professional summary examples registered nurse

Build my resume

professional summary examples registered nurse

  • Resume builder
  • Build a better resume in minutes
  • Resume examples
  • 2,000+ examples that work in 2024
  • Resume templates
  • 184 free templates for all levels
  • Cover letters
  • Cover letter generator
  • It's like magic, we promise
  • Cover letter examples
  • Free downloads in Word & Docs

28 Nursing Resume Examples That Worked in 2024

Stephen Greet

  • 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’re in your nursing career, we’ve got 28 nursing resume samples to help you  build a resume  from scratch or update your current resume to get you your next nursing job in 2024!

Nursing Resume

or download as PDF

Nursing resume example with 10+ years of experience

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

Experienced nurse resume example with 10+ years of experience

  • 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

Nursing student resume example with 4 years of experience

  • 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

New grad nursing resume example

  • 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.

professional summary examples registered nurse

  • 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

professional summary examples registered nurse

  • 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

professional summary examples registered nurse

  • 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

professional summary examples registered nurse

Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Resume

professional summary examples registered nurse

  • 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.

Critical Care Nursing Resume

professional summary examples registered nurse

  • 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

professional summary examples registered nurse

  • 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

professional summary examples registered nurse

  • 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

Operating room nurse resume example with 11 years of experience

  • 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

School nurse resume example with 9 years of experience

  • 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

Telemetry nurse resume example with 10 years of experience

  • 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

professional summary examples registered nurse

  • 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

Icu nurse resume example with 10+ years of experience

  • 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

Travel nurse resume example with 10+ years of experience

  • 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

professional summary examples registered nurse

  • 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

professional summary examples registered nurse

  • 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

Telehealth nurse resume example with 9+ years of experience

  • 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

Nurse consultant resume example with 8 years of experience

  • 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

Office nurse resume example with 3 years of experience

  • 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

Home dialysis nurse resume example with 11+ years of experience

  • 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

ER nurse resume example with 10+ years of nursing experience

  • 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

Labor and delivery nurse resume example with 3+ years of experience

  • 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

Nurse manager resume example with 4+ years of experience

  • 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

Pediatric nurse resume example with 4+ years of experience

  • 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.

Related resume guides

  • Physician Assistant
  • Dental Assistant

Job seeker stands between two plants and looks through binoculars, searching for job

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.

professional summary examples registered nurse

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.

professional summary examples registered nurse

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:

Nursing resume contact 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. 

professional summary examples registered nurse

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

professional summary examples registered nurse

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.

professional summary examples registered nurse

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 .

professional summary examples registered nurse

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!

professional summary examples registered nurse

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

professional summary examples registered nurse

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.

professional summary examples registered nurse

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: 

Nursing resume licenses section.

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

professional summary examples registered nurse

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! 

Create my free resume now

Banner Rws3

Registered Nurse Resume Examples & Template [2024]

  • December 20, 2023
  • In Resumes & Cover Letters

Registered Nurse Resume Examples

Craft a winning Registered Nurse Resume with our comprehensive guide, packed with essential tips and insights. Discover key sections, including work experience, education, and skills, to highlight your expertise in patient care, medication administration, and electronic health records. Learn how to showcase your qualifications effectively and tailor your resume to stand out in the competitive nursing industry.

Are you struggling to present yourself as the best candidate for a registered nurse position? The foundation lies in a strong resume that showcases your skills and experiences and how they relate to the specific job requirements. If you’re not confident in your resume-writing abilities,  we’re here to assist . 

How to write a nursing resume in 7 steps

Step 1: use a registered nurse resume template , step 2:  format your contact information section, step 3: craft a strong summary statement for a registered nurse, step 4: showcase your professional experience, step 5: emphasize top nursing skills, step 6:  listing relevant degrees, certifications, and licenses, step 7: tailor your (rn) resume for specific job applications, step 8: include registered nurse cover letter, faq: registered nurse resume, q1: how many pages should a nursing resume be, q2: how do i address employment gaps in my nursing resume, key sections of a registered nurse resume.

When creating a registered nurse’s resume, it is important to include the following sections:

  • Contact information
  • Resume summary/objective statement
  • Work experience
  • Education and certification
  • Professional recognitions

Additional Sections (Optional)

  • Continuing education, additional training, publications, etc.
  • Volunteer work or community involvement related to healthcare

When creating a nurse resume, it can be helpful to use a template that is specifically  designed  for nursing professionals.

