiences you've had dealing with infectious diseases - this could be anything from measles, to COVID-19.

Skills you can include on your ER Nurse resume

Template 29 of 44: er nurse resume example.

Being an ER Nurse is no walk in the park. This job requires a unique blend of quick thinking, medical expertise, and genuine compassion. When you're crafting your resume, it's essential to wrap this trifecta in a neat, compelling package. Recently, there's been a trend of emphasizing special skills like triage, emergency procedures, and trauma care. More and more, ER Nursing roles require a balance of technical abilities and emotional intelligence. Therefore, your resume needs to show not just your qualifications, but also your knack for handling stressful situations and interacting with patients. Additionally, these days the hiring process has evolved considerably. Many hospitals and healthcare institutions use Application Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter through the flood of resumes. To dodge this digital gatekeeper, you need to include relevant keywords and demonstrate your experience through quantifiable achievements. A well-made ER nurse resume is not just a list of duties, but a showcase of your skills and contributions in a high-pressure environment.

   Detail your emergency room skill set

It's crucial to list down the specific skills that make you a great ER nurse. For instance, if you're proficient in emergency procedures, acute patient care, or triage, do mention them. If you have crisis management skills, don't forget to include that too.

   Feature scenarios where you shone

Describe situations where your quick thinking and nursing skills made a significant difference. It could be a life-saving intervention or a time when you managed a serious crisis. Just remember—it's not bragging if it's fact.

Template 30 of 44: Clinical Rotation Nurse Resume Example

Being a Clinical Rotation Nurse is a unique role in the healthcare field. It’s a position where you'll gain hands-on experience across numerous departments, such as the ER, ICU, and Pediatrics, giving you a versatile skill set. As the healthcare sector evolves, many hospitals are looking for nurses with varied experience, making Clinical Rotation Nurses increasingly valuable. When crafting your resume, keep in mind that hiring managers are looking for evidence of your adaptability, quick learning, and breadth of nursing experience across different departments.

Tips to help you write your Clinical Rotation Nurse resume in 2024

   include specific clinical rotations experience.

On your resume, explicitly list the clinical rotations you've completed and the related skills gained. Remember, this position's essence is to gain diverse experiences. Mention the departments you've worked in and the unique practices you learned there.

   Illustrate Problem-solving Skills

As a Clinical Rotation Nurse, you must rapidly adapt to new environments and challenges. Use examples to depict how you've employed problem-solving skills during your rotations. Maybe you dealt with a unique patient case, or implemented a new process that improved patient care.

Skills you can include on your Clinical Rotation Nurse resume

Template 31 of 44: charge nurse resume example.

The Charge Nurse role is a pivotal one in healthcare. As a Charge Nurse, you're essentially the team leader, the one who sets the pace and coordinates the entire nursing staff. It's a job heavily reliant on excellent communication and management skills. Nowadays, nurses are not just caregivers but also patient educators and advocates, role flexibility that employers love. So one key thing when writing your resume is showcasing how you perform nursing tasks while leading the team. Additionally, with the digitization trend in healthcare, showcasing comfort and competency with medical software or telehealth can really make you stand out. The industry has shifted slightly too, employers are putting a lot of emphasis on soft skills. They want leaders who can handle high-stress situations, manage conflicts and bring teams together. So, your resume should reflect not just the tasks you can perform but also your leadership style and how that contributes to an efficient and collaborative work environment.

Tips to help you write your Charge Nurse resume in 2024

   include key leadership accomplishments.

As a Charge Nurse, your leadership accomplishments can set you apart from other candidates. Ensure to include specific instances where your leadership led to improved patient outcomes or staff efficiency. Use numbers or percentages to quantify these improvements.

   Showcase Digital Competency

With the rise of telehealth and digital record keeping, it's important to demonstrate your capability in navigating such platforms. If you've used these technologies, or even led the implementation, highlight this experience on your resume.

Skills you can include on your Charge Nurse resume

Template 32 of 44: charge nurse resume example.

Being a Charge Nurse is an interesting blend of clinical expertise and leadership. You not only need to be up-to-date with the latest medical practices, but also have the ability to manage a team and coordinate patient care. Recent trends in the industry show an increased demand for Charge Nurses with advanced degrees and certifications, like a MSN or a CNL. When writing a resume for a Charge Nurse, understand that hiring managers are looking for both your clinical competence and your leadership abilities. They want to see your capacity to manage a team and improve patient care, alongside your nursing skills.

   Showcase Leadership Experience

As the Charge Nurse role involves managing a team of nurses, it's vital to display your experience in leadership roles. Include details of previous positions where you were in charge, even if it was outside of healthcare. Describe your responsibilities and any improvements you implemented.

   Highlight Certifications and Education

In this role, academic qualifications, like a master's degree in nursing or relevant certifications, provide an edge. Therefore, you should clearly list your degrees, courses, or any nursing specializations you've attained. But remember, don’t just resort to listing them, delve into how they will be beneficial for your role as a Charge Nurse.

Template 33 of 44: Remote Nurse Resume Example

If you're seeking a remote nursing position, your resume needs to reflect your unique set of skills. Remote nursing roles often require a higher level of independence, self-motivation, and tech savvy abilities, as you won't have physical assistance from colleagues or direct supervision. The recent shift towards telehealth and online patient care, especially during COVID-19, has created a surge in these types of roles. When you're putting together your resume, remember that hiring managers for remote roles are looking for specifics - they want to see how your skills translate to the digital realm. With the rise of digital health platforms, telemedicine, and remote patient monitoring, quite a few healthcare providers are seeking remote nurses who are comfortable with technology. While traditional nursing skills are important, you also need to demonstrate your familiarity with these new technologies and how you've used them in patient care. Your resume should not just outline your skills, but also showcase how those skills were applied in a remote context - a nurses' station is vastly different from a home office.

Tips to help you write your Remote Nurse resume in 2024

   emphasize your technical competencies.

With remote nursing, your ability to use various software and applications for patient care is more important than ever. Include in your resume specific programs and tools you're comfortable using, such as telehealth platforms or electronic health record systems.

   Showcase your communication and self-management skills

As a remote nurse, you won't have in-person contact with patients or team members. Demonstrate how you've managed patient care from a distance and the methods of communication you've effectively utilized, such as video calls, emails, and instant messaging.

Skills you can include on your Remote Nurse resume

Template 34 of 44: preceptor nurse resume example.

Being a Preceptor Nurse means you're a blend of mentor, educator, and leader. You guide newly hired nurses or student nurses through the complexities of the real-world nursing environment. The role itself is evolving, as many healthcare institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of structured mentoring programs to improve staff retention and patient outcomes. So, in your resume, you need to strike a balance between showcasing your clinical prowess and your ability to effectively instruct and inspire others. Make sure to highlight your nursing experience, specialized skills, and ability to shape fellow nurses' careers.

Tips to help you write your Preceptor Nurse resume in 2024

   demonstrate your leadership and mentoring abilities.

It's imperative that you convey your skills in mentoring, leadership, and supervision, as these are vital for a Preceptor Nurse role. Make sure to include specific instances where you have guided, trained, or supervised new or student nurses in your previous job roles.

   Showcase your advanced clinical skills

As a Preceptor Nurse, you are expected to have advanced clinical skills that you can teach others. On your resume, list any specialized nursing experience or skills you have, using concrete examples from your work history. This could be your ability to handle complex medical equipment, specific procedures you're skilled in, or even patient handling techniques.

Skills you can include on your Preceptor Nurse resume

Template 35 of 44: relief charge nurse resume example.

A Relief Charge Nurse is a unique nursing role where you have to show your versatility and adaptability. Being a transitional leader, you're not just filling in the gaps, but actively steering the unit during your shift. Lately, I've seen a trend for companies seeking nurses skilled in crisis management and staff delegation, reflecting our challenging healthcare environment. When you're crafting your resume for this role, remember, you need to illustrate how you've tackled tough situations and made critical decisions under pressure, all while providing excellent patient care. For this role, it's crucial to demonstrate your ability to step in and lead. Your resume should articulate how you've handled both clinical and administrative tasks, while seamlessly transitioning between regular and relief charge nurse duties.

Tips to help you write your Relief Charge Nurse resume in 2024

   show your leadership skills.

Be specific about your experience as a nurse leader. Did you lead a team during a crisis? Have you mentored junior nurses? Discuss these instances, focusing on the number of people you've managed and the outcomes you've achieved.

   Showcase your adaptability

Relief Charge Nurse roles require flexibility. Display moments where you've stepped into different roles or handled fluctuating patient volumes. Remember, it's about showing how well you cope with change and unexpected situations.

Skills you can include on your Relief Charge Nurse resume

Template 36 of 44: lpn nurse (licensed practical nurse) resume example.

Becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) is all about showing you've got the chops to provide high-level care under the guidance of registered nurses and physicians. When crafting your resume, remember that it's not just about showing your clinical skills, but also demonstrating your ability to support patients emotionally. This field is rapidly changing with technologies like telemedicine and electronic health records becoming more prominent, which means you need to show you can keep up. Given that many LPNs work in elder care, where we're seeing a surge in demand, emphasize any relevant experience or skills in this area.

Tips to help you write your LPN Nurse (Licensed Practical Nurse) resume in 2024

   include relevant certifications and training.

As an LPN, you've likely completed a bunch of certifications, such as IV therapy or gerontology. Make sure these are clearly outlined in your resume, particularly if they're ones that the job description specifically mentions.

   Detail your patient care experience

Hiring managers want to see that you can handle patient care responsibilities, so include details of the type of care you've provided. For instance, if you worked in a long-term care facility, describe how you managed patient hygiene, medication administration, and vital signs monitoring.

Skills you can include on your LPN Nurse (Licensed Practical Nurse) resume

Template 37 of 44: lpn nurse (licensed practical nurse) resume example.

As you pursue a role in the world of nursing as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), you must be prepared to showcase your unique blend of clinical skills and empathy. In recent times, healthcare settings are increasingly relying on LPNs not just for basic nursing care but for their ability to connect with patients. They appreciate LPNs who can balance human touch with technical proficiency. So, when drafting your resume, remember to present a compelling mix of your technical knowledge, patient care skills, and ability to work under pressure. The industry is moving towards more specialized care, which means your resume needs to emphasize any specific nursing skills or areas of expertise you've developed. Similarly, companies value LPNs who are continuous learners and are adapting to the evolving healthcare landscape. It's critical to demonstrate your commitment to ongoing education and upskilling on your resume.

   Show your hands-on experience

Keep in mind, recruiters are likely to favor LPN applicants who can prove real-world experience. Be sure to detail your clinical rotations, duties performed, and the types of healthcare settings you've worked in.

   Emphasize your specialized skills

If you have expertise in a specialized area like geriatrics, palliative care, or rehabilitation, make it prominent on your resume. Don't bury unique skills, these can set you apart from other LPN applicants.

Template 38 of 44: LVN Nurse (Licensed Vocational Nurse) Resume Example

As an LVN (Licensed Vocicational Nurse), you have a key role in healthcare that is rewarding and challenging. The demand for LVNs is quite high due to an aging population and an increasing need for healthcare services. However, the competition for positions in prestigious facilities is as fierce as ever. Your resume, therefore, needs to clearly communicate your technical skills, hands-on nursing experience, and compassion for patients. And although patient care is paramount, do not underestimate the importance of displaying soft skills such as communication and teamwork. Keeping up-to-date with current trends, such as the shift towards home health care, can also give your resume an edge.

Tips to help you write your LVN Nurse (Licensed Vocational Nurse) resume in 2024

   include relevant certifications and trainings.

As an LVN, you've probably undergone additional training or earned complementary certifications, like IV certification or wound care. Include these to demonstrate your commitment to continuing education and to stand out from the competition.

   Emphasize your patient care experience

You should explicitly list the types of care you have provided to patients. Whether it's administering medication, assisting with personal hygiene, or working with specific patient populations (like geriatrics or pediatrics), your experiences can make you particularly attractive to certain employers.

Skills you can include on your LVN Nurse (Licensed Vocational Nurse) resume

Template 39 of 44: lvn nurse (licensed vocational nurse) resume example.

As a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), you play a vital role in the healthcare industry, often serving as the backbone of patient care. Your resume should reflect your robust skills set — your ability to assist with diagnostic tests, take vital signs, and provide emotional support to patients. Recently, the industry's focus has increasingly shifted to holistic care, and as an LVN, you're more likely to work in interdisciplinary teams. When crafting your resume, it's essential to convey the breadth of your nursing skills and your ability to work well with a diverse set of professionals. In the ever-evolving world of healthcare, trends tend to focus on emerging technologies and automation of administrative duties. This doesn't reduce the value of an LVN, but rather increases the demand for interpersonal and technical skills. Your resume should show your adaptability to new technologies, and your knack for juggling both patient interaction and administrative tasks. Remember, your resume doesn’t just outline your past jobs—it tells your professional story, offering a glimpse into who you are as an LVN.

   Showcase your expertise in patient care

To stand out as an LVN, you should convey your extensive knowledge in basic patient care. This includes taking vitals, administering medications, and wound care. Make sure to detail your hands-on experiences in these tasks on your resume.

   Highlight your technical and interpersonal skills

Since the LVN role involves working with a variety of tech tools and diverse teams, your resume should reflect your ability to navigate both. Mention any software you're proficient in, and provide examples of your teamwork skills within your past roles.

Template 40 of 44: ICU Charge Nurse Resume Example

As an ICU Charge Nurse, you're the backbone of the Intensive Care Unit, handling not only patient care but team leadership as well. In recent times, the demand for experienced and skilled ICU charge nurses has soared; critical care has become a focal point due to the pandemic. When writing your resume, remember ICU charge nursing is not just about medical proficiency, but also leadership and crisis management. With hospitals increasingly prioritizing these qualities, it's crucial to convey these attributes effectively on your resume. Balancing between the dual nature of the role, both as a nurse and a team leader, can be challenging. However, your resume should demonstrate your nursing expertise while not neglecting your leadership acumen. Ensure you portray yourself as a competent medical professional and a proficient manager, adaptable to high-pressure situations, and capable of making crucial decisions swiftly.

Tips to help you write your ICU Charge Nurse resume in 2024

   emphasize your leadership achievements.

You should detail your leadership roles and accomplishments in your previous positions, specifically in crisis situations. Explain how you coordinated the team, handled emergencies, and managed resources efficiently. It's critical to show you can successfully lead a team under stress.

   Demonstrate your specialized ICU nursing knowledge

As an ICU Charge Nurse, you need advanced knowledge in areas such as mechanical ventilation, advanced life support, and patient assessment. Provide specific examples of how you have used this specialized knowledge in critical situations to improve patient outcomes.

Skills you can include on your ICU Charge Nurse resume

Template 41 of 44: prior authorization nurse resume example.

When creating a resume for a Prior Authorization Nurse, it doesn't follow the traditional nursing resume structure. It's essential to know that though medical knowledge is a plus, employers look out for administrative prowess and excellent communication skills. In the recent past, companies hiring for the prior authorization nurse role focus on those with solid experience in insurance protocols, and electronic health record (EHR) systems. Realistically, when writing your resume, you'll need to emphasize these aspects. Moreover, with the healthcare industry becoming more digitized and the significance of cost management, there's an increasing demand for nurses who can navigate insurance issues efficiently. You must consider this when crafting your resume — underscore your capability in handling insurance matters and proficiency in digital health systems.

