Nursing Resumes
Before you begin writing your nursing resume, make sure that you really want to do this on your own. There are many professional resume writers and resume services you may want to hire to help you. Sometimes their expertise makes all the difference between getting and not getting that first interview.
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If you decide to write your own resume, the best place to start is to analyze resume examples that utilize common resume formats. This will give you a good idea of the resume templates being used successfully today to land nursing jobs.
Next, look at medical and nursing-related web sites and publications to help you choose the key words you need to emphasize in your resume so that scanning software used to identify strong job candidates won’t pass you by.
Nursing has become an important job in today’s world, and your resume should be able to support your ability to perform this job. Nursing job resumes need to shift from a strictly clinical and technical theme, to a more universal style that can be applied to a variety of work environments. |
Weak descriptions of skills and using the same, boring job title for every position held are the most frequent mistakes people make while composing a resume for a nursing job. Your resume must show the diversity of your skills and experience at a glance.
As always, your first step while preparing a resume for a nursing job should be research. Try to figure out what employers are really looking for by understanding their services, goals, mission and corporate culture and begin constructing your resume based on this information.
Objective:
Start your nursing job resume with a clear, solid objective aimed at the specific employment position. For example, “Reliable, ethical heath care worker with ability to stay calm and intervene during crises, facilitate groups and educational seminars, and collaborate on multidisciplinary teams looking for assistant head nurse position in a reputed Health Care Provider”. Maintain clarity and consistency of your stated objective throughout the resume. |
Nursing Experience:
While writing this section in your nursing job resume, describe your experience about the type of facility such as acute care, outpatient, and rehabilitation, your caseload and area of specialization. If you are an entry-level nurse or have with limited work experience, you should provide details of your unpaid work, clinical rotations and practicums.
Important points to include while describing your nursing experience:
- Any business, administrative or managerial experience such as working on budgets and schedules
- Any supervision or leadership responsibility
- Special projects you worked on such as cost cutting or downsizing committees
- Quality management activities you were involved in as well as any interdisciplinary committees you sat on
- Any teaching or training you have done including acting as a preceptor to new hires, working with students and giving an in-service presentation
Academic Achievements and Nursing Licenses
Any academic honors, scholarships and fellowships achieved should be highlighted in the Education section of your nursing job resume. If you are a new Graduate, you might want to include your GPA and related courses. Experienced nurses may decide to briefly mention their clinical rotations in the Education section. While mentioning your license in this section, include the state where you are licensed and the date achieved.
Accomplishments and Achievements:
Your nursing job resume should highlight accomplishments and more unusual experiences which should not read like a job description. It is not necessary to list all the routine duties that a staff nurse performs, such as delivering patient care and administering medication. Here’s an excerpt from a good example:
Key Accomplishments:
- Selected as one of only seven student nurses to be admitted into internship program after rigorous selection process
- Helped refine unit policies and procedures in the areas of suicide-watch procedures, safety methods, discharge planning and documentation
- Responded to numerous volatile situations and violent outbreaks, earning the respect of physicians and coworkers for calm, levelheaded and quick thinking to restore the safety and security of patients and staff
Key points to remember:
- Display diversity of experience, not just clinical skills
- Highlight accomplishments
- Use action verbs to initiate the accomplishment
- Don’t forget to include professional affiliations if you have any
- If you have done travel nursing or other agency work, write a sentence or two to summarize this experience rather than listing all the hospitals you worked at
- There’s no need to list all the education programs you have attended
- Use jargon, buzzwords or acronyms specific to nursing jobs
- Non-nursing work experience may be unrelated to a nursing job but significant in grabbing the potential employer’s attention
- Be honest and truthful without including clues to information you would be unwilling to disclose during an interview
- Keep your resume updated
In addition to these important guidelines for constructing your resume, there are many resume tips plus simple rules and layouts to follow that will help you compose a great resume. Some of the more important rules are as follows:
In addition to these important guidelines for constructing your marketing resume, there are many resume tips plus simple resume formats to follow that will help you compose a great resume. Some of the more important guidelines are:
- Never write more than two pages.
- Use a format that makes the resume inviting and easy-to-read.
- Think accomplishments.
- Tell the truth.
- Use buzzwords and keywords.
- If possible, tailor your resume for a specific job, not just a specific industry.
- Include computer proficiency levels for almost all jobs.
- Ensure all dates link up and leave no suspicious gaps if you are using a chronological format.
- If there are gaps in your work history, use a functional resume format.
- Make sure your cover letter is as good as your resume.
- Practice you job interview skills.
- Don’t forget to follow up with a thank-you note.
Finally, click on nursing jobs to find suggestions of specific web sites and resume posting and submission services where you can submit your resume.
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