Registered Nurse Resume Template 150020 Blog

Registered Nurse Resume Template 150020 Download it here →

Resume Template in Microsoft Word, Pages

  • Ease of use : Resumeway provides pre-designed professional  resume templates  that you can easily customize with your information.
  • Professional appearance : Templates with a clean and professional look, making it easy to create a visually appealing resume.
  • No additional cost : Once you have access to Microsoft Word or Pages, you can use the templates without any additional charges 

Remember, using a nurse resume template can provide a solid foundation for creating your resume, but it’s important to customize it to showcase your unique qualifications and experiences.

  • Place your contact information at the  top of your resume  so that it is easily visible to employers.
  • Use a  larger font size  for your name to enhance its visibility and make it stand out.
  • Format the rest of your contact details in a way that is  clear and easy to read . You can place them in one or two lines below your name.
  • Avoid placing your contact information in the header section of a Word document, as not all applicant tracking systems can properly read and parse information stored in this section.

Make sure to double-check your contact details for accuracy and professionalism.

Read more: 20+ Resume Headline Examples: Stand Out from the Crowd

Crafting an attractive summary for a registered nurse resume requires highlighting your  unique qualifications , skills, and accomplishments in a concise and compelling manner. Tips for creating an attention-grabbing  summary :

  • Start with a strong opening : Begin your summary with a captivating phrase or sentence that immediately grabs the reader’s attention. Consider using  action verbs  or powerful adjectives to describe your nursing expertise.
  • Highlight your key qualifications : Outline your most relevant qualifications, such as your nursing degree, certifications, and any specialized training or areas of expertise. Emphasize the skills and knowledge that set you apart from other applicants.
  • Showcase your experience : Briefly summarize your nursing experience, focusing on the settings you’ve worked in (e.g., hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities) and any notable achievements or responsibilities. Use quantifiable metrics and concrete examples to showcase the extent of your influence.
  • Emphasize your patient-centered approach : Highlight your commitment to providing exceptional patient care and promoting positive health outcomes. Mention your ability to establish rapport with patients, communicate effectively, and advocate for their needs.
  • Include relevant skills : Incorporate a list of  key skills  that are essential to the nursing profession, such as clinical assessment, medication administration, care planning, and teamwork. Customize your skills to align with the specific requirements of the position you are seeking.
  • Keep it concise : Aim for a summary that is concise and to the point, ideally consisting of two to three sentences. Avoid using jargon or overly technical language that may be difficult for non-medical professionals to understand.

Example #1: Senior Registered Nurse Resume Summary “Experienced Pediatric Nurse with 15+ years of expertise focused on neonatal care. Proven track record in NICU environments, having reduced infant readmissions by 20%. Recognized for providing compassionate and individualized patient care.“

Example#2: Junior Registered Nurse Resume Objective “Recent graduate from Michigan University’s Nursing Program, equipped with the latest knowledge in clinical care. Eager to apply learned concepts in a real-world setting and grow as a healthcare professional.”

Read more: 20+ Resume Summary Examples for 2024 [+How-to Guide]

A well-crafted nurse work experience section is essential for a standout resume. It allows you to showcase your relevant work experience and accomplishments in the field. To make the most impact, keep these tips in mind:

  • Focus on achievements : Instead of simply listing your responsibilities, highlight your accomplishments  and the impact you made in your previous roles. For example, mention any improvements in patient outcomes, successful implementation of new protocols, or recognition you received for your work.
  • Quantify your impact : Whenever possible, include numbers or percentages to quantify your achievements. For instance, mention the number of patients you cared for, the success rates of treatments you administered, or any awards or recognition you received.
  • Tailor to the job description : Review the job description and identify the key skills and qualifications the employer is seeking. Customize your experience section to highlight how your previous roles align with those requirements.
  • Include specialized experience : If you have experience in a particular specialty or have worked in different healthcare settings, such as hospitals, clinics, or home healthcare, be sure to highlight that experience. It can help you stand out from other applicants.