Tips to help you write your Prior Authorization Nurse resume in 2024

   emphasize insurance knowledge.

Understanding insurance company operations, criteria for prior authorizations and claims processes is crucial. Ensure you elaborate on your grasp of Medicare and Medicaid procedures, private insurance policies and your ability to interpret and apply complex insurance documents.

   Detail Proficiency in EHR Systems

With the move towards digitization in healthcare, you should underscore your proficiency in EHR systems. Discuss your experience in using these platforms for patient data management, billing, and prior authorization requests. It will demonstrate your ability to work efficiently in today's digital health environment.

Skills you can include on your Prior Authorization Nurse resume

Template 42 of 44: clinic nurse resume example.

As a clinic nurse, your role is extremely dynamic and multifaceted. Your resume should reflect this. You're not just administering care to patients but educating them, assisting physicians, and keeping track of medical records. An increasing trend in the healthcare industry is the need for nurses to be technologically adept to handle electronic health record systems. Writing your resume for this role needs strategic emphasis on these unique skill areas. When penning down your resume, bear in mind that you're writing for hiring managers possibly shifting through hundreds of applications. They're looking for the standout features they can pick up in seconds. Make their job easy by providing punchy, concise details of your experiences and skills.

Tips to help you write your Clinic Nurse resume in 2024

   showcase your technical competency.

As more healthcare facilities embrace technology, your competence in using electronic health record systems is of high value. Mention specific systems you have experience with and any related accomplishments.

   Highlight patient education skills

As a clinic nurse, you're often the bridge between doctors and patients, translating complex medical jargon into understandable terms. Illustrate instances in your career where your ability to educate patients made a marked difference, be it in patient recovery, satisfaction scores or clinic efficiency.

Skills you can include on your Clinic Nurse resume

Template 43 of 44: medical surgical nurse resume example.

Medical Surgical Nurses, or Med Surg Nurses, are a vital part of the healthcare team. They work in a highly dynamic environment, providing care to patients post-surgery, and are often the ones providing round-the-clock monitoring. The medical field is evolving rapidly, with technological developments influencing care delivery methods. Therefore, in writing your resume, you need to showcase your ability to adapt and learn quickly. It's also important to note that the healthcare sector is increasingly seeking a holistic approach to patient care. This means demonstrating not only your technical skills but also your capability to provide patient-centered care.

Tips to help you write your Medical Surgical Nurse resume in 2024

   evidence of continuous learning.

In this rapidly changing field, it's critical to show that you're up to date. Include any additional training or certifications you've obtained, especially those relating to new technologies or procedures in surgical care.

   Demonstrate a blend of skills

Beyond your clinical skills, recruiters are looking for nurses who can provide compassionate patient care. Be sure to include experiences that emphasize your communication skills, empathy, and ability to work in a team.

Skills you can include on your Medical Surgical Nurse resume

Template 44 of 44: patient care technician resume example.

Patient Care Technician roles are evolving rapidly with the ever-changing dynamics of the healthcare field. Nowadays, PCTs do much more than just direct patient care; they are often involved in medical record maintenance and can even assist with minor procedures. This increased responsibility has made it crucial for PCTs to demonstrate a wider range of skills on their resumes. Not only medical knowledge and hands-on skills, but soft skills like communication and teamwork are rising to the forefront. Remember, while the trend is to digitize, the role remains hands-on, and your resume should reflect this balance. In crafting your resume, it's important to know that hiring managers are seeking versatile candidates who can swiftly adapt to new protocols and technologies, while still delivering high-quality patient care. The key here is to clearly project both your technical proficiency and human touch. So when you're working on your resume, work towards striking that perfect balance.

Tips to help you write your Patient Care Technician resume in 2024

   showcase your certifications and training.

As a Patient Care Technician, your certifications and specialized training are essential and should take center stage on your resume. Clearly, list your PCT certification, CPR training, any additional relevant certifications, and your proficiency in using electronic health record software.

   Highlight patient care experiences and achievements

To paint a full picture of your practical skills, mention specific experiences where you provided high-quality care to patients. For example, you might talk about a time when you effectively managed the care of multiple critically ill patients. If you've ever been recognized for your patient care skills, don't hesitate to share that too.

Skills you can include on your Patient Care Technician resume

As a hiring manager who has recruited nurses at top hospitals like Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and Johns Hopkins, I've seen countless nursing resumes. The best ones always stand out by showcasing the candidate's unique skills, experience, and impact in a clear and concise way. Here are some tips to help you create a strong nursing resume that will catch the attention of hiring managers and help you land your dream job.

   Highlight your nursing specializations and certifications

Nursing is a broad field with many specializations. Make sure to highlight your specific areas of expertise and any relevant certifications you have earned. This will help you stand out from other candidates and show that you have the skills and knowledge needed for the job.

Here are some examples of how to showcase your specializations and certifications:

• Certified Critical Care Nurse (CCCN) with 5+ years of experience in intensive care units
• Oncology Certified Nurse (OCN) with expertise in administering chemotherapy and managing cancer patients
• Certified Wound Care Nurse (CWCN) skilled in assessing and treating complex wounds

   Quantify your nursing achievements and impact

When describing your nursing experience, don't just list your job duties. Instead, focus on the impact you made and the results you achieved. Use specific numbers and metrics to quantify your accomplishments whenever possible.

Here are some examples:

• Reduced patient falls by 50% through implementing a new fall prevention protocol
• Improved patient satisfaction scores from 75% to 95% by providing compassionate and attentive care
• Trained and mentored 20+ new graduate nurses to help them transition to practice

In contrast, here are some examples of what not to do:

• Provided patient care
• Administered medications
• Collaborated with healthcare team

   Tailor your resume to the specific nursing job

One mistake many job seekers make is using the same generic resume for every job application. Instead, take the time to tailor your resume to the specific nursing position you are applying for.

Here's how:

• Read the job description carefully and identify the key skills and qualifications the employer is looking for
• Highlight any relevant experience or accomplishments that match those requirements
• Use the same language and terminology as the job description to show that you are a good fit

For example, if the job description emphasizes experience with electronic health records (EHR), make sure to include any EHR systems you have used and how you leveraged them to improve patient care.

   Showcase your nursing soft skills

While technical skills are important for nurses, soft skills are equally crucial. Employers want nurses who are compassionate, empathetic, and able to work well in a team. Make sure to highlight these soft skills in your resume.

Some examples of nursing soft skills include:

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work well under pressure and in fast-paced environments
• Attention to detail and ability to multitask
• Empathy and compassion for patients and their families

You can showcase these skills through your job descriptions, achievements, and even volunteer experiences. For example:

• Collaborated with a multidisciplinary team to develop and implement a patient education program
• Provided emotional support and guidance to patients and families during end-of-life care

   Include any relevant volunteer experience or leadership roles

Nursing resumes shouldn't just include paid work experience. Any relevant volunteer experience or leadership roles you have held can also help you stand out to employers.

For example:

• Volunteered at a local free clinic, providing basic healthcare services to underserved populations
• Served as a board member for the American Nurses Association, advocating for nurses and advancing the profession
• Led a quality improvement project to reduce hospital-acquired infections, resulting in a 30% decrease in infection rates

These experiences show that you are dedicated to the nursing profession and have taken on additional responsibilities outside of your day-to-day job duties. They can help demonstrate your leadership skills, initiative, and commitment to providing high-quality patient care.

Writing Your Nursing Resume: Section By Section

  header, 1. include your full name and credentials.

Start your header with your full name, followed by your nursing credentials. This quickly establishes your identity and qualifications. For example:

• Jane Smith, RN, BSN
• Michael Johnson, APRN, MSN, FNP-C

Avoid nicknames or short forms of your name. Use your legal name as it appears on your nursing license. If you have a preferred name you go by, you can note that in parentheses.

Elizabeth (Liz) Thompson, RN

2. Add your phone number and email

Next, add your phone number and email on a single line below your name. This makes it easy for hiring managers or recruiters to contact you. For example:

• [email protected] | 123-456-7890
• [email protected] • 987-654-3210

Double check that your email address is professional. Avoid outdated email providers or informal handles like:

• [email protected]

Instead, stick with a standard format using your name and a modern provider like Gmail.

3. Decide if you should include your location

In the past, including your full mailing address was standard. However, with more digital and remote job searching today, including your city and state is usually sufficient. For example:

• Seattle, WA
• Tampa, Florida

If you're applying for jobs in a different city than where you currently live, consider listing your targeted location instead. This signals to employers that you are serious about relocating for the role.

In some cases, you may decide to omit your location entirely, especially if you are searching for fully remote nursing roles.

  Summary

As a nurse, your resume summary is an opportunity to highlight your most relevant qualifications, skills, and experiences that make you an ideal candidate for the role. While a summary is optional, it can be particularly useful if you are a career changer or have a diverse background that may not be immediately apparent from your work history alone.

When crafting your summary, focus on your nursing expertise, specializations, and key accomplishments. Avoid using an objective statement, as it shifts the focus away from what you can offer the employer. Instead, use your summary to provide a snapshot of your nursing career and the value you bring to the position.

To learn how to write an effective resume summary for your Nursing resume, or figure out if you need one, please read Nursing Resume Summary Examples , or Nursing Resume Objective Examples .

1. Tailor your summary to the specific nursing role

When writing your nursing resume summary, it's essential to customize it to the specific role you are applying for. This demonstrates to the hiring manager that you have carefully considered how your skills and experiences align with their needs. Consider the following examples:

• Experienced registered nurse seeking a challenging position in a healthcare facility.
• Dedicated and compassionate nurse with 5+ years of experience in various healthcare settings.

While these summaries provide an overview of the candidate's nursing background, they lack specificity and fail to target a particular nursing role. Instead, try something like this:

• Critical care nurse with 5+ years of experience in fast-paced ICU environments, skilled in managing high-acuity patients and collaborating with interdisciplinary teams.
• Pediatric nurse with 3+ years of experience in providing compassionate care to children and their families, adept at patient education and fostering a positive healthcare experience.

2. Highlight your nursing specializations and expertise

As a nurse, you may have specialized skills or certifications that set you apart from other candidates. Your resume summary is an excellent place to showcase these qualifications and demonstrate your expertise in a particular area of nursing. For example:

Oncology nurse with 7+ years of experience in providing comprehensive care to cancer patients. Certified Oncology Nurse (OCN) with expertise in chemotherapy administration, symptom management, and patient education. Skilled in collaborating with oncologists and multidisciplinary teams to develop personalized treatment plans and improve patient outcomes.

By highlighting your oncology nursing certification and specific skills related to cancer care, you demonstrate your specialized knowledge and commitment to professional development in this field.

3. Quantify your accomplishments and impact

To make your nursing resume summary more impactful, include quantifiable achievements that demonstrate your value as a healthcare professional. This could include metrics related to patient outcomes, process improvements, or leadership initiatives. Consider the following examples:

• Experienced nurse with strong clinical skills and a commitment to patient care.
• Skilled in managing a busy unit and mentoring new nurses.

While these summaries touch on important nursing skills, they lack specific, quantifiable evidence of the candidate's impact. Instead, try incorporating metrics like this:

• Experienced emergency room nurse who treated an average of 50 patients per shift, maintaining a 95% patient satisfaction rating.
• Nurse leader who mentored and trained 15 new graduate nurses, resulting in a 20% reduction in staff turnover rates.

To identify your key accomplishments and quantify your impact, reflect on your nursing career and consider instances where you:

• Improved patient outcomes or satisfaction
• Implemented process or quality improvements
• Assumed leadership roles or mentored others
• Received recognition or awards for your work

By highlighting these achievements in your summary, you'll give hiring managers a clear picture of the value you can bring to their organization.

For more insights on crafting a compelling resume, try using Score My Resume , which provides instant, expert feedback on your resume based on 30+ key criteria that hiring managers look for.

  Experience

Your work experience is the most important section of your nursing resume. It's where you show recruiters and hiring managers how you've applied your skills to make an impact for previous employers. It's also the best place to position yourself as a qualified applicant.

In this section, we'll break down everything you need to know about writing an effective work experience section for your nursing resume, including what to include and what to leave out, how to list your work experience, and tips for making your experience stand out.

1. Focus on your relevant nursing experience

When listing your work experience, it's important to focus on the nursing positions that are most relevant to the job you're applying for. This means including your clinical experience, as well as any relevant volunteer work, internships, or externships.

Be specific when describing your nursing experience. Instead of simply listing your job duties, use action verbs to describe how you contributed to patient care, improved processes, or made an impact on your unit.

• Developed and implemented a new patient education program that reduced medication errors by 15%
• Collaborated with interdisciplinary team to create a fall prevention protocol that decreased patient falls by 20%
• Provided compassionate end-of-life care to patients and their families, ensuring their comfort and dignity

2. Quantify your accomplishments with metrics

Whenever possible, use metrics to quantify your accomplishments and show the impact of your work. This helps recruiters and hiring managers understand the scope of your experience and how you can contribute to their organization.

For example, instead of saying:

• Responsible for administering medications to patients
• Administered medications to up to 20 patients per shift, ensuring accurate dosing and timely delivery

Other examples of metrics you can use include:

• Number of patients served
• Infection control rates
• Patient satisfaction scores
• Number of staff trained or supervised

3. Highlight your clinical skills and expertise

Your nursing resume should showcase your clinical skills and expertise, as well as your ability to work effectively in a healthcare setting. Use your work experience section to highlight specific skills and competencies that are relevant to the job you're applying for.

This can include:

• Patient assessment and triage
• Medication administration
• Patient and family education
• Electronic health record (EHR) documentation

Skilled in conducting comprehensive patient assessments, developing individualized care plans, and collaborating with interdisciplinary teams to ensure optimal patient outcomes. Proficient in EHR documentation using Epic and Cerner systems.

4. Include relevant certifications and training

In addition to your clinical experience, be sure to include any relevant certifications, training, or continuing education you've completed. This shows your commitment to staying current in your field and can help set you apart from other candidates.

Some examples of certifications and training to include:

• Basic Life Support (BLS)
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
• Trauma Nursing Core Course (TNCC)
• Certified Critical Care Nurse (CCRN)

You can also include any relevant coursework or academic projects that demonstrate your knowledge and expertise in a particular area of nursing.

  Education

The education section of your nursing resume is a crucial component that showcases your academic background and qualifications. It demonstrates to employers that you have the necessary knowledge and training to excel in the nursing field. Here are some key tips to keep in mind when crafting your education section:

1. Highlight your nursing degree

As a nursing professional, your nursing degree is the most important aspect of your education section. Make sure to prominently feature your degree, including the full name of the degree, the institution you attended, and the year of graduation.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Graduated: May 2018

2. Include relevant coursework and clinical experience

If you are a recent graduate or have limited work experience, you can strengthen your education section by including relevant coursework and clinical experience. This helps employers understand the specific skills and knowledge you gained during your nursing education.

Avoid listing every course you took. Instead, focus on courses that are directly relevant to the nursing position you are applying for, such as:

• Advanced Medical-Surgical Nursing
• Pharmacology for Nurses
• Community Health Nursing

3. Showcase your nursing licenses and certifications

In addition to your nursing degree, it is crucial to highlight your nursing licenses and certifications in the education section. This demonstrates to employers that you have met the necessary requirements to practice as a registered nurse and have specialized knowledge in certain areas.