Charge Nurse Heavenly Care Hospital, New York, NY / June 2016-November 2017

  • Led a team of 12 nurses, enhancing the patient-to-nurse ratio by 20%.
  • Introduced a patient feedback system, resulting in a 15% increase in patient satisfaction.
  • Reduced patient readmission rates by 10% through the implementation of comprehensive discharge procedures.
  • Streamlined the patient intake process, reducing wait times by an average of 30 minutes.
  • Participated in the design and execution of a new infection control protocol, leading to a 40% decrease in hospital-acquired infections.
  • Organized quarterly interdisciplinary team meetings, fostering improved communication and a 15% reduction in clinical errors.

When creating a successful nurse resume, it’s important to include a combination of technical (hard skills) and  soft skills  that demonstrate your expertise and suitability for the role.

Here are some top skills to consider:

Read more: 50+ Hard Skills For Your Resume [In 2024]

When listing relevant degrees, certifications, and licenses on a Registered Nurse resume, it’s important to highlight your qualifications and credentials. Here are some guidelines to follow:

  • List your highest level of education first, such as a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree.
  • When listing multiple degrees, arrange them in reverse chronological order, beginning with the most recent one.
  • Include the full degree name, such as “Bachelor of Science in Nursing” or “Master of Science in Nursing,” rather than abbreviations like “BSN” or “MSN”.

Certifications and Licenses

  • Include relevant certifications and licenses that are required or preferred for the nursing position you are applying for.
  • Examples of certifications for nurses include Certified Pediatric Nurse (CPN), Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN), or Certified Critical Care Nurse (CCRN).
  • List certifications after your degrees, using the appropriate initials or acronyms. For example, “MD, MPH, DABFM” or “DNP, PMHNP-BC”.
  • If you hold a nursing license, be sure to include it, such as “Registered Nurse (RN)” or “Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)”.
  • Create a separate section on your resume specifically for your degrees, certifications, and licenses.
  • Use a clear and organized format, such as bullet points or a table, to list your qualifications.

When tailoring your registered nurse resume for specific job applications, consider the following tips:

  • Review the job description : Carefully read the  job description  to understand the specific requirements and qualifications sought by the employer. Pay attention to keywords and phrases that are mentioned multiple times.
  • Customize your professional summary : To highlight the skills and qualifications that make you an excellent fit for the specific job, tailor your professional summary or objective statement. Showcase your alignment with the position by incorporating keywords from the job description.
  • Highlight relevant skills : Emphasize the skills that are directly relevant to the job you’re applying for. Include both technical skills (e.g., wound care, patient education, medication administration) and soft skills (e.g., compassion, teamwork, problem-solving) that are valued in the nursing profession.
  • Focus on relevant experience : When listing your work experience, prioritize and expand upon the roles and responsibilities that are most relevant to the job you’re applying for. Provide specific examples of how you have demonstrated your skills and achieved positive outcomes in previous positions.
  • Include certifications and specializations : Highlight any certifications, specializations, or advanced training that are relevant to the job. This could include certifications in areas such as critical care, pediatrics, or geriatrics.
  • Quantify achievements : Quantify your achievements to provide concrete evidence of your impact. For example, mention the number of patients you have cared for, the percentage of improvement in patient outcomes, or any awards or recognition you have received.

Remember, tailoring your resume for each specific job application increases your chances of standing out to employers and demonstrates your genuine interest in the position.

When writing a  cover letter  for a registered nurse position, consider the following tips:

  • Introduction:  Start with a strong opening paragraph that states your interest in the position and briefly highlights your qualifications and experience. Mention how you learned about the job opening.
  • Body Paragraphs:  In the following paragraphs, expand on your relevant skills, experiences, and accomplishments. Focus on how your qualifications align with the requirements of the job. Use specific examples to demonstrate your abilities and showcase your passion for nursing.
  • Closing:  In the closing paragraph, express your enthusiasm for the opportunity to contribute to the healthcare team. I would like to express my sincere appreciation for considering my application I am eager to provide any additional information or references that might be required.

Registered Nurse Cover Letter Template 150020 Blog

Registered Nurse Cover Letter Template 150020 Download it here →

The ideal length of a registered nurse resume can vary depending on factors such as the level of experience and the specific job application requirements. In summary, a registered nurse resume should generally be around 1-2 pages, focusing on the most relevant information and showcasing career progression and achievements. Remember to tailor the length of your resume based on your specific circumstances and the job application requirements.

Addressing employment  gaps  in your registered nurse resume is important to provide clarity and alleviate any concerns employers may have. Here are some tips:

  • Be brief and direct:  Address the employment gaps briefly and directly in one or two sentences on your resume.
  • Focus on overall professional goals:  Explain how the employment gap allowed you to pursue opportunities that align with your overall professional nursing career goals.
  • Highlight relevant experiences:  If you engaged in any relevant activities during the employment gap, such as volunteering or continuing education, mention them to showcase your commitment to professional growth.
  • Consider a functional resume:  If you have extensive employment gaps, you may consider using a functional resume format that highlights your skills and achievements rather than focusing on chronological work history.

Remember, honesty and transparency are key when addressing employment gaps. Use these tips to effectively address the gaps in your registered nurse resume and showcase your qualifications and experiences.

Popular related posts:

  • How to Choose the Right Resume Template (+Examples)
  • Project Manager Resume Examples & Templates for 2023
  • Resume Objective Examples for 2023 [+How-to Guide]
  • Soft Skills for Resume to Land Your Dream Job During COVID-19
  • How To Write a Cover Letter With No Experience in 9 Steps

Get Expert Resume Writing Help

No time to polish your resume, cover letter, thank-you letter, or LinkedIn? Our resume-writing experts are ready to check your documents right now.

  • No products in the cart.
  • Resume Writing Service
  • Free Resume Review
  • Resume Templates
  • Career Advice

Nurse.org

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.

The Ultimate Guide to Nursing Resumes by Nurse.org

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.

Find Nursing Programs

Youtube video

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

>> Related: New Graduate Nurse Resume Examples + Free Templates

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?

How to get around resume reading robots for nursing jobs

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.

Creating a resume as a new grad with no nursing experience or with non-nursing healthcare experience can be challenging. Don’t worry, Nurse.org has two templates for you to choose from - depending on if you have healthcare experience or not. 

professional summary examples registered nurse

By clicking download, you agree to receive email newsletters and special offers from Nurse.org. You may unsubscribe at any time by using the unsubscribe link, found at the bottom of every email.

Your request has been received. Thanks!

>> Click to Compare RN-to-BSN Programs

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 

professional summary examples registered nurse

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

professional summary examples registered nurse

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

professional summary examples registered nurse

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.

professional summary examples registered nurse

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:

>> Find RN-to-BSN Programs Accepting Applications Now

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 Walker

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.

BluePipes Blog

How to Write an Effective Nursing Resume Summary

Share on Facebook

Writing an effective nursing resume summary is easier said than done. Studies show that recruiters spend mere seconds reviewing a resume and these days that’s after the resume has made its way through the applicant tracking system. An effective nursing resume summary is concise and easy to read. It correlates the candidate’s experience with the job description in question. And it piques the reader’s interest to the point that they will continue reviewing the resume in greater detail.

How long do recruiters spend reviewing a nursing resume?

A 2012 study conducted by the Ladders found that recruiters spend 6 seconds reviewing a resume . That’s right, 6 seconds. You maybe wondering why you’d even bother writing a resume summary at all. Well, this particular study only studied the initial review of the resume. Initially, recruiters typically go straight to a review of the last two jobs held by the candidate. They want to know immediately if they are working with a candidate that has experience in the particular job capacity in question. So they look at the job title and the dates of employment. Recruiters also focused on the employers and education of the candidates.

BluePipes: Professional Networking and Career Management Tools for Healthcare Professionals

Of course, this study was conducted on recruiters reviewing the resumes of general professionals as opposed to professionals in the healthcare field. We’d expect slight variations from recruiters in the healthcare field. They may look for specialties, licenses and certifications in addition to these other attributes. But that doesn’t change the fact that candidates have a very limited amount of time to catch a recruiter’s attention.

If recruiters see some or all of what they’re looking for in an initial review, then they may give the resume a closer look. Even then, the resume may only receive 20 seconds total . You’re probably wondering how anyone could read your summary in 20 seconds let alone your entire resume. Well, they’re actually reviewing it as opposed to reading it. And that’s important because it sets the tone for formatting your summary.

How should your nursing resume summary be formatted?