Include the following information for each license or certification:

• Name of the license or certification
• Issuing organization
• Date of obtainment
• Expiration date (if applicable)

Registered Nurse (RN), California Board of Registered Nursing License Number: 123456 Expires: February 2024

4. Keep it concise for experienced nurses

If you are a mid-level or senior-level nurse with extensive work experience, you can keep your education section brief. Employers will be more interested in your professional accomplishments and skills rather than your academic background.

Here's an example of what to avoid:

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) New York University, New York, NY Graduated: May 2005 Relevant Coursework: Advanced Pharmacology, Healthcare Informatics, Nursing Leadership and Management GPA: 3.8

Instead, keep it concise and focus on the essentials:

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) New York University

Action Verbs For Nursing Resumes

You probably know that it’s important to focus your bullet points on your accomplishments. But how? Frame your achievements in a positive light by using strong action verbs at the start of each sentence. Structuring your bullet points this way emphasizes what you actually did and avoids listing bullet points that read more like a job description. In addition to technical skills and medical know-how, nurses need a lot of transferable skills — think qualities like leadership, communication, empathy, and resilience. The best way to show that you have these qualities is through your choice of action verbs. If you’re applying for an entry-level nursing assistant role, you might want to emphasize your ability to follow instructions and work as part of a team, so choose verbs like Assisted or Prepared. If you’re looking for a more senior role, highlight your leadership potential with verbs like Implemented or Oversaw.

• Coordinated
• Administered
• Implemented

For more related action verbs, visit Nursing Action Verbs .

For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs .

Action Verbs for Nursing Resumes

Skills for nursing resumes.

Targeting your skills section is the easiest way to tailor your resume to the specific job you’re applying for. You can use a separate section at the bottom of your resume for this or include these skills as part of your bullet points. If you are using a dedicated skills section, make sure you’re only listing hard skills — soft skills, like communication and attention to detail, should be demonstrated through your accomplishments instead. Often, recruiters will be looking for specific skills and may even be using ATS to automatically screen resumes for certain keywords. You can get a feel for what keywords you should be including by reading over the job description, or by checking out our list of recommended skills and keywords or using our free Targeted Resume tool.

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety
• Inpatient Care
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
• Healthcare Information Technology (HIT)
• Nursing Management
• Quality Improvement
• Nursing Education
• Clinical Research
• Patient Education
• Public Health
• Patient Advocacy
• Medical-Surgical
• Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
• Nursing Process
• Critical Care Nursing
• Customer Service
• Strategic Planning
• Emergency Nursing

How To Write Your Skills Section On a Nursing Resumes

You can include the above skills in a dedicated Skills section on your resume, or weave them in your experience. Here's how you might create your dedicated skills section:

Skills Word Cloud For Nursing Resumes

This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Nursing job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.

How to use these skills?

Other medical resumes, dental assistant.

Respiratory Therapist

Nursing Resume Guide

• Dental Assistant Resume Guide
• Case Manager Resume Guide
• Respiratory Therapist Resume Guide
• Medical Billing Resume Guide
• Therapist Resume Guide
• Quality Control Resume Guide
• Care Coordinator Resume Guide
• Occupational Therapist Resume Guide
• Clinical Research Resume Guide
• Radiologic Technologist Resume Guide
• Pharmacy Technician Resume Guide
• Medical Technologist Resume Guide
• Microbiologist Resume Guide
• SLP Resume Guide
• General Nurse Resume Example
• Experienced Nurse Resume Example
• Certified Nursing Assistant Resume Example
• Registered Nurse Resume Example
• ICU Nurse Resume Example
• NICU Nurse Resume Example
• Psychiatric Nurse Resume Example
• Nurse Case Manager Resume Example
• Nursing Student Resume Example
• Travel Nurse Resume Example
• Nurse Practitioner Resume Example
• New Grad Nurse Resume Example
• Director of Nursing Resume Example
• Nursing Supervisor Resume Example
• ER Nurse Resume Example
• Clinical Rotation Nurse Resume Example
• Charge Nurse Resume Example
• Remote Nurse Resume Example
• Preceptor Nurse Resume Example
• Relief Charge Nurse Resume Example
• LPN Nurse (Licensed Practical Nurse) Resume Example
• LVN Nurse (Licensed Vocational Nurse) Resume Example
• ICU Charge Nurse Resume Example
• Prior Authorization Nurse Resume Example
• Clinic Nurse Resume Example
• Medical Surgical Nurse Resume Example
• Patient Care Technician Resume Example
• Tips for Nursing Resumes
• Skills and Keywords to Add
• All Resume Examples
• Nursing CV Examples
• Nursing Cover Letter
• Nursing Interview Guide
• Explore Alternative and Similar Careers

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Student Nursing Resume:Free Templates, Examples & Guide

As a Student Nurse, you know how to care for patients in a kind and professional manner. Now it’s time for your resume to receive the right medicine. Our Resume templates are the perfect remedy to cure any problems you are having finding work.

Student Nursing Resume Example MSWord® Give your resume the best treatment available with our Student Nursing Resume templates, available in Word format.

Your dream of becoming a nurse is almost in reach. It’s so close that you can taste it. But hold up! You can’t turn up to a hospital for duty just yet! That will very likely confuse the doctors, other nurses and administrators if you just arrive without warning.

You’ll need a job first!

With your student nursing studies underway you’ve already covered the valuable skills needed, to save lives and get patients back to good health.

However, there’s another valuable skill that even the best nursing courses don’t teach… And that thing is how to write a nursing student resume with no experience.

Luckily for you, you’re in the right place for guidance. This page will explain everything you need to know about how to make a resume for nursing students.

Your resume will need special care. This especially matters if you’re aiming for a specialized role such as being a Registered Nurse (RN) or Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) as these will of course require their own additional touches.

To help you become a pro resume writer, this guide will show you:

• How to write a nursing student resume with no experience.
• Entry-level RN resume examples.
• How to double the amount of interviews you’ve been getting until now.
• The essential resume skills for nursing students needed to make your profile totally irresistible.
• Tips, tricks and words of advice for nursing students looking for their first job.

We’ll also provide you with a nursing student resume template that you can use today. Writing a resume doesn’t have to take ages , with our resume builder we can help you prepare yours today in just a few minutes .

Nursing Student Resume Sample

To get started, check out this example of a good nursing student resume .

[Amanda Beischel]

[123 Main Street, Cleveland, Ohio, 11234  |   235-073-0006   |    [email protected]]

Licensed registered nurse with more than 3 years of successful clinical experience working with Cuyahoga County Clinic. Efficient in giving day-to-day care thanks to established skills in patient nutrition, exemplary infection control, as well as vital sign monitoring. Effective when responding to emergency situations. Achieved 30% improvement in patient satisfaction.

Nursing Assistant Cuyahoga County Clinic| Cleveland, Ohio

2018 – 2021

• Kept a secure, sanitary area for patients
• Monitored 5 patients, creating a caring environment for all
• Reacted promptly to requests from both patients and nursing staff
• Took correct vital signs, such as blood pressure and respiration rate
• Administered patient’s medicine

Nursing Intern

Cuyahoga County Clinic| Cleveland, Ohio

2017 – 2018

• Achieved 95% positive preceptor evaluations
• Assisted registered nurses with daily tasks
• Entered patient’s records in Word and Excel to keep on file
• Fulfilled HIPAA standards in all patient interactions

Bachelor of Science – Nursing

Ohio State University | Columbus, Ohio

2013 – 2017

• Achieved a 3.5 GPA
• Completed 2 semesters of internships

Soft Skills

• Extroverted personality 
• Compassionate with patients
• Excellent communication 
• Maintain records in an organized manner

Hard Skills

• Accurate vital sign monitoring
• Basic life support 
• Emergency and critical care
• Knowledge of Telemetry

Hobbies and Interests

• Listening to podcasts by Nursecasts
• Cycling 
• Learning to make vegan dishes 
• Volunteering at blood drives

What’s the Best Nursing Student Resume Format?

Have you ever seen just how many nursing students resumes Hospital HR managers get a day?

Well, it’s a LOT. This isn’t good news for anyone wondering how to find a nursing job with  no experience . Firstly the HR team is going to have  a tough time  on their hands. Secondly, it means your resume might not get the time it really needs  to be read properly.

You sometimes have  as little as 7 seconds  to impress the reader. What’s more, when you look at  nursing resume examples  as a new grad one thing always stands out.

No, not the amount of experience that’s on them – although we’ll get to that later. The format and the layout.

How Do I Choose The Right Format?

All good resume formats , whether they are a nursing school resume template, newly registered nurse resume template, or a student nurse resume with clinical experience, have to be  well organized  to get the job done.

In most cases, you’ll need a  reverse chronological  resume template. This puts your experience in a prime position.

What if you’re writing an RN resume with no experience ?

You might opt to try some nursing student bio examples with  combination or functional  format resume layouts. These put more emphasis on your skills and work best when there’s less experience.

However, these should only be used if  things get really desperate .

While nursing student examples for new graduates tend to focus more on your  training and qualifications , even they will use a reverse-chronological layout

Work experience is always your most important asset in nursing. Always make sure you promote it via the layout.

Don’t also forget that the file format you save your resume is a major factor too.

While a lot of people submit their resume as a Word document – which is fine in some cases – it’s much better to use a PDF or TXT file .

This can be crucial if your resume needs to pass through any machine reading filters like ATS when it’s sent to the employer.

Do I Need Resume Summary?

This is something that people don’t think much about, but you should never underestimate the importance of a good  professional summary .

It’s only a few sentences long, but in that  short text , you’ll communicate a lot to the reader – it is a  brief introduction to you .

It explains why a hiring manager should  take you seriously as a candidate  and – more importantly – gives the reader an incentive to look over your whole resume from start to finish.

What about a resume objective?

If you don’t have much experience to summarize, you should include a  career objective .

What it contains, usually  depends on the precise job  you’re applying for.

For example, if you’re applying for an LVN job you might talk up your credentials of  working with the elderly . Whereas if you’re  planning to work in a cancer ward  you might talk more about how good you are at monitoring vital signs and taking samples.

Let’s look at how we can make this work below.

Student Nursing Resume Summary Example

Writing a career objective for a nursing student role might  sound pretty easy  in principle.

It has some things in common with LinkedIn summary examples for nursing students you might have seen listed online.

However, the resume version is a little  more restricted by comparison  in terms of length. It also needs to communicate a lot about you succinctly without losing the reader’s interest.

Just stating the facts in your summary without making sure they link to the job at hand might  also leave you at a disadvantage.

Let’s see an example of  how NOT to write the summary  for a beginner nursing student’s resume first to get a clearer idea.

Nursing graduate looking for an entry-level position in a large city hospital. People dedicated individual with a patient-focused mentality and strong skills in handling decisions under pressure.

As you can see,  it’s fine . Yet it’s still kind of “meh”.

It’s got some of the right nursing graduation wording you’d normally expect.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely to get much traction as it doesn’t tell us  how well you can do these things  you’ve listed. You need to go into a little more detail than this.

For a stand-out nursing school resume objective, you’ll need to  demonstrate measurable achievements  as well as the sort of skills wanted by the hiring team.

Below, you’ll see what the hiring person at the hospital  will really want to see  on a new graduate nurse resume summary examples.

Fully licensed LVN with over 1 year’s clinical experience working with Hudson County Clinic. Providing daily care with the help of proven skills in patient management, responding to emergencies effectively, and vital sign monitoring. Achieving 98% positive preceptor evaluations.

Now that’s a graduate nurse  resume objective statement  you can take to the bank! Quite literally in some cases.

As we can see here, there’s a lot more  specific information  about how long you’ve been working as a nurse and more insight into exactly what you did.

It shows a good combination of your  nursing licensing information , relevant experience , and skills all in that short paragraph.

As you can see new graduate nurse’s resume summary doesn’t have to be a writing masterpiece. Nevertheless, it does need to  hit all the right notes  to get the attention you crave from recruiters.

How to Write an Entry-Level Nursing Student Resume Objective

Jobs for nursing students with no experience are trickier to target with a nursing student resume objective statement.

But they’re not impossible!

You can find clever ways to  whip up a tight summary  even for specific situations like LPN student jobs, putting together a nursing student internship resume, or entry-level RN resume samples.

Getting in contention for the best entry-level nursing jobs may require you to  get a little more creative , but it can be done without too much effort.

Let’s look at how this can work below.

Entry-Level Nurse Resume Objectives

Even if you’re still studying there’s nothing stopping you from putting together an amazing summary for an entry-level nurse resume sample.

This might be needed for a  nurse intern resume,  or just a general pre-nursing resume you’re trying out before graduating.

Nursing student new to the profession. Eager to gain more professional experience via an internship.

The bad news is if you use a summary like that your  chances of getting hired  will be in critical condition.

We can glean plenty of what you want and need but the recruiter can’t see anything about your strengths as a student nurse.

That’s a major issue.

However, there are ways to make your pre-nursing student resume  objective look a bit healthier , as you can see below.

Dedicated student nurse, with proven clinical experience over 2 semesters. Demonstrating strong skills in vital signs and ensuring patient comfort. Receiving 98% positive grading from my preceptor.

A new nurse resume objective is obviously going to have to compromise with the fact you  won’t have much experience .

However, you will have had practical training with  measurable results  that you can use in your favor.

This will help you  stabilize your situation  and get you on the right track.

How Can I Describe My Nursing Student Experience?

Clinical experience on your nursing student resume is going to be your  key to getting noticed .

A nursing student resume with clinical experience can provide details about  your actual work in nursing via a few different sources such as:

• Internships
• Volunteering
• Practical clinical experience with your preceptor

Of course, even if you’re  fresh out of nursing school  there are plenty of decent no-experience-needed nursing jobs and internships out there. You can take advantage of these to get the working practice you need.

It’s not just what you feature in your experience section, it’s  how you talk about it  that counts too.

Right now you’re probably wondering  how to write  up your clinical experience on a resume?

Let’s look at some  examples of resumes  for nursing student graduates and the experience they normally highlight in a bit more depth.

Examples: Experience Section

When you have a bit of clinical experience on a resume as a nursing student  you’ll have a good shot  at getting on a hiring manager’s radar.

But, you’ve got to be careful  how you add the information  on the page. This is because the recruiter wants to see something that  fits their vacancy as exactly  as possible.

So in a way your resume is a bit like a shape being put into a kid’s shape sorter. It has to  fit the right-shaped hole  figuratively speaking.

This means that  generic resumes won’t do .

With that in mind, let’s see  how not to do it .

Nursing Assistant Hudson Medical Center

2018 – 2019

• Responsible for the care of numerous patients.
• Collected test samples.
• Monitored patient vitals.

While it lists  relevant activities  that a new nurse would do, it doesn’t go into nearly enough detail.

You don’t just want to be some other nurse in the hiring process. You want to be  the top nurse  that everyone wants to interview.

Let’s now look at  a more accomplished  new grad nursing student resume with clinical experience.

• Supervised 8 patients, providing a caring environment and safely administering medication and pain relief.
• Collected and reported test samples and updated patient charts promptly, receiving 96% positive feedback from my preceptor.
• Monitored patient vitals and planned care based on their condition.

Now this example, by comparison,  tells you a lot more  about what this candidate has done AND, crucially, what they’ve achieved.

There are  clear instances here of what you did  and how well you did them. This will give someone reading your resume more info to go on.

Even pre-nursing jobs for students want to see  clear examples .