Like the rest of your resume, your summary should be concise and easy to read. The reader should be able to review it quickly and pick up on the keywords and concepts that they’re looking for. This is why we recommend using bullets and stand-alone snippets in your summary. By doing this, you’re playing to the realities of the review process.

Most summaries are written in paragraph form. This is fine for conveying large volumes of information in a more compact space, but it assumes that the reviewer is actually going to take the time to read it. Unfortunately, they will not do this in the vast majority of cases. Therefore, a summary written as a big, long paragraph may prevent the reviewer from picking up on the key points or distract them from even reviewing it at all.

By contrast, a summary written with bullets and stand-alone snippets allows the reviewer to quickly scan this section and easily pick up on the keywords and points you’re making. You might include a quick snippet from an online evaluation or professional endorsement and provide a link to the site where the rest of the information can be reviewed. You may also provide a brief overarching summary of your skills in bold print and then provide bullets for the rest of the information you’re seeking to convey.

What should be included in your nursing resume summary?

There are many possibilities for your summary and there is no exact science as to what to include. Different people will have different cards to play based on their level of experience and the specifics of their job search. The only certainty is that you should always due your best to match your skills and the information you convey on your resume with the qualifications and job description in question.

You might include the following in your summary:

  • Years of relevant experience.
  • A summary of your qualifications for the job in question.
  • A sense of your work or management style.
  • Personal characteristics that make you a good fit for the job and/or company.
  • Professional achievements.
  • Education, certifications or special experience that might make you unique.
  • Measurable improvements that you’ve made for previous employers.
  • Accolades or awards that you’ve received from previous employers.

When considering what to write in your summary, do your best to avoid stand-alone cliches like “team player” or “results oriented”. Instead, try to convey these concepts with concrete examples. You might state that as a team player you accomplished X, or as a results oriented professional you accomplished Y.

Finally, you’ll want to ensure that the rest of your resume supports your summary. Remember, your goal is to convey as much information that’s pertinent to the job in question. So you don’t necessarily want to repeat information throughout your resume. As a healthcare professional, you have no shortage of highly technical skills and diverse job duties to convey so making sure your resume isn’t repetitive shouldn’t be a problem.

Sample Nursing Resume Summary

Below is one example of a summary:

Registered Nurse with over 7 years of critical care experience. Specialized practice in cardiovascular surgery, post-operative recovery, and intensive care.

  • Extensive experience and thorough understanding of pathophysiology and pharmacology of critically ill patients.
  • Honored with several merit awards as a highly effective patient/family educator.
  • Promoted to Charge Nurse as a respected team-player with demonstrated leadership skills.
  • Current member of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) since 2008. AACN Ambassador since 2011.

professional summary examples registered nurse

Related posts:

  • 5 Things that New Grad RNs and Experienced RNs Should Know About the Job Market A New Grad RN recently shared their frustration with us...
  • Nursing Resume Objective or Summary? Nurses often wonder if they should include an objective or...
  • How to Write an Exceptional New-Grad Nursing Resume This guide was written by experienced nursing recruiters and is...

Love your reference “rap sheet” I was A travel nurse for 14 years and that’s exactly what it looks like. I always list it as one entry and it works fine. Good Luck!!

Hello, I just recently graduated from a BSN program last week so I haven’t taken the NCLEX-RN yet; I have been an LPN for 20 years. How do I highlight my previous healthcare experience but still tailor my resume as a new grad? Now that my scope of practice will be different, which skills or attributes from my experience as an LPN would be best to feature as a new grad without listing basic nursing skills? Also, how should I word the fact that I don’t have a license yet? Is it appropriate to say “license pending?” Also, should I list my name followed by BSN or LPN?

Congratulations, Brandee! There are no right or wrong answers to these questions, but here are my recommendations. Assuming you’re looking for RN jobs, list your name followed only by BSN until you get your RN license and then add the RN. In the Licenses and Certifications section of your resume, list the RN license as Pending and provide a status, ie. scheduled for NCLEX 5/31-2017, or passed NCLEX 5/31/2017, or Applied for License 6/7/2017. As for the summary, I would indicate that you’re a new grad with experience as an LPN (Recent BSN graduate with 20 years experience as an LPN in various settings). From there, try your best to highlight how your experience relates to the qualifications and requirements for the specific job your applying for. And remember, always be looking for ways to explain why you’re the solution to their problems….rather than explaining what they can do for you. I hope this helps!