This is a bit trickier but can still be  done like a pro . Let’s look at this in more detail in the next section.

Examples: An Entry-Level Experience Section

If you’re putting together a new grad RN resume  with no experience  to get your first practical nursing student job you might not know where to start.

Finding a nursing job with no experience can feel like a scary thought at the beginning.

If you’re writing a nursing student  resume for an externship , a nursing student preceptorship resume, or a nursing student resume for an internship you still need to be able to show some experience, while having very little.

What to do?

Luckily in nursing, you’ll already have some of the  clinical modules  of your nursing course to fall back on. These will fit most pre-nursing job descriptions.

Unlike getting into other professions with no experience, you shouldn’t dwell too much on pulling in evidence of  any or all practical work  you’ve done. Just stick to nursing.

Below is an example of what you shouldn’t do.

Student Nurse St John’s Nursing School

• One semester of nursing experience.

Other experience:

• Waiting tables
• Babysitting

A student nurse extern resume or any resume for a new nurse should  only be focused on nursing .

Instead of briefly paraphrasing your experience at nursing school, you should  get in-depth  and really explain what you’ve been doing there.

As you’ll find in most nursing resumes or nursing internship essay examples they tend to focus more on  pinpointing your clinical training  in depth.

Let’s now see how it should be done.

Nursing Intern Hudson Medical Center

• Shadowed RNs to gain experience in triaging, monitoring vital signs, and taking samples.
• Followed HIPAA carefully during all my duties.
• Achieved 94% patient satisfaction rate during my placements.

It doesn’t matter if you’re still at college.

Any and all practical  experience you get as a nurse  should be the only thing you focus on when you write a nursing student resume with clinical experience.

Does Your Education Section Need Emergency Treatment? Don’t Lose the Recruiter!

So you’ve got a  great experience section  in your entry-level RN resume. That’s a good start.

But, oh no? There’s still something missing.

As a new grad nurse with no experience, you’re going to be  relying heavily  on your education section to get noticed.

Most nursing resumes will need to, at the very least, add information about your college course . This should include:

• The name of the nursing course
• The name of the college or institution
• The number of years you studied there

But this isn’t all you should do with your resume for nursing school application. You should also add details about the coursework  you did, especially if it fits the general job description.

Examples: Education Section

No-experience-needed registered nurse jobs will always be interested in your  licensing and training  even if they aren’t so worried about your professional on-site work.

Therefore, your education section needs to give them  the info they want to see  and fast.

Let’s look over an LPN student’s education section below. They’ve got it right.

Associate of Applied Science Degree in Nursing with LPN Certificate Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

2017 – 2020

• Completed 3 semesters of clinical experience and nursing internships.
• Achieved GPA of 3.6
• Commended for patient education, vitals observation, and wound dressing

Now, you might have to  check the vitals  of the recruiter after this as they’re going to be pretty pumped to see an education section like this from a registered nurse with no experience.

This version works for a lot of reasons, firstly because it’s  clear about the course  that was studied.

You don’t need to get over-detailed with your education when writing a nursing internship resume but it should show enough of your achievements to get noticed.

There are of course  lots of certifications  nursing students can get, so it’s super important to be specific and to ensure you’re showing the right licenses for the job available.

Not only that, the new graduate RN resume sample  gives a clear picture  of what the applicant achieved when they were studying.

There are explicit examples on this nursing school resume of  how well they did on their course  by demonstrating their nursing student accomplishments on their resume.

Yet, while the previous example is looking healthy, what about an example of a nursing student resume sample that might be in need of some urgent medical attention?

Let’s look over one of these below.

• Studied anatomy, biology, patient care.
• Passed the NCLEX

As graduate nurse resume examples go this education section is in sickly shape. It only gives the  most basic information  that the employer wants.

It doesn’t go into the  exact tasks  the candidate learned.

Whether you’re preparing a sample resume for  graduate nursing school application  or writing a graduate nurse resume in Australia you must always remember that these little details count.

Make sure you do what you can to  highlight your specific accomplishments  clearly in this section. It only takes a couple of bullet points.

What Are The Best Nursing Student Skills for a Resume ?

Training as a nurse equips you with a  whole toolbox  of skills. But,  which of those are best  for your student nursing application?

Firstly, you should focus on how the  student nurse job description  can guide your resume.

These will almost always list  desired skills that are wanted , which easy clues you can use to make your resume right for the job.

Nursing student skills can be  woven into your application  in lots of ways but what’s important is that they appear consistently in your finished resume. This can either be in the skills section, education section, or work experience section.

Check below for  more of a guide  on the nursing student skills to put on a resume, if you’re looking for some quick ideas.

Top Nursing Skills to Put on a Resume

As a new grad nurse, having skills on your resume really does pay the bills.

It’s important to include both hard and soft nursing skills when you write your resume .

This is because it’s  not just enough to list your technical abilities  on your resume – although you definitely should – you also need to list some intrinsic skills too.

Remember: Working with patients and other nurses involves teamwork, communication, and the ability to maintain a  friendly, welcoming persona  even in the most stressful situations.

You’re going to need to  get that across  when you apply for jobs too.

To give you some ideas for  additional skills  for a nursing resume, check out the lists below.

• Good bedside manner
• Organization
• Concentration
• Communication
• Decision-making
• Attention to detail
• Problem-solving
• Patient education
• Sample collection
• Wound dressing
• Electronic Health Records (EMR)
• Vitals observation
• Record keeping
• HIPAA Compliance
• Workplace safety
• Patient care planning
• CPR/First Aid
• Medicine administration

Do I Need Other Sections for an Effective Resume?

Good jobs for nursing students are competitive. Almost like  gladiatorial combat  at times.

However, fortunately, you  won’t need a sword  or to dress any wounds in a Colosseum anytime soon.

That said, your entry-level registered nurse resume or Nursing student CNA resume is going to need more than the  old reliable trio  of sections of work experience, skills, and education.

A resume for nursing school applications or graduate jobs can always benefit from  extra sections which will give the employer more of a reason to give you the thumbs up.

Examples: “Other” Sections

You’ll often find that the best recently-graduated nursing student resumes go that extra step  when it comes to other sections.

It’s hard to get any of those  eye-catching RN or LVN student jobs  out there without some extra touches.

However, you should be careful when adding additional information. There are obviously  some things you shouldn’t share  with an employer.

As we can see in the very sketchy example below.

• I enjoy going out to bars
• I like to play Xbox
• I’m passionate about cigar smoking

The things listed above are all well and good to do. Just, you  shouldn’t share them  with a recruiter.

This information is  mostly irrelevant  to anything you’ll need to do in a nursing job. Consequently, it shouldn’t really appear on a new RN resume template.

In fact, the stuff about bars could even  turn a recruiter off  your application entirely, if they have any worries you could have an alcohol problem.

Instead, an entry nurse resume should try and use experiences and hobbies that will  sell you best  as a nurse. Although, don’t be afraid to add something to indicate some personality

This might include personal interests or outside work like  volunteering for a medical charity  or similar.

Let’s see how these can be  squeezed onto your document  in the example below.

Volunteer Experience

• Red Cross Volunteer, First Aid
• Hudson Homeless Shelter, Patient screening
• Walking and hiking
• Listening to Everyday Emergency podcast by MSF

Now, that’s more like it!

This fits much more with what a person hiring a nurse  wants to see .

These sections can be used to explicitly show  how strong a candidate you are , which will put you much higher up the priority list for interviews.

Key Points to Takeaway

You know  how to be a great nursing student , now all you need to do is get that into your resume.

To make your nursing student resume PDF  look absolutely spectacular  to the reader, remember the following points.

• If you’re preparing a resume as a nursing student who’s about to graduate remember to focus on detailing your practical clinical experience from your work placements and your licensure.
• Don’t forget to check the nurse trainee job description before writing your student nurse application. This will contain juicy details that you can use to keep your finished template in good health.
• Make sure your graduate nursing student resume gives examples of things you did outside of school that tie in with nursing or healthcare.

Remember, we can help you prepare a nursing student resume for  someone with no experience .

We’ve got professional templates to start you off and  our resume builder  will help you through every step of the process. Why not give it a go-to save some time during your job search.

Happy job hunting!

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33 Nursing Resume Examples That Worked in 2024

• Nursing Resumes
• Nursing Student Resumes
• Nursing Resumes by Credentials
• Nursing Resumes by Role

Writing Your Nursing Resume

Although the demand for nurses is growing, getting a job in the nursing industry isn’t easy, especially if you’re making a start or submitting a letter of resignation at your current position. 

How are you supposed to know how to  write a stunning resume  so employers will immediately want to hire you and create a cover letter detailing your accomplishments? 

Getting into the nursing field is tough, so  we analyzed dozens of nursing resumes to learn what works and what doesn’t to help you get a great nursing job .

No matter your specialty or where you are in your nursing career, we’ve got 33 nursing resume samples to help you  make a resume online  from scratch or update your current resume to get you your next nursing job in 2024!

Nursing Resume

or download as PDF

Why this resume works

• One of the quickest ways to do so is by including your licenses in your title. This clearly signals to the employer that you’re qualified for the position.
• Adding an optional licenses section is another way to demonstrate your abilities, so if you have the room, make sure to add that section.
• Instead, tailor your resume to the  nursing job description . What keywords did they list? What responsibilities do they expect you to complete? Use this as your guide to include what employers most want to see.

Experienced Nurse Resume

• Some professions require CVs for senior-level officials, while other industries are fine with a resume no matter their seniority level. Check the job description to see what kind of information the employer requires, so you know what to write.
• Try to demonstrate the different specific responsibilities you’ve had throughout your career. What kinds of clinical techniques have you done? For example, have you assisted with ADLs, administered particular tests, or diagnosed specific types of diseases?

Nursing Student Resume

• The key is to be specific about what you contributed or learned during your time in school.
• How did you assist your peers or supervisors? Did you witness anything especially noteworthy? What did you learn? Listing details like these helps employers qualify your abilities. 
• While an objective is strictly optional, it’s a great way to convey your excitement for the position and some of your relevant skills. 

New Grad Nursing Resume

• If you lack experience, that’s okay! Just include more details about your clinical rotations. You can also mention non-healthcare-specific work experience if you have it.
• For example, does the job description talk a lot about compassionate care? Then you should include the phrase “compassion” in your skills section.

New Nurse Resume

• Including devices and software such as Hill-Rom smart beds, Omnicell, PeraHealth’s Rothman, and Vocera Badge shows employers that you’re all ready to hit the ground running and help senior nurses treat patients with the latest gadgets in hand.

• As you progress, unleash quantified achievements in your previous roles, emphasizing how you helped patients and improved outcomes (hint: reducing medication errors by 28% and enhancing patient safety).

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Resume

• In addition to your title, if you have any certifications or additional licenses, include them on your resume in a designated section.
• If you’re struggling to know what to write on your CNA resume, it can help to look at  CNA resume examples  and local CNA job descriptions to determine what employers want to see and what metrics to include. 

RN BSN Resume

• Go beyond helping patients and list all the times you’ve helped doctors treat a condition more quickly or improved after-surgery recovery rates. Add how you’ve endeavored to assist patients remotely during tough times (if any) such as providing remote sessions during COVID-19.

Registered Nurse Resume

Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Resume

• If your current specialization is different from the job description, don’t stress! You should still be specific about your experience, but focus on transferable skills that go hand-in-hand with other fields.
• For example, do you specialize in long-term care, nephrology, or developmental disabilities? Include how you applied those abilities throughout your LPN resume.
• Of course, you need to include where you got your nursing degree, but don’t stop there! Adding a certifications or licenses section can show off your training and catch a hiring manager’s eye quickly.

Nursing Home Administrator Resume

• Begin with a careful analysis of the job listing and grasp the matching qualifications, skills, and requirements that resonate with your own experiences. Found them? Fantastic! Now, strategically incorporate those golden nuggets into your resume. In addition, picture how Amanda flaunts her nursing license–if you’ve got similar credentials or those shiny certifications, mention them somewhere in the side column.

Psychiatric Nursing Resume

• Take Sarah, for example. She didn’t just casually namedrop accomplishments like “reducing 30-day readmission rates by 14%” and “spreading awareness of mental health services among 1,280+ community members.” Nope. She made those wins pop out in her resume with bolding and underlining to wow the recruiter from the get-go.

Nursing Manager Resume

• How far back should you go? You wonder. If you have a master’s degree in nursing or healthcare management, make that the centerpiece of your education section. Otherwise, a bachelor’s degree fits the bill! Of course, don’t forget to add the institution’s name and the year you graduated.

Critical Care Nursing Resume

• Gain promotion and assume a new role with greater responsibility after that. Use this to show your dedication by backing your achievements with numbers.

Director of Nursing Resume

• List down all the variety of software you’re proficient in and write how you’ve used each right from the beginning of your career. Last but not least, never forget to add your RN license!

NICU Nurse Resume

• Use the career objective to frame your clinical experience through the lens of NICU by highlighting your ability to communicate with families or work in high-pressure environments.

Operating Room Nurse Resume

• Surgeons are always seeking cutting-edge technology that can unlock new medical capabilities. Showcase your expertise in working with these innovative systems—like robotic arms—to enhance your operating room nurse resume .

School Nurse Resume

• Are you skilled in using platforms specific to educational institutions, such as SchoolMessenger? Include them on your school nurse resume to prove that you’re prepared to handle the caseload.

Telemetry Nurse Resume

• You can bolster your telemetry nurse resume by listing any special certifications that further qualify you for the task, such as Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS).

Nurse Practitioner Resume

• The best format for nurses in 2024 is the reverse-chronological format since it shows how you’ve grown your skills over the years. However, if you have a gap in your job experience, there are other formats you can use to disguise that.
• Adding a few splashes of color to your  nurse practitioner resume  makes it look prettier and helps readability. Just be sure to choose a color that is easy on the eye (no neons, please).

ICU Nurse Resume

• To avoid the fear of the blank page, start by using a  resume outline  to give you a basic structure to follow and show you what your finished resume should look like.
• So, when you’re writing the work experience bullet points, use general responsibilities like “provided effective care”), but be specific about how you helped your patients (and what resulted from your ministrations). 

Travel Nurse Resume

• To help stand out above the competition, clarify your work experience sections so employers know if you’ve had traveling nurse contracts or not. 
• More likely than not, you don’t need a resume objective or summary, nor do you need to list individual projects. Remember that you can go into more detail about achievements and skills in your  nursing cover letter .

Charge Nurse Resume

• For example, have you had the opportunity to manage or lead co-workers? Have you ever trained a nurse and oversaw scheduling? Be specific about how you’ve managed projects and people and what resulted from your leadership.
• Want to know a quick and easy way to write a  charge nurse resume ? Start by using a  resume template  to format your information, then fill in the blanks with specific details about your past experience and skills.

Chief Nursing Officer Resume

• This formatting showcases your career growth and leadership development by highlighting your most recent (and likely most relevant) job. 
• We recommend you include six to 10 skills, with at least 70 percent hard skills such as BLS, QA/QC, federal compliance, and fiscal health analysis.

Telehealth Nurse Resume

• Luckily, there are multiple  resume tips  you can incorporate to make your resume a cut above the rest, including choosing specific hard skills in your skills section and formatting your resume in reverse-chronological order.
• If you have a degree higher than a high school diploma, ignore your high school information since employers don’t need it. If you have multiple nursing degrees, include all of them.

Nurse Consultant Resume

• Use business-related numbers like sales growth or revenue/profit increases to demonstrate your worth as an employee.
• Don’t forget to add other sections to showcase your training and certifications.
• If you decide to include these sections, keep them brief and include only what’s relevant to the job you’re seeking.

Office Nurse Resume

• Do your homework on the environment you’re applying to work in, and ensure you showcase why you’re a good fit for that specific job. After all, an ER unit with high patient turnover may be much more interested in your high-efficiency standards than an in-home clinic that consistently services a much smaller patient load.
• Sure, your resume may look good when you finish writing it, but have you run it through a  resume checker  yet? You might not realize you’ve been using passive voice or inconsistent punctuation, and even though you’re not applying for a job as an English Teacher, a hiring manager won’t be thrilled if you overlook little details when they’re going to literally put lives in your hands.

Home Dialysis Nurse Resume

• Unfortunately, as much as it may be interesting for you to look back over your life history, most hiring managers won’t be quite as thrilled about the prospect. Adding a career summary to your resume can give recruiters the highlights, without drowning them in a sea of information.
• Trust us on this, nothing bothers a hiring manager more than a resume that is 1.01 pages long.

ER Nurse Resume

• Certifications like the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) and Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) depict that you’ve done the work and undergone the rigorous training needed to be an ER nurse.

Labor and Delivery Nurse Resume

• If you’ve spent your time outside work organizing events to promote women’s health and reproductive rights, it’s a powerful statement that shows your passion and commitment and deserves to be mentioned in your resume.

Nurse Manager Resume

• If you’re well versed with a particular HR management tool or medical management software, it’s one less thing a hospital or healthcare center will have to train you on.

Pediatric Nurse Resume

• An extensive program, like a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, from an esteemed institute like Johns Hopkins University, for example, is a worthy inclusion in your pediatric nurse resume , demonstrating that you’ve learned from the best.

Staff Nurse Resume

• Take a good look at Allianah’s staff nurse resume and notice how she leverages a Registered Nurse (RN) license. This isn’t just another document that’s good to have but proof of the grit and effort it takes to be a professional nurse, which further adds to her existing value.

Related resume guides

• Physician Assistant
• Dental Assistant

Hiring managers typically receive a torrent of resumes whenever there’s an open position, so if you prepare your nursing resume haphazardly, you are more likely to get the boot than the job. To avoid that sad scenario, you need to make your nursing resume readable, logical, and pleasing to the eye. It should showcase your skills and experience while being ATS-compliant, and it should show off a bit of your personality, too. 

It make sound like an impossible task, but before your get overwhelmed, start by taking it one step at a time. First, choose your formatting style: reverse-chronological, functional, or hybrid.

Reverse-chronological, functional, and combination/hybrid format

A well-structured resume is essential for your job search. Even if your resume has perfect content, if your resume isn’t easy to skim at a glance, it’s unlikely you’ll be called for an interview. Your content matters, but so does  how  you present that content. Therefore, proper  resume formatting  is a salient feature you don’t want to get wrong.

There are three popular formatting options for designing your resume in 2024: reverse-chronological, functional, and hybrid. 

• Focuses more on your skills
• Ideal for a recent graduate or an entry-level candidate
• Reverse-chronological format
• The most common format
• Lists relevant experiences and skills in reverse-chronological order
• The best for making it past the ATS
• Combines functional and reverse-chronological features
• Highlights both your skills and experience
• Ideal if you have a handful of experience or are re-entering the workforce

The best bet for a nursing resume would be the reverse-chronological format. This helps the recruiter see your upward career progression. If you started as an intern in a given health organization, and then moved up the career ladder to become a full-fledged nurse, your potential employer will be able to track your progression and assess your qualifications faster.

Contact header

It’s important to include the relevant contact header information in the right order. If you’re a nurse, your   contact header should have the following:

• Your name —Employers won’t automatically know you, so you need to include your first and last name. 
• Phone number —Use your personal cellphone number instead of a work phone in case a potential employer calls when you’re not on the job.
• Email address —Include a professional email address, preferably combining your first and last name.
• City & state —This is optional but recommended so employers know if you’re local. 
• LinkedIn —Some employers require your LinkedIn profile, but even if it’s not mandatory, it’s helpful for employers to see your career progression.

The contact header should be, you guessed it, at the top of the page. Good font choices are Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri, all at 12 point size. When it comes to color, remain conservative with black and white. Some  resume templates  can format your resume to strikingly display your contact information, just like this header:

Will your nursing resume beat the ATS?

Optimizing your resume for the Application Tracking System (ATS) increases your chances of being called for an interview. The ATS is a tool that many companies use to quickly scan resumes and weed out applicants without relying on someone to read through them first.

Most resumes aren’t designed to beat ATS, and end up being filtered out before they ever reach the recruiter. However, if you know how to properly  format your resume , you’ll pass the ATS scan and make your way to a person. Here’s what you should know about the role of fonts, font size, margins, header names, logical order, skills, and page length, as far as ATS-friendly resumes are concerned:

• ATS-friendly fonts make it easy for a computer to read your resume. Some of the most commonly used ATS-friendly fonts include: Times New Roman, Calibri, and Arial. Preferably, they should have a font size of 10-12 points.
• Beyond just font type, font size also matters. Preferably, your body font size should be 10-12 points, while your headers can be bigger.
• Margins also matter, since the ATS automatically assumes your margins are the standard size of one-inch all around. Any bigger or smaller, and the ATS might mis-read your resume.
• Keywords are the main focus of the ATS, so make sure your skill keywords and header names match what’s in the job description.
• The ATS is not sensitive to the number of pages, but one page is the standard across professions. 

Writing your nursing resume

Putting together an effective nursing resume may seem overwhelming and not worth your effort. However, putting in the extra effort now will pay off when you get an interview. And remember, you’re not doing this alone. We’re dedicated to helping you  write an amazing resume  by providing advice on common frustrating decisions like this:

• When an objective is most useful on your nursing resume
• When a summary can be the preferred choice
• How to list your most relevant nursing work history
• Adding volunteer work and academic endeavors when work history is light

Do you need an objective or summary on your nursing resume?

When crafting your nursing resume, you have the option to use career objectives and summaries.

When to include a career objective in your resume:

• You can use an objective when changing or modifying your career.
• For instance, if you plan to change from a surgical assistant registered nurse to an emergency room registered nurse, you’d use an objective to highlight that you’re pursuing a new subfield within nursing.
• Use a career objective if you’re looking for an entry-level job and lack experience. 

When a summary is right for your resume:

• Use a summary to highlight your most valuable experience and skills. These are ideal when you have vast experience in nursing.
• For example, if you’ve worked in a health setting for 10 or more years, you can include a summary.
• A summary is effective for connecting varied work experiences.

When not to use objectives or summaries:

• Skip the objective or summary if you’re not planning to customize it to each position you apply for. Otherwise, it’s generic filler that takes up too much white space.
• This lacks specificity and reads “I just need a job to pay the bills.” While that may be true, employers want to know you’re passionate about your work and will improve your workplace.
• This lacks depth and work history details that should hallmark a summary. It’s void of substantial expertise, specializations, and skill specifics.

When objectives or summaries are worth including:

• This objective highlights the years of experience and the candidate’s field of expertise while also naming the potential employer.
• This summary highlights their years of experience, the key areas they’ve worked in, and their specialities within those fields.

Nursing work experience?

Don’t forget to indicate relevant experience in your resume. While we wouldn’t recommend including every job you’ve had since you were 16, you can get away with adding work experience from different fields if you’re an entry-level candidate.

However, if you’re applying for a senior position, you’ll need to include at least  three  nursing positions on your resume, especially if you’re applying for a managerial or specialty position. For instance, a director of care management requires nine years of experience, four of which must be managerial.

Conversely, a registered nurse position may require one year of direct patient care. The responsibilities, in this case, are not very demanding. If you lack experience overall, you can include any academic projects and volunteer work that is relevant to the  nursing job description .

Writing your job experience bullet points for your nursing resume

Three examples of poor job experience bullet points for nurses:

• Generally, you should avoid using “I,” and you should include specifics, not just generic statements of experience.
• This bullet includes “I” and lacks job specifics and quantifiable metrics.
• Although it may sound nice on the surface, it doesn’t answer exactly what the patient did and the results of their work.

Three examples of good job experience bullet points for nurses:

• This uses an action verb combined with quantifiable metrics.
• Again, this uses an action verb but furthermore, it describes exactly what the candidate provided (primary care training). 
• Specific, pertinent job duties show employers your skills and can also help you pass the ATS; two thumbs up for this one!

Quantify your impact as a nurse

When preparing your resume, remember that no employer wants to waste time reading vague statements about your performance. Instead, they want to see supporting details. So, whenever you can, you should quantify your impact and achievements.

For instance, if you say you “served many patients daily,” a potential employer might wonder about the exact number because ‘many’ is a relative term.

Examples of how to quantify metrics:

Suppose the  nursing job description  asks for a training specialist who can train other nurses. In that case, you can indicate the number of training sessions you conducted per day in your previous employment.

• Number of clinical training sessions per day
• Trained 75% of new hires on pre and postoperative care >20 days per month

Some of the health facilities labor under tremendous pressure. The number of patients you serve per day can help potential employers gauge whether you will cope well under pressure. So, it’s lucrative to include the number of patients you served per a specific amount of time.

• Number of patients served in a day 
• Worked in a setting with a 6:1 patient-nurse ratio, receiving 400+ visitors per day

Top skills for your nursing resume

It’s helpful to understand the differences between hard and soft skills to list in your  resume skills section . Keep the number of skills you list in between six and 10 to avoid overwhelming the reader.

Hard skills are those tools you use to do the job, aka technical abilities that require training. 

Examples of hard skills:

• ERM systems
• Medical documentation
• Infant and child care
• Emergency care
• Ambulatory care
• CPR certified

On the other hand, soft skills are abilities that are harder to quantify and are more personality-based.

Examples of soft skills:

• Communication 
• Professionalism
• Positive attitude

Get noticed! Look for keywords within a job description:

• Many companies use ATS to scan resumes for keywords from the job description, so it’s in your best interest to include the right keywords.
• Include keywords in both your  nursing cover letter  and resume. 
• Choosing keywords from the job description helps you customize your resume and thus, makes you more appealing to the hiring manager.
• Employing the right keywords makes your resume relevant and noticeable, giving you an edge over the competition.

Nursing education and certifications

When preparing your nursing resume, include all the elements that will increase your chances of getting the job. You need to indicate the following:

• Your education level
• Any certifications or licenses
• Your experience in other nursing environments
• Your years of experience as a nurse

On the topic of licenses, you need to share your area of specialization. Specialists include registered nurses (RNs), certified registered nurse anesthetists, and clinical nurse specialists. Including your area(s) of expertise helps potential employers determine whether you’re the right candidate for the job.

Besides, including this information is easy to do and shouldn’t take up much space! Simply place certifications and licenses in a short section toward the bottom of your resume: 

Should you add projects, interests, or hobbies to your nursing resume?

Most of the time, you don’t need to include projects or  interests/hobbies on your resume . However, you may be able to add them depending on your level of experience and the type of role you’re seeking.

If you’re an experienced nurse, you’ve likely gained tangible experience that’s more important than undergraduate projects you’ve completed. Instead, you should highlight your key areas of experience and show your new employer how you’ll impact their business.

In the same vein, you may not need to indicate your hobbies or interests unless it’s encouraged. However, you can gain an advantage over the competition if you have strong qualifications and hobbies that match the company culture. 

To help you determine whether or not to include hobbies, visit the company’s website and read the “About Us” section to gauge whether they have a unique cultural fit. 

If you’re an entry-level candidate or a recent graduate, listing hobbies and projects can help you fill space and showcase your personality. However, it’s always good to review the job description to ensure these additions are relevant. Either way, keep the project and hobbies lists short and at the bottom of your resume.

Examples of hobbies/interests:

• Volunteering for community health services
• Learning new languages

Examples of projects:

• Organized and led breast cancer awareness campaign for two consecutive semesters
• Researched mental and psychiatric issues for semester-long experiment

Adjust your nursing resume for every job application

Remember to customize your resume when applying for a new job. Even if you’re only applying for specific roles, like LPN jobs, that doesn’t mean every job description for that title requires the same qualifications. There’s usually something unique to each position. Thus, for every application, make sure you tailor the following sections:

• (These can stay mostly the same, but you should adjust responsibilities and keywords slightly.)

To recap, each job description comes with different skill requisites. Furthermore, remember to note keywords you can use within the body of your resume and cover letter.

Your nursing resume must be error-free

As a nurse, you need to show the hiring manager that you’re observant and have an eye for detail. Remember, you’ll be working with patients and should demonstrate accuracy and precision. To ensure a flawless resume, run your document through a  resume checker  and have your colleagues proofread it. Don’t let typos cost you a job!

Confidently land your next Nursing gig

Many job seekers languish in the job market, especially considering the number of nursing graduates produced by universities each year and the fierce competition. So, you must be creative and savvy to survive the market. Happily, you’ve already taken the first steps by reading this guide, so congratulations!

We know you’ve worked hard to get this far, and we wish you all the best as you write a power-packed nursing resume and get ready for interviews in 2024! 

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Nursing Student Resume: Examples and Tips

In this article, you will learn about:

How to write a resume for a nursing student about to graduate?

• What is a good objective for a nursing student resume?

How to write a nursing student resume summary?

What are some superb skills for a nursing student resume.

• How to write a nursing student resume with no experience?
• Nursing student resume sample

As a nursing student or recent nursing school graduate, you have a lot of tasks to juggle around and sort out: from school coursework to licensing preparation, you have a lot on your plate. The earlier you tackle these tasks, the better. 

Whether you are still in nursing school or are about to graduate, you will eventually need to face the dreadful task of preparing for life after nursing school. The first task you will need to work with is to write a professional new graduate nurse resume. 

A graduate nurse resume presents a sketch of what you have achieved. Even if you are still in school or aren’t thinking of heading into a full-time nursing role yet, you still need to be fully prepared for clinical rotations or externships.

✅ Adopt an ATS-friendly resume format for nursing students.

When you apply for a nursing role, the recruiting team will most likely use an applicant tracking system to scan through the stacks of nursing student resumes. While this process can save time on their end, it is not as favorable for you due to the system automatically skipping resumes that are difficult to read. Be sure that your nursing grad resume passes the scanning so that it can reach the recruitment team.

✅ Refer to online nursing student resume templates or examples.

As a nursing student, you might be creating your first-ever nursing resume or you might be looking to update your resume. Glancing through other new graduate nurse resume examples can get your ideas up and running. 

✅ Tailor your nursing student resume for the role and use keywords in it.

The nursing position that you plan on applying for will all include clearly-written requirements to find the nursing students that best fit the role. Make sure you locate the key qualifications and requirements in the job description first and write your nursing grad resume with the keywords. 

✅ Add figures to your nursing student resume.

Amaze the recruiting team with examples of your achievement and work experience in your nursing student resume by including statistics such as the number of patients you treated or the patient satisfaction improvement rate.  

✅ Present your nursing-related certifications.

As a recent nursing graduate, you are not expected to know the ropes yet. Including certifications such as CPR or BLS within your nursing student resume can impress the recruiting team.

What is a good  objective for a nursing student resume ?