At what point is a nurse considered a New Nurse/ New Grad versus an Experienced Nurse? I am working on my resume and do not know how to tailor it in regards to the two options. I graduated Dec 14′ and worked my first nursing position in May 15′. I have had one other job since then and currently seeking another. So in total, I would say I have about 1 1/2 years of nursing experience.

I would say that 1 year or more of experience makes you experienced. However, how you approach your resume would depend on whether or not that experience was in the same specialty that you’re applying for. For example, if you have 1 year of experience in Long Term Care, but your applying for jobs in a hospital’s ICU, then you might want to include details about clinical rotations in the ICU during your schooling, in addition to your experience in LTC. I hope this helps!

I am also having difficulties creating a resume. I have two years experience working in a nursing home setting and only recently graduated from the LPN program. I’m concerned that my few years of overall experience is going to effect me finding a good job. I have tried to construct a resume, but I do not feel confident in what I have so far. Any suggestions/references would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you, Sandy B.

I am struggling in writing my resume. I am not sure how to present myself. My most recent jobs included the Program Nurse head for a Life Skills Program for medical fragile children and the nurse in charge of all the medical needs for a camp, including managing all aspects of the clinic. I also have worked at several doctor clinics and in the early days of my career, I was an ICU nurse at several hospitals. I would like another position in some type of nurse management. Suggestions on how to summarize myself?

Thanks for the inquiry, Jean. There’s no easy way to summarize your experience when attempting to transition into a new area of the field. My recommendation would be to review each job posting for hints about qualifications and requirements that you may be able to equate to your past experience. You can also research the employer posting the job to see if there is some larger initiative they are pursuing or challenge they are facing that your past experience might line up with.

You can also review the job descriptions for similar jobs of many different employers to find hints about the qualifications that are being sought for the type of position you’re interested in. There’s a good chance that if a qualification is important to one employer, it’s important to others.

The main goal is to convey how you are going to help solve the problems an employer is facing; how you are the best solution for their hiring need. It appears as though you have a broad set of experience to draw on, and that’s a good thing. The tasks are 1) equating your experience with the qualifications of the new job and/or 2) conveying how your experience will help you solve an employer’s problem and 3) succinctly distilling this into 2 to 4 bullet points in your resume summary.

I hope this helps!

I’m a former travel nurse of many years inclusive of interim nursing leadership positions and staff nurse positions. Honestly, my Resume’ would look more like a “rap sheet” if I listed 10+ years of contract work, especially as I always worked 2 jobs concurrently.

Now that I have my BSN and will complete my MSN: Nurse Executive specialty track degree within 6 months, I am looking to move from Director roles into the C-Suite.

Any suggestions how to summarize or should I list each contract job?

Congratulations or your recent and upcoming achievements! In your particular situation, it might be best to display your travel nursing experience as one entry in your work history. For example:

Travel Nurse 2006-2016 Worked for various agencies completing short term assignments across the country, gaining proficiency with a diverse set of charting systems, processes, procedures, organizational structures and management approaches.

Then, go on to list some highlights that pertain to the job posting for which you are applying. Donna Cardillo recommends this approach . Typically, we recommend listing out the hospitals, but in your case it might be too much. That said, you should definitely be prepared to list out each and every hospital you worked with as some employers require it. I hope this helps!!

Thank you for this article! Helps a lot =)

Thanks for letting us know; we’re glad to hear it’s useful!

Great advice, thank you so much for getting back to me! 🙂

Any advice for a New Grad RN looking for a 1st job? Preceptorship in pediatrics but I am going to apply to medsurg positions as well. What should I highlight in my executive summary? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the question. Here is an article dedicated to new-grad nursing resumes. There’s a bit about summaries there. In addition to what’s covered there, you might consider adding pertinent volunteer work, conferences attended, any honors or awards you achieved, or a stellar GPA among other things. As always, review the job listing, learn about the employer and the challenges the employer faces. Then, try to highlight anything in your experience that might align. I hope this helps!

Thanks for sharing very informative

What about a med/surg nurse who wants to apply for a psych nurse position? Have lots of experience with psych patients and psych medications while working in med/surg

Thanks for the inquiry, Kayla. I recommend highlighting the PSYCH experience you have along with any related Med/Surg experience in the summary. Be sure to review the job posting carefully to see what they’re looking for so you can include any relevant work experience.

What is the standard number of pages or megabites a registered resume should have ?

There isn’t a standard length or file size for nursing resume. Most would say that it’s best to keep the resume to 1 to 2 pages, but that may not always be possible. Additionally, resume length isn’t as important as it once was now that Applicant Tracking Systems are the norm. Here is an article with some more considerations on the topic.

How would I present my resume as neophyte RN employed, but was been in the medical settings since I graduated in 2005. I worked in family doctor’s office as over all in charge. Had3 months practice as RN float temporary while working on my papers to stay for good (acute, long term and dementia) and CNA of 4 yrs. Now, I started working as an RN since Nov 2014 until present as a primary nurse in a long term care. I really want to be a dialysis nurse. I had my 800 hours clinical hours wayback in 2006.

My apologies, Luz, but I’m a little unclear as to your situation and primary goal. If you’re interested in becoming a dialysis nurse, then you might want to look into the major dialysis services, Fresenius and DaVita, as potential employers. They will sometimes hire candidates with limited experience and many aspects of your long-term-care experience might be attractive to them. I hope this helps!

I have a question- thank you. I would like to become a dialysis nurse however, I have no experience in that area I have worked in cardiac telemetry and psyche. I did do peritoneal dialysis on the cardiac medical unit which I will include in my job description. Please advise how to open the door into a new arena of nursing. Thank you so very kindly, El. Towne

Thanks for the question! Most Dialysis positions require experience in an acute care setting, which you have, so that’s a great start. You also have some relative experience in the field. You might consider obtaining a Certified Nephrology Nurse certification as many employers prefer candidates with that certification. Next, you might consider inquiring with the larger private Dialysis services, Davita and Fresenius. The ratings for these employers on Glass Door and Indeed are just so-so, but they might be a great way to get 1 to 2 years of experience in the specialty before searching for a more desirable hospital based position. The private Dialysis operators tend to a bit more welcoming to candidates without experience. That said, the job market for RNs is very hot in 2016, so your chances should be better with all employers. I hope this helps!

What about for a second career new nurse? I have over seven years of experience in the communications field with three years of supervisory experience. I recently graduated with my BSN and passed the NCLEX. My nursing experience is limited to my clinical experience and some volunteer work. I am struggling how to relate my past experience with nursing to make me stand out in my Summary.

Yes, it’s difficult to relate experiences in other industries to nursing because employers are typically seeking candidates with experience in the technical aspects of nursing. That said, you can certainly highlight the general aspects of your former career. Your promotion, leadership, team-work and other aspects are all good qualifications to address in your summary. Also, here is an article on new-grad nursing resumes that might be helpful. I hope this information helps!

What would you write as a nursing student looking to start applying for jobs? I have no experience other than what my clinicals have offered me. I wont be taking my boards for about 5 months still. Set to graduate in December (3 more months.

How would you suggest is the best way to present that as a RN, I simultaneously held the titles of ADON, Wound Nurse, and Charge Nurse at my most recent employer? Initially I was hired as a Charge Nurse, then I was promoted to ADON but I still had to work as a Charge Nurse 3 of my 5 scheduled days so I functioned in the role of ADON only on Monday and Tuesday. Later it was determined there was a definite need for consistent and routine wound monitoring, so I evolved into the Wound Nurse for the facility. Working with physicians I developed new protocols for wound assessment, treatment, and management and every Monday I functioned in the role of Wound Nurse. Is it best to break each job into its own summary and bullet list? I’m in over my head trying to figure out the best way to present myself in a resume now, including the profile.

Hey Tereasa,

Thanks for the inquiry. This is a great problem to have for your nursing resume! I agree it’s difficult to manage though. Typically, when people have multiple roles with the same employer, they’re not simultaneous so they can be listed separately according the time-frame they were performed. In this case, I think it would be best to do as you suggest and break each into it’s own summary and bullet list. The reason is that these are all very different roles. Something like below:

Employer Name Employer information (location, details, etc.) Job Title: Charge RN, ADON, Wound Care Nurse Hired as a Charge RN, I was promoted to ADON and also accepted a role as the Wound Care Nurse for the facility.