For a nursing school student, the objective statement of your nursing grad resume lets the recruiting team realize what you can accomplish and what you look forward to achieving.

💡 Tip 1: Bring out two to three of your top nursing-related characteristics. 

Since the objective statement is positioned at the top of your nursing student resume, leave a deep impression on the recruiter with a few impressive nursing-related skills and traits.

💡 Tip 2: Always ask yourself: “How well does your objective match the position?”

It is crucial that your resume objective as a nursing student also relates to the position. If not, the recruiting team will not be able to see that you fit the role.

Think about what traits and skills the position is asking for, and then you can strategically select skills and accomplishments you want to include in your nursing student resume. 

💡 Tip 3: Center the nursing student resume objective around your career trajectory. 

Even though the recruiting team will want to see your nursing student skills on your resume, they will also want to learn more about what you seek to work on if you join their team.

Nursing Student Resume Objective Examples:

• Dedicated nursing graduate skilled in caring for children of all ages. Looking to work with Nat’s Children Hospital to assist with providing appropriate aftercare treatment for the children. 
• Gentle nursing student with 2+ years of experience in senior medical care. Seeking a role as a nurse at Elara Nursing Home to provide comfy assistance for the elderly residents. 
• Driven nursing student with strong knowledge in medical treatment, patient care, and aftercare procedures. Looking to strengthen my medical knowledge as a nursing assistant at Kane Medical Hospital to eventually provide exceptional care for the patients. 

The resume summary for a nursing student provides a glimpse of what your abilities are and why the recruiting team should continue to review your application. Here are three tips on how you can construct an influential nursing student resume summary statement:  

💡 Tip 1: A structured summary can lead to a great impression. 

Guarantee that your nursing student resume summary is well-ordered by following this formula: your professional title + years of experience + few of your most remarkable skills.

💡 Tip 2: Your nursing education experience counts as well. 

Educational experience, such as nursing degrees obtained or certifications earned, can support you in drafting a more significant summary for your nursing student resume. 

💡 Tip 3: Proofreading can make a great difference for your nursing student resume summary. 

You will need to work on various tasks without any slip-ups as a nurse. Similarly, when you write your nursing student resume summary, you will want to make sure that it is free of any mistakes. 

Professional Resume Summary Examples for Nursing Students:

• Committed nursing student with 2+ years of experience assisting with patient care and general ward care. Skilled at treating wounds, communicating with patients, and maintaining patient records. 
• Self-motivated nursing student with strong knowledge in HIPAA Compliance, nursing practices regulations, and patient care. CPR and First Aid Administration certified. 
• Patient-focused nursing graduate highly experienced in offering patients with comfortable treatments and assistance. Skilled at checking vital signs, assessing patient injuries, and guiding patients to accurate resources. 

The skills of a nursing student for a resume should include top-notch nursing skills. Start by deciding the way you want to present your skills. The four different arrangements of skills on your nursing student resume, including simple bullets, expanded bullets, incorporating skills in work experience, and categorized bullets.

✏️ The simple bullets allow you to easily showcase a list of skills for a nursing student resume. While it is clear for the recruiting team to see, it does lack details. 

✏️ The expanded bullets are also easy-to-read but provide the details on how you applied your nursing student resume skills. The disadvantage is that you will only have room for five skills due to the space taken up by the details.  

✏️ Incorporating skills in work experience is very effective for you if you have extensive work experience already. You can easily relate your nursing student resume skills to your work experience in an organized fashion. However, this is not the best way to organize your skillsets on your nursing student resume if you have little to no experience.  

✏️ The categorized bullets help you go further into detail for the broad skills of a nursing student for a resume. The downside to this format is that this is more suitable for you if you have broad skillsets.

Tips for choosing the best skills for your nursing student resume: 

💡 Tip 1: Your people skills can also make a great impact in the nursing field. 

As a nursing student, you will have many chances to act as a point of contact where you will need to rely on your interpersonal and communication skills to communicate with other nurses, doctors, and patients. Including these skills in your nursing student resume show that you have the important attributes. 

💡 Tip 2: The requirements in the job description reveal what will be essential for your nursing student resume.

Show that you are a direct match by adding the required skills to your nursing student resume. 

💡 Tip 3: Quality is more important than quality. 

When you create your skills section, you might be tempted to include a long list of skills for your nursing student resume due to your limited work experience. However, be sure to keep in mind that the skills you list should be suitable for the position.

Nursing Student Resume Skills Examples: 

Hard skills: 

• Trauma Care
• Emergency Care
• Medical Techniques

Soft skills: 

• Communication
• Self-Motivation
• Adaptability 

Cake provides the best resume making tools & templates to help you create the perfect  nursing student resume for your job hunt. Take your career journey to new heights - create a graduate nurse student resume online (free download) now!

Create Resume

How to write a  nursing student resume with no experience?

Advice 1: choose a proper format for your new nursing grad resume..

Similar to the way you present your skills on the nursing student resume, your resume format can make a great impact as well.

3 types of nursing student resume formats to select from: 

• Chronological resume format
• Functional resume format 
• Combinational resume format 

It is more recommended for you, as a fresh nursing grad, to use a functional resume format to show your skills.    

Advice 2: Write a career objective for your recent nursing graduate resume. 

When you are creating a nursing student resume and have no work experience or achievements to write in your resume, show the recruiting team your determination and clear career goals 

Advice 3: Highlight your education in your fresh graduate nurse resume. 

To enter the nursing industry, you need to obtain degrees and undergo training rigorous programs. The recruiting team will love to see the educational background and training suitable for a nursing job on the nursing student resume.

Advice 4: Include your nursing portfolio or nursing research article.

Throughout your education and training programs, you might have already accomplished a lot as a fresh graduate. Compile an online portfolio that includes job-related achievements you have obtained or details about nursing research you have conducted and put a link to your portfolio in your nursing grad resume. 

Advice 5: Write a sincere nursing student cover letter. 

While a cover letter is not always required, attaching a cover letter can help elevate your nursing student resume. A genuine nursing student cover letter written by a new graduate nurse shows the recruiting team your qualifications, potential, and passion. 

Nursing student r esume sample

Attentive Nursing Graduate Experienced with Medicine and Healthcare 

Waco, TX 76798 (623)-757-5558  [email protected] linkedin.com/in/nalamoore

Meticulous nursing graduate with 2+ years of clinical and research experience in family, healthcare, and pediatrics practice. Knowledgeable in patient treatments, injury/wound care, and medicine administration. 

Work Experience

Nursing Assistant  Waco Clinics   Jun 2019 - Nov 2021

• Performed health checkup tests for up to 30 patients per day. 
• Measured and maintained patient health records, injury recovery rates, and medical records. 
• Assisted patients with understanding their medical conditions in a friendly manner. 

Clinical/Research Intern  Baylor University   Jun 2018 - Aug 2018

• Conducted data analysis for 4 different researchers in preparation for healthcare projects.
• Collaborated with other student researchers to prepare research project presentations for the team of Baylor healthcare researchers. 
• Analyzed patient record details, such as vital signs or bpm, to search for patterns and trends. 

Hard Skills:

• Vital Signs
• Patient Care
• Patient Record Management
• Medical Treatment 
• Open Wound Care
• Patient Evaluation 
• Aftercare Treatment 
• Urine Testing
• IV Therapy 
• Blood Administration

Soft Skills:

• Interpersonal
• Detail-oriented
• Time Management
• Problem-solving
• Critical Thinking 
• Cooperation 

B.S. in Nursing  Baylor University 2015 - 2019

Certification

--- Originally written by Jessica Sun ---

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6 New Grad Nursing Resume Examples + How To Write

Are you a new grad nurse or about to complete your nursing degree? If so, congratulations on your impressive accomplishment! At this point, you may be wondering what is your next action in the strategy to secure a job. If so, read on for vital information to help you successfully navigate the unchartered territory of finding employment as a nurse. Preparing a top-notch resume is an essential step in securing a position after graduation. When thinking about how to compose a resume, you might ask, what are some exceptional examples of new grad nursing resumes? This article, 6 best new grad nursing resume examples, will guide you through the process of creating a professional new grad nursing resume that is sure to impress. Additionally, well-structured resume examples will visually aid you in designing your resume that is sure to catch the eye of your future employer.

What Exactly is a New Grad Nursing Resume?

How is a new grad nursing resume different from an experienced nursing resume, 4 reasons why an exceptional resume makes a difference to new grad nurses, 1. you may be competing with experienced nurses-, 2. there may be many candidates-, 3. highlights new skills-, 4. helps to get your foot in the door-, what are some exceptional examples of new grad nursing resumes, example #1: resume of diane joyner, diane joyner, licenses and credentialing, clinical experience, student nurse.

• Performed new mom, baby and labor and delivery patient care duties on a 12-bed obstetrics unit. • Team leader for student nurse rotation on 2 occasions. • Developed nursing care plans on 2-3 patients each week. • Completed 75 clinical hours in obstetrics.

• Performed patient care duties on a busy 28-bed pediatric unit. Commended by clinical instructor, preceptor, and unit nurses for ease of adaptation, enthusiasm, and expert nursing care of children on unit. • Team leader for colleagues on 4 occasions. • Developed nursing care plans on 3-10 patients per week. • Developed and instituted engaging quiet activity lessons and entertainment boxes for children while in the hospital. • For children in quarantine, developed exercises to promote circulation and heart health while recovering in isolation, if applicable. • Completed 75 clinical hours in Pediatrics.

• Provided nursing care in a busy inner-city ER, ICU, and CCU. • Completed 90 hours total of critical care clinical hours. • Evaluated at 100% by the instructor for competence in critical care skills.

• Completed 30 outpatient hours as a public health nurse, either traveling for home visits or at a community clinic. • Evaluated and developed plans of care for patients from 7 months to 70 years old. • Completed 30 additional outpatient hours in a public elementary and middle school.

• Performed basic nursing care in a 400-bed community hospital with 2-4 adult patients daily. • Administered nursing services to seniors and disabled patients in community rehab and nursing facilities. • Completed 100 hours total of med-surg clinical hours.

Work History

Certified nurses aid.

• Performed basic hygiene and health aide services in a 300-bed nursing facility during vacations and summer.

Secretary to Bloomsburg University Department of Nursing

• Performed basic office duties such as filing, answering phones, and typing reports.

Babysitter for 2 diabetic sisters

• Hired to babysit and carefully monitor 2 diabetic children where carb counting, blood sugar monitoring, and insulin injections were necessary.

• Hostess, waitress, cook, and dishwasher duties as needed in a bustling restaurant.

Volunteer Work

• Mother of a newborn • Candy striper • Campus Catholic Organization • Church nursery worker • St Francis Soup Kitchen • Campus blood drive

What Makes This An Exceptional New Grad Registered Nurse Resume:

Example #2: resume of jan beck, licenses and credentialing.

1/2021-4/2021 Boseman, Montana

• Performed new mom, baby, and labor and delivery patient care duties on an 8-bed birthing center. • Developed nursing care plans on 1-2 patients each week. • Completed 75 clinical hours in obstetrics.

9/2020-11/2020 Boseman, Montana

• Performed patient care duties on a busy 20-bed pediatric unit. • Developed nursing care plans on 2-4 patients per week. • Completed 75 clinical hours in Pediatrics.

1/2020-5/2020 Boseman, Montana

• Provided nursing care ER, ICU, and CCU. • Completed 90 hours total of critical care clinical hours. • Evaluated at 99% by the instructor for competence in critical care skills. • Selected consistently by the staff and clinical instructor to work on Covid and burn units along with special cases.

11/2019-12/2019 Boseman, Montana

• Completed 30 psychiatric clinical hours at a 150-bed psychiatric hospital. • Completed psychiatric evaluations and instituted and monitored mental health treatment plans on 2 patients per day.

9/2019-10/2019 Boseman, Montana

• Completed 30 outpatient hours in a high school health clinic.

1/2019- 5/2019 Boseman, Montana

• Performed basic adult nursing care in a 200-bed community hospital with 2-4 patients daily. • Completed 100 hours total of med-surg clinical hours.

WORK HISTORY

University lab assistant.

5/2019-Present Boseman, Montana

• Selected by nursing faculty to assist in Anatomy and Physiology labs along with Microbiology lab.

Student Tutor

1/2020-Present Boseman, Montana

• Tutored students in course work for science, health, computer technology.

HONORS AND AWARDS

• Graduated second in nursing class with a 3.96 GPA • Received 4.0 in all clinical rotations • Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society • Award for future nurse in excellence and scholarship

Example #3: Resume of Joan Zimmerman

Joan zimmerman.

1/2021-4/2021

• Completed 60 clinical hours rotating between urgent care and family health clinic. • The preceptor stated she felt very confident in all skills and knowledge to independently care for patients under her supervision.

9/2020-11/2020

• Performed patient care duties on a busy 60-bed pediatric unit. • Developed nursing care plans on 2-4 patients per day. • Completed 75 clinical hours in Pediatrics.

1/2020-5/2020

• Provided nursing care ER, ICU, and CCU. • Completed 90 hours total of critical care clinical hours. • Evaluated at 100% by the instructor for competence in critical care skills. • Team head 3 out of 10-week rotation. • Nurses on the unit commented daily on my advanced knowledge of cardiovascular conditions and ability to handle patient care efficiently.

11/2019-12/2019

• Completed 30 psychiatric clinical hours at a 241-bed psychiatric hospital. • Completed psychiatric evaluations and instituted and monitored mental health treatment plans on 2 patients per day.

9/2019-10/2019

• Completed 60 outpatient hours rotating between units for women’s health, labor and delivery, NICU, PICU, and newborn nursery.

1/2019-5/2019

• Performed basic nursing care on adults in a busy 600-bed hospital with 2-4 patients daily. • Completed 100 hours total of med-surg clinical hours.

Walmart Cashier

5/2017-Present

Honors and Awards

• Graduated first in nursing class with a 3.99 GPA • Received 4.0 in all clinical rotations • Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society • Future Nurse Leader Award • School of Nursing Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award

Volunteer and Leadership Experience

• President of Student Nursing Association • Captain of the high school basketball team

Example #4: Resume of Lizzie Arndt

Lizzie arndt.

1/2021-5/2021 Jersey City, New Jersey

• Completed 60 clinical hours performing home health services on patients of a variety of ages and conditions, including prenatal and postnatal care. • Developed new mom instructional videos on breastfeeding and bathing.

9/2020-11/2020 Eastman, New Jersey

• Performed patient care duties on a busy 62-bed pediatric unit. • Developed nursing care plans on 2-4 patients per day. • Completed 75 clinical hours in Pediatrics. • Rotated onto pediatric burn unit.

1/2020-5/2020 Eastman, New Jersey

• Provided nursing care ER, ICU, CCU, and adult burn unit. • Completed 90 hours total of critical care clinical hours.

11/2019-12/2019 Eastman, New Jersey

• Completed 30 psychiatric clinical hours at a state prison on both men’s and women’s units. • Completed psychiatric evaluations and instituted and monitored mental health treatment plans on 1-3 patients per day.

9/2019-10/2019 Eastman, New Jersey

• Completed 60 outpatient hours rotating between units for women’s health, labor and delivery and NICU, PICU, and newborn nursery. • Achieved 100% on clinical skills and knowledge testing. • Developed competency checklist for pre- and post-natal teaching of pregnant women and new moms. • Established support reference material for new mom packet.

1/2019- 5/2019 Eastman, New Jersey

• Performed basic adult nursing care in a busy 575-bed hospital with 2-4 patients daily. • Completed 100 hours total of med-surg clinical hours in the hospital and adjoining rehabilitation center.

Swim Instructor and Lifeguard

5/2017-Present Jersey City, New Jersey

• Graduated first in nursing class with a 3.95 GPA • Received 4.0 in all clinical rotations • Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society • Outstanding Nursing Student Award • Scholarship for swimming • Scholarship for academic excellence

Extra-Curricular Activities

• Division I swimming all 4 years in college

Example #5: Resume of Lynn Horton

Lynn horton.

• Performed new mom, baby and labor and delivery patient care duties on a 50-bed women’s health unit. • Completed 75 clinical hours in obstetrics.

• Performed patient care duties on a busy 20-bed pediatric unit. • Developed nursing care plans on 2-4 patients per week. • Rotated onto pediatric oncology unit to care for 1-2 oncology patients per day. • Completed 75 clinical hours in Pediatrics.

• Provided nursing care in ER, ICU, and CCU units. • Completed 96 hours total of critical care clinical hours.

• Completed 30 psychiatric clinical hours at a 40-bed detox and substance abuse facility. • Completed psychiatric evaluations and instituted and monitored mental health treatment plans on 2-3 patients per day. • Assisted nursing and psychiatric staff with detox and substance abuse treatment and therapy.

• Completed 30 outpatient hours in a home health agency to include care for adults and children with cancer.

• Performed basic nursing care in a 600-bed community hospital with 2-4 patients daily. • Completed 100 hours total of med-surg clinical hours.

Certified Nurse Assistant

• Provided comfort and basic care to adult patients with cancer.

• Graduated Magna Cum Laude • Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society • Award for future nurse in excellence and scholarship

Volunteer and Extra-curricular Activities

• Served as a companion and nurse’s aide to a friend dying of cancer • Division III university softball player

Example #6: Resume of Paul Linney

Paul linney.

1/2021-4/2021 Tampa, Florida

• Performed new mom, baby and labor and delivery patient care duties on a 30-bed birthing center. • Performed basic nursing and prenatal care to walk-in women’s health center. • Completed 75 clinical hours in obstetrics and women’s health.

9/2020-11/2020 Tampa, Florida

• Performed patient care duties on a busy 38-bed pediatric unit. • Developed nursing care plans on 2-3 patients per week. • Completed 75 clinical hours in Pediatrics.

1/2020-5/2020 Tampa, Florida

• Provided nursing care in ER, ICU, and CCU units. • Completed 90 hours total of critical care clinical hours.

10/2019-12/2019 Tampa, Florida

• Completed 30 psychiatric clinical hours on a 62-bed psychiatric unit, which included detox and substance abuse treatment. • Completed psychiatric evaluations and instituted and monitored mental health treatment plans on 2-4 patients per day. • Assisted nursing and psychiatric staff with detox and substance abuse treatment and therapy. • Achieved 100% for clinical rotation. • Selected as team leader 5 out of 8 weeks on unit. • The Nurses and the preceptor remarked weekly about comfort level and ease with working with psychiatric patients.

9/2019-10/2019 St. Pete, Florida

• Completed 30 outpatient hours in a community center for at-risk youth. • Held group sessions for abused and traumatized teens. • Met individually with 2 patients per week for individual counseling and psychiatric sessions and care.

1/2019-5/2019 Tampa, Florida

• Performed basic nursing care in a 300-bed community hospital with 2-4 patients daily. • Completed 100 hours total of med-surg clinical hours.

VOLUNTEER AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

• Boys Club of Clearwater • Paxton Ministries Soup Kitchen • Special Olympics

How to Write an Exceptional New Grad RN Resume?

1. proper format.

• Your name and contact information at the top of the page • Easy to read (not fancy) fonts such as New Times Roman, Arial, and Calibri • Font size 11 or12 • Stay consistent in fonts and style types • Be concise • No abbreviations or slang

2. Summary or objective

• Professional goals • Name of unit and institution where you are applying • Nursing skills and qualities pertinent to the position • Degrees and professional certifications

3. Licenses and credentialing

• The full name of your license or certification • Institution or body that issued license

4. Education

• Official school name • Location of the school • Dates you attended or graduated • Degree that you completed

5. Clinical rotations

• The type of the clinical rotation • Dates of the rotation and total hours completed • Name of institution (and city/state) of clinical • Name of unit you worked on

6. Work history

• Position held, then the name of the company/organization where you worked and the city and state with starting and ending date of hire • In a few words, describe the job

7. Volunteerism

• Church bake sales, nursery work, chicken BBQ worker, soup kitchen, and vacation bible school assistant • Hospital candy striper • Homecoming committee • Musical lighting and props • Prepped dinners for a homeless shelter • Assistant to professor • Staffed nursing department booth for college fairs • Blood pressure checks for health fairs • Assisted with blood drives on campus

8. Honors and awards

9. skills/language summary, 10. appropriate length, 11. match your resume to the job, 12. proofread, 7 common mistakes to avoid when writing your new grad nursing resume, 1. not including non-work experience-, 2. being too modest-, 3. too wordy-, 4. not personalized-, 5. leaving out accomplishments-, 6. not customizing-, 7. not proofing-, 3 consequences of a poorly written new grad rn resume, 1. you may never get an interview-, 2. your resume sets the stage-, 3. you may receive lower compensation-, my final thoughts, frequently asked questions answered by our expert, 1. what is the difference between new grad nurse resume and new grad nurse cv, 2. as a new grad nurse, when should i write my resume, 3. do i need a different resume for each new grad nursing job i apply to, 4. how long is my new grad nursing resume good for, 5. how many words should a resume be for a new graduate nurse, 6. how much time does it take to write an exceptional resume for a new grad nurse, 7. what is the best resume format for new grad nurses, 8. should i put my gpa on my new grad nurse resume, 9. should skills be on my new grad nurse resume, 10. what is a good objective for a new grad nursing resume, 11. how to list registered nurse license on my new grad nursing resume.

• Full name of nursing license • The body that issued the license • Expiration date

12. Should I Put Clinical Experience On My New Grad Nursing Resume?

13. should i include preceptorship on my new grad nursing resume, 14. can i ask someone else to write my new graduate nurse resume, 15. is it a good idea to use ready templates to write my new graduate nurse resume, 16. are there any online apps or tools that make writing a good resume for a new graduate nurse easy.

All Formats

• Graphic Design

11+ Nursing Student Resume Examples

Various healthcare organizations offer thousands of nursing vacancies every year. But, most of the Resume Templates which are sent by the first-time job seekers who have just graduated from nursing schools fail to impress the recruiters due to their lack of experience and knowledge about drafting impressive resumes. Drafting resumes for the first-time job seekers for the post of nurses can be a tricky affair. This is the precise reason why we have collected a few nursing student examples for your better understanding and assistance.

Free Nursing Student Resume Template

• Apple Pages
• Illustrator

Formal Nursing Resume Template

Nursing Student With Clinical Experience Resume

Simple Resume For Nursing Student With Clinical Experience

> Who can use these Nursing Resume Example Template?

Cover letter & resume for nursing student resume.

New Graduate Nursing Student Resume Template

Sample Final Year Nursing Student Resume

Professional Nursing Student Resume Template in PDF

Registered Nursing Student Resume Template

Nursing Student Chronological Resume

Student Nurse Technician Resume Sample

Nursing School Student Resume Template

> How can you use these Nursing Student Resume Examples Effectively?

More in resume.

Nursing Student Mission Statement Template

Nursing student cover letter, nursing student reference letter, nursing student cv template, nursing student care plan template.

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Word templates, google docs templates, excel templates, powerpoint templates, google sheets templates, google slides templates, pdf templates, publisher templates, psd templates, indesign templates, illustrator templates, pages templates, keynote templates, numbers templates, outlook templates.

ICU Nurse Resume Examples and Templates for 2024

Intensive Care Unit Nurse Resume Templates and Examples (Download in App)

Most popular intensive care unit nurse resumes.

• Medical Surgical Nurse
• Nurse Manager
• Nursing Cover Letter
• Resume Text Examples
• How To Write a Intensive Care Unit Nurse Resume
• Critical Care Nurse
• Senior ICU Nurse

Medical Surgical Nurse Resume Example

Nurse Manager Resume Example

Nursing Cover Letter Example

Intensive Care Unit Nurse Text-Only Resume Templates and Examples

Allison Rosenberg (123) 456-7890 [email protected] LinkedIn | Portfolio Seattle, WA 12345

An ICU nurse with five years of experience providing exceptional care to critically ill patients in ICUs. A proven track record of communicating empathetically with patients and families during emergency situations. Adept at identifying opportunities to enhance clinical workflows to enhance patient care delivery.

Professional Experience

ICU Nurse, Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA |February 2022 – present

• Deliver exceptional care to patients in a 12-bed ICU, coordinate with multi-disciplinary teams to develop treatment plans and communicate changes in patient condition, and successfully improve positive patient outcomes by 9%
• Educate patients and family members on medical diagnosis and treatment options and provide emotional support to aid them in processing difficult information
• Administer medication, monitor patient vital signs, and ensure compliance with infection prevention protocols and hospital care standards

ICU Nurse, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Seattle, WA | June 2019 – February 2022

• Provided critical medical support to physicians and multi-disciplinary in a high-volume ICU, administered medication and wound care treatments, monitored vital signs, and delivered advanced cardiac life support
• Communicated empathetically with patients and families, provided education on treatment plans, and communicated changes in patient condition

Certifications

• Critical Care Registered Nurse Certification, CCRN, AACN, 2020
• Registered Nurse, State of Pennsylvania, License #123456, 2019
• Patient-centered care
• Emergency response
• Advanced cardiac life support
• Clinical operations
• Patient education

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Nursing  University of Washington, Seattle, WA September 2015 – June 2019

In this ICU nurse resume example, the candidate highlights their expertise in communicating effectively with patients and family members during emergencies. This is a key aspect of any nursing professional in critical care and shows prospective employers that the applicant can succeed in ICU environments.

Raymond Ortiz (123) 456-7890 [email protected] LinkedIn | Portfolio Philadelphia, PA 12345

A critical care nurse with seven years of experience providing advanced life support and educating patients and families in high-pressure environments. A strong history of utilizing evidence-based care techniques to improve patient outcomes and survival rates.

Critical Care Nurse, Penn Hospital, Philadelphia, PA |October 2021 – present

• Collaborate effectively with multi-disciplinary teams to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care to diverse patient populations in a high-volume hospital with a 1-to-7 patient ratio, contributing to a 7% reduction in mortality rates
• Deliver advanced life support in critical situations, including ACLS, PALS, and NRP
• Educate patients and families on clinical diagnosis and complex medical procedures while providing emotional support and compassion

Critical Care Nurse, Temple Hospital, Philadelphia, PA | June 2017 – October 2021

• Provided wound, pain, and trauma care to patients in a 10-bed ICU, monitored vital signs, and alerted physicians to emergencies and changes in patient condition
• Administered medication to patients in critical care, adjusted dosages as necessary under the direction of a doctor, and ensured minimal adverse side effects
• Critical Care Registered Nurse Certification, CCRN, AACN, 2018
• Registered Nurse, State of Pennsylvania, License #123456, 2017
• Communication
• Evidence-based care
• Medical triage

Master of Science (B.S.) Nursing  University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA September 2015 – May 2017

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Nursing  University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA September 2011 – May 2015

This ICU nurse resume effectively captures the candidate’s unique clinical background. The document shows how the candidate contributed to a reduction in patient mortality rates, which immediately draws the attention of the hiring manager. This is even more impressive due to the high patient-to-nurse ratio.

Aliya Jackson (123) 456-7890 [email protected] LinkedIn | Portfolio Baltimore, MD 12345

A dynamic ICU nurse with 11 years of experience providing critical care to patients in fast-paced clinical environments. A proven track record of collaborating with high-performance nursing teams to enhance patient care delivery and reduce mortality rates. Adept at communicating effectively with patients and family members in high-stress situations.

Senior ICU Nurse, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD | March 2019 – present

• Deliver high-quality patient care in a 15-bed ICU, communicate empathetically with patients and families, and manage a wide range of cases, including trauma, surgical, neurological, and cardiac patients
• Coordinate with the nurse manager to implement a new patient monitoring protocol and evidence-based care standards, resulting in a 17% increase in positive patient outcomes
• Achieved the Nurse of the Year Award in 2023 for clinical excellence and leadership

Senior ICU Nurse, St Mark’s Hospital, Baltimore, MD |June 2013 – March 2019

• Provided exceptional care to critically ill patients in a high-stress clinical environment, served as a patient advocate, and developed treatment plans in alignment with the cultural, emotional, and physical needs of patients
• Communicated medical updates with empathy and compassion and maintained a 92% patient satisfaction rating
• Critical Care Registered Nurse Certification, CCRN, AACN, 2014
• Registered Nurse, State of Maryland, License #123456, 2013
• Case management
• Evidence-based treatment
• Patient advocacy
• Trauma care

Master of Science (B.S.) Nursing  John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD September 2013 – June 2015

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Nursing  John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD September 2009 – June 2013

This ICU nurse resume does an excellent job of illustrating the candidate’s unique blend of clinical and interpersonal skills. The summary is particularly strong, providing a compelling snapshot of the nurse’s experience for the hiring manager.

How To Write an Intensive Care Unit Nurse Resume

Building an accomplishment-driven intensive care unit (ICU) nurse resume that captures the most compelling aspects of your nursing experience is the best way to generate interviews during the job hunt. As an ICU nurse, you play a pivotal role in the delivery of emergency medical services to patients during crisis situations. We’ll provide expert tips and insights to capture your journey within the nursing field and build an eye-catching resume.

1. Write a dynamic profile summarizing your qualifications

Your professional summary sets the tone for your ICU nurse resume and plays a key role in grabbing the attention of the hiring manager. Start by listing your title, years of experience, and three to four skills that match the employer’s needs. In the subsequent sentences, emphasize a unique aspect of who you are as a nursing professional.

For example, you might highlight your expertise in communicating with patients, families, and medical teams during life-threatening situations. You could also draw attention to how you’ve positively impacted response times and patient satisfaction scores for high-volume ICU units.

Profile Example #1

An ICU nurse with five years of experience providing exceptional care to critically ill patients in ICUs, I have a proven track record of communicating empathetically with patients and families during emergency situations. I am adept at identifying opportunities to enhance clinical workflows and patient care delivery.

Profile Example #2

A dynamic ICU nurse with seven years of experience providing critical care to patients in fast-paced clinical environments. A proven track record of collaborating with high-performance nursing teams to enhance patient care delivery and reduce mortality rates. Adept at communicating effectively with patients and family members in high-stress situations.

2. Add an accomplishment-driven professional experience section

Your professional experience section should encapsulate your most impressive career achievements within the medical field. As you craft your bullet points, make a concerted effort to incorporate hard numbers and data to illustrate the impact of your contributions in terms of clinical efficiency and patient outcomes. For example, if you collaborated with multi-disciplinary teams to enhance clinical workflows and patient care delivery, you might display a percentage increase in positive patient outcomes.

Professional Experience Example #1

ICU Nurse , Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA | February 2022 – present

Professional Experience Example #2

ICU Nurse , Penn Hospital, Philadelphia, PA | October 2021 – present

• Deliver advanced life support in critical situations, including advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), pediatric advanced life support (PALS), and neonatal resuscitation program (NRP)

3. Include relevant education and certifications

It’s important to feature your licenses, certifications, and education prominently on your ICU nurse resume. A bachelor’s degree in nursing is sufficient, but pursuing a master’s degree can be helpful in advancing your career. In addition to your nursing license, consider obtaining a Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) credential. This sends a message that you have the necessary skill sets to provide quality care during emergency medical situations.

• [Degree Name]
• [School Name], [City, State Abbreviation] | [Graduation Year]
• Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Nursing
• University of Washington, Seattle, WA | 2020
• [Certification Name], [Awarding Organization], [Completion Year]
• Critical Care Registered Nurse Certification (CCRN), AACN | 2020
• Registered Nurse, State of Pennsylvania, License #123456 | 2019

4. List pertinent key skills

Most hospitals utilize some form of applicant tracking system (ATS) to identify and select nursing candidates during the hiring process. To pass the initial screening process, incorporate specific keywords from the job description into your skills and professional experience sections.

In addition to highlighting medical terminology, feature interpersonal skills, as hiring managers want to see you can communicate effectively with patients and families during emergency situations. Below is a list of potential keywords you may encounter during the job search:

How To Pick The Best Intensive Care Unit Nurse Resume Template

When selecting your ICU nurse resume template, always prioritize readability and clarity over flashy visual elements. Overuse of color and graphics can be distracting for the reader, effectively drawing attention away from your nursing qualifications and achievements. A traditional design with a simple, elegant font ensures that your content remains the focal point of the document.

Frequently Asked Questions: Intensive Care Unit Nurse Resume Examples and Advice

What are common action verbs for intensive care unit nurse resumes -.

It’s easy to get stuck when writing the experience section of a resume. As you craft your content, you may run short on action verbs that accurately convey your professional experience. We’ve compiled a list of action verbs to diversify your bullet points on your ICU nurse resume:

How do you align your resume with an intensive care unit nurse job description? -

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , nursing jobs are expected to grow by 6% between 2022 and 2032. This equates to over 177,400 new positions on the open market. Despite the need for skilled medical professionals, you’ll need to align your ICU nurse resume with the job description to land a position with a high-ranking hospital.

For example, if an organization is seeking a nurse with experience treating burn patients, explore this aspect of your background in a bullet point. If the hospital has a reputation for patient advocacy, emphasize how you’ve amplified the patient’s voice throughout the treatment process. By tailoring your ICU nurse resume to each job posting, your chances of landing the interview will increase drastically.

What is the best intensive care unit nurse resume format? -

Reverse chronological is the ideal format for ICU nurse resumes. This ensures that your most recent and relevant clinical experience is featured at the top of your document. A combination format is generally not recommended here, even for new nursing graduates, as the hands-on experience you’ve gained during your nurse externship should still be one of the first things that the hiring manager sees on your document.

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Once you’ve completed your ICU nurse resume, consider pairing it with a strong cover letter to help bolster your application. The key is to customize your ICU nurse cover letter for each individual hospital to display your genuine enthusiasm for the opportunity. To learn more, view our nursing cover letter guide .

Frank Hackett

Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW)

Frank Hackett is a professional resume writer and career consultant with over eight years of experience. As the lead editor at a boutique career consulting firm, Frank developed an innovative approach to resume writing that empowers job seekers to tell their professional stories. His approach involves creating accomplishment-driven documents that balance keyword optimization with personal branding. Frank is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PAWRCC).

Check out Related Examples

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Nurse Manager Resume Examples and Templates

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How to Write a High School Resume (Template and Examples Included!)

As a student trying to land your first job , you've probably heard how important it is to have a good resume . But writing a strong high school resume isn't always easy when you have little to no work experience .

It’s not always easy—but it is possible.

The secret is to leverage any professional-like experience (such as community or volunteer services) you've gained, plus your skills and academic accomplishments. Since you're likely applying for entry-level jobs , most recruiters won't expect a huge professional background but will look for a good set of skills and strengths .

In this article, we'll cover how to write a high school student resume, and provide practical tips and examples of what to write in each section. Plus, you'll get two templates that you can easily adapt to make your own.

Why is a high school resume important?

A well-crafted high school resume can set the stage for your future career experiences. Even if you have no formal work experience, recruiters still want to see your skills, education, and potential certifications laid out on paper.

Writing a resume also helps you organize your achievements, identify your strengths, and lessons you learned from past experiences, such as extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and AP courses.

Though your resume might be short—which is normal for a high schooler—a thoughtful and tailored presentation can make your application stand out. Especially considering that you're likely to be competing with other high school students, so your chances might be higher than you'd think. Get that resume out there! Browse open jobs on The Muse and find work that’s right for you »

How to write a high school student resume in 6 steps

Resumes are all about presenting your qualifications strategically and authentically to grab the recruiter's attention and land an interview . Here's how to write one as a high school student:

1. Start with your contact information

Needles to say, your resume should have your contact information so the recruiter can identify it and contact you to schedule an interview. It's the first section of the resume and should be placed at the top of the page.

Follow this structure:

Name: [Full Name]

Address: [City, State]

Phone: [Phone Number]

Email: [Email Address]

Media (optional): [Linkedin and/or Portfolio link]

2. Write a resume summary or objective

A resume summary is a short statement that highlights your top skills, qualifications, and aspirations for a specific job in two to three sentences. This section is placed right below your contact information.

Though it's optional, a resume summary helps showcase who you are—especially if you don't have much work experience and would benefit from highlighting skills and positive traits. It should be brief and to the point.

Similarly, the objective statement also has two to three sentences in which you highlight your qualifications and directly state your interest in that position and why. Though it's considered outdated, an objective statement is still welcomed by some recruiters if it is well-crafted.

High school student resume summary examples:

“Driven high school student with a passion for software development and a proven track record in coding and robotics competitions. Skilled in HTML, Java, and C with certifications in data analysis and project management.”

“Ambitious high school student with strong communication skills and proven leadership skills in extracurricular activities. Skilled in advanced Excel, Figma, and fluent Spanish.”

High school student resume objective example:

“Detail-oriented high school student with a passion for design and proven experience creating visual content for social media platforms. Seeking opportunities to leverage design skills in a dynamic internship setting.”

3. List your education

This section should be the first thing the hiring manager sees after the summary because “it shows them what you’re looking for—an internship , a part-time job , or a full-time job—after graduation,” says career coach and speaker Anne Ryan .

Here, you should add your current or completed academic background. Ryan also says that if you are dual-enrolled in a college program (especially ones where you may receive an associate degree as well as your high school diploma), you might want to add that in this section as well.

Adding your high school GPA can also be a good move. It'll help you stand out if your score is high—3.5 or above for high school students—and show hiring managers you did well in classes, showing commitment and effort.

Here's an example:

High School Diploma

New York Preparatory High School

New York, NY

Graduation date: November 2024

Below high school, you could add some other extra classes you’ve taken that are relevant to the application, “but you may want to put AP classes and awards further down the page to direct more attention to your experience section,” Ryan says.

4. List your relevant experiences

Next section is the experience section . As a high school student, it's likely that you had few professional experiences in life, but there are multiple activities that can count as experience in this context. For example:

• Extracurricular activities
• Community service
• Personal projects
• Volunteer work
• Programs or applications you manage
• Academic clubs you’ve been part of
• Part-time jobs
• Internships

You don't need to include all of that in your resume. Instead, pick the experiences that are relevant for the job. For instance, if you're applying for a sales position, an experience in volunteer work where you've dealt with the public is more relevant than being the organizer of a book club.

The idea is to show hiring managers how you could fit a position based on what you did and achieved in all these experiences. These experiences should be listed in two to four bullet points , always highlighting key actions and potential accomplishments.

For example:

Food Bank Volunteer

May 2022 – July 2024

• Stocked shelves and maintained inventory in order to reduce waste
• Organized my team's shift and tasks to improve our productivity

Note: You may find examples of resumes with volunteer experience and other experiences in separate sections. That's also correct and OK to do if you think it'll improve readability.

5. Create a skills section

The skills section demonstrates what abilities you have that makes you qualified for the job. You can add both hard skills (technical knowledge and the certifications you have to perform that job) and soft skills (the way you behave and interact with others when working).

Think about tasks or projects you've done in the past that required some of the skills you'll also use in the job you're applying for. For instance, organizing a charity event requires planning, teamwork, and leadership, which are valuable skills in any professional context.

High school student resume skills examples:

• Content writing
• Written and verbal communication
• Software development
• Social media management
• Translation
• Transcribing
• Planning and organizing
• Image editing
• Video editing

6. List your relevant certifications

Finally, the certifications section , which is the last one in your high school resume. This section usually is written with bullet points showcasing each certification and the year you achieved it.

Remember that you don't need to list every single certification you have, but only the ones that are relevant to the job you want. For example, if you're applying for a social media management internship, a creative writing and digital marketing certification is more relevant than a coding certificate in this context.

Here's an how this section should look like:

Certifications

• Creative Writing Masterclass Certification - AlphaCom (2024)
• Digital Marketing Certificate - HubSpot Academy (2024)
• Content Management - HubSpot Academy (2023)

Note: If you don't have many certifications or skills, you can combine those sections into one. Some resume templates also have an “Awards & Honors” section after skills and certifications. If you have earned relevant academic awards and honors, you can and should use this section.

Extra high school resume writing advice

Here, we'll cover formatting and tricks that can make your resume stand out from the bunch. Check it out:

Use keywords to match the job description

If you're applying for a job online , you'll come across descriptions that list tasks, skills, and essential information about the company, and keywords that appear repeatedly are likely important to recruiters.

Incorporating relevant keywords into your resume not only demonstrates alignment with the job but also helps applicant tracking systems (ATSs)—which recruiters use to filter candidates—select your resume.

However, don’t stuff your resume with keywords that don't make sense. Instead, pick out the ones that match your own experiences, certifications, and skills, and naturally add them in sections where it makes sense. For internships and entry-level jobs, you're not expected to meet every requirement, so be honest and strategic when selecting relevant keywords.

(Need help with that? Here's how to pick resume keywords that'll get your job application past the ATS .)

Use action verbs and quantifiers

As the name implies, action verbs are verbs that express an action that can be mental or physical. Basically, they describe and express something that you did or are currently doing. In resume writing, action verbs are a powerful way to express your involvement in an activity or project.

Examples of action verbs

• Collaborated
• Implemented

On the other hand, quantifiers are anything you can measure within your tasks and results that demonstrate the impact of your work, the scope it had, and the frequency of the activities. Together, action verbs and quantifiers are a great way to demonstrate your qualities and skills as a professional.

For instance, you could write:

• Worked for four months as a barista, serving more than 100 clients per evening
• Participated in my school's green committee team and organized 10 activities during the school year
• Developed and organized a book donation campaign for my local library and received 150+ donations

Choose a simple format for your resume

When it comes to formatting, keep your resume as simple as possible. A simple format makes your resume much easier to read and easily scannable for ATS. By simple formatting, we mean standard fonts, such as Arial or Times New Roman, and regular size, like 11 or 12.

Be consistent and stick to the chosen format throughout the entire resume. Avoid overly complex designs with colors, images, or fancy fonts that can hinder readability and ATS compatibility.

As former Google VP of People Operations Lazlo Bock said on LinkedIn, “unless you're applying for a job such as a designer or an artist, your focus should be on making your resume clean and legible.”

Finally, save your resume in Word and PDF and send in the format asked by the recruiter in the job listing. Although the standard is PDF, because it can't be edited and keeps the integrity of the file, some companies prefer Word.

Proofread, proofread, proofread

Always double check your resume to ensure there are no grammatical errors or typos. Instead of immediately sending it to a recruiter, review it a couple of minutes after writing and/or ask for a friend or family member to proofread it for you.

Tools like Grammarly , Google Docs, and even Chat-GPT can also help you refine your text, trim words that aren’t needed, and point out grammatical errors and typos you missed.

High school resume examples

Here are two high school resume examples that you can use as a reference when crafting yours.

Example #1: Resume for high school student with volunteer experience

[email protected]

(917) 274-7398

linkedin.com/in/jenadams

Proactive high school student with volunteer and leadership experiences in content writing, news reporting, event planification, and team collaboration. Eager to start a communications career in a local setting while finishing studies.

Holy Trinity Diocesan High School

Hicksville, NY

Sep 2022 – Present

Graduation date: Jun 2025

EXPERIENCES

Book Club President

Jun 2023 – Present

• Managed reading materials for monthly reading sessions for +20 students, expanding the club from 8 to 22 students in a year.
• Promoted analytic reading among teenagers through games and educational contests, which led to 10 books read in a school year.
• Contacted 2 local bookstores to organize book club special events within their stores.

Co-Editor-in-Chief (Volunteer)

Holy Trinity Newspaper

Feb 2023 – May 2024

• Joined as a freshman staff writer and was promoted to Co-Editor-in-Chief in sophomore year
• Delegated articles about school events, creative pieces, & editing tasks to a diverse staff of 25+ students
• Designed print layouts with Adobe Pagemaker & wrote monthly editorials about current world events

CERTIFICATIONS & SKILLS

Google Workspace

Adobe Suite

Example #2: Resume for high school student with work experience

CHRISTIAN WOLF

[email protected]

(555) 274-8248

Santo Domingo High School

Weekend Receptionist

Fresno Art Museum

Ago 2023 – Present

• Answered & transferred over 25 calls per day quickly & accurately to on-duty staff.
• Greeted over 50 visitors per day and responded to questions about scheduling & events.
• Collaborated with the HR team distributing +15 internal mail campaigns using specialized project management and CRM softwares.

Bishop’s Altar Server (Volunteer)

St. John's Cathedral

Downtown Fresno

Sep 2021 – May 2023

• Worked in teams of seven highly trained servers during liturgical prayer (services, weddings, & funerals).
• Trained +5 new volunteers over the course of 4 months to assist high demand in a fast paced environment.

Languages: English (native) | Spanish (beginner)

Office skills: Google Workspace (advanced), Microsoft Excel (intermediate)

Social media: HootSuite (beginner), Mailchimp (beginner)

CERTIFICATIONS

Inbound Sales Certificate - HubSpot Academy (2023)

Email Marketing Certificate - MailChimp (2024)

AWARDS & HONORS

Month Employee: Fresno Art Museum (2024)

Gold medal: CIF State Swimming Championships (2022)

High school resume template

Ready to make yours? Here are two resume templates for high school students you can edit including your own experiences. Don't be afraid to make the necessary changes to better showcase your skills, accomplishments, and education.

Template #1: High school student resume with no work experience

Resume Summary (optional): 1-2 sentences paragraph about your skills, interests, and motivations for the job.

High School Name

City, State

Graduation Date: [Month, Year]

GPA: [3.5 or above]

• Skill 3 (you can add more, but don’t over do it.)
• Certification 1
• Certification 2
• Certification 3

AWARDS & HONORS (optional; if it’s career or academic-related, the better)

• Title of Achievement 1
• Title of Achievement 2
• Title of Achievement 3

Template #2: Resume template for high school students with volunteering experience

Address: [Address]

Resume Summary: 1-2 sentences paragraph about your skills, interests, and motivations for the job.

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Volunteer Position, Organization Name

Dates of service: [Month, Year] – [Month, Year or present]

• Responsibility 1 (use action verbs and quantifiers)
• Responsibility 2