Charge RN: Start Date-End Date

  • Accomplishment 1
  • Accomplishment 2

ADON: Start Date-End Date

Wound Care Nurse: Start Date-End Date

I think something like that works well in this case. It might take up quite a bit of space, but you’ve accomplished a lot! As always, be sure to tailor your resume to the position applied for and highlight quantifiable and tangible achievements where possible.

As for your resume summary, I think it’s best say something like, “X years experience as Charge Nurse, X years experience as an ADON, and X years as a Wound Care Nurse.” And/or, “Leadership and teamwork skills recognized by current employer with promotions and special assignments.” Remember, the summary itself is just that, a quick summary designed to pique interest and get the reader to spend more time reviewing the rest of the resume and the actual accomplishments. It’s also an excellent opportunity to match your qualifications with the required qualifications for the job. So, if the job is looking for X years experience as an ADON, then you might say, “Over X years experience as an ADON.” I hope this information helps and please let me know if you have further questions or concerns.

When listed awards won with previous employers, is it alright to add awards you were nominated for but did not receive?

Great Question! Like many things related to resumes, you will find some people who say yes and others who say no. I would say that it depends on how well you can quantify the nomination. For example: One of five Staff Nurses out of 160 to be nominated for the X Award.

Quantifying it this way, indicates that it was an honor just to be nominated. If you’re able to do this, or something like it, then adding the nomination to your resume could be useful. I hope this helps!!

Thank you. Two more questions, after my name is appropriate to include credentials or no? I have seen differing opinions. My university awards a BS not a BSN, so my credentials will be BS, RN. Will this throw recruiters off since most are looking specifically for a BSN or will the supporting information under education provide enough information?

That’s a tough one. I’m not sure that I have seen a BS instead of a BSN. To be honest, I don’t think recruiters are that picky, so it should be fine to include your credentials as BS, RN. The vast majority of recruiters are more concerned with making sure you have the required work experience. That said, if you’re a new grad, it shouldn’t matter either.

Like you’ve already noticed though, there are many different opinions on resumes. I typically encourage people to include the credentials after their name and I think your situation is no different.

Comments are closed.

Popular on bluepipes blog.

How To Rent Your Property to Travel Nurses

Discover Jobs

  • Travel Nursing Jobs
  • Travel Therapy and Tech Jobs

© Copyright 2012-2022 BluePipes, Inc

Improve patient care by reducing adverse medical events

Nurse Resume Example & How-to Guide for 2024

Background Image

As a nurse, you know a lot about taking care of people and helping them be healthy.

But when it comes to resume writing, maybe you could use a little help of your own.

Are there specific resume strategies that nurses should follow?

Just how detailed do you need to be when describing your medical skill set? And how do you highlight all those certifications you might have?

We’re going to walk you through the entire process of creating a nurse resume step-by-step!

  • A nurse resume example that is proven to work
  • How to write a nurse resume that will get you invited to interviews
  • How to make your nurse resume stand out [with top tips & tricks]

Here’s some inspiration to get you started:

A nurse resume example , created with our very own resume builder:

nurse resume example

Now, read on to learn how to create a resume that looks as good (or better) than the above example!

How to Format a Nurse Resume

The first step to creating your nurse resume is to decide on a format.

Just like any other career, hiring managers want specific information to jump out at them when reviewing resumes. So nurses need to make sure their resumes are formatted properly.

In 2024, the most common resume format remains the “reverse-chronological” format. So this is your best bet. 

reverse chronological resume nurese

Of course, there are other resume formats you can try…

  • Functional Resume - This format is a lot more about your skills as opposed to professional experience. It’s good if you don’t have a lot of experience, are transferring to a new industry, or have gaps in your employment history.
  • Combination Resume - As the name suggests, a combination resume is a mix between “Functional” and “Reverse-Chronological.” Meaning, it focuses both on skills AND work experience. You can use a combination resume if you have a lot of work experience or changing industries.

Once you’ve decided on the format, you need to get your resume layout right.

Here’s what we recommend…

  • Margins - One-inch margins on all sides
  • Font - Pick a font that stands out, but not too much. Do: Ubuntu, Roboto, etc. Don’t: Comic Sans
  • Font Size - Use a font size of 11-12pt for normal text and 14-16pt for headers
  • Line Spacing - Use 1.0 or 1.15 line spacing
  • Resume Length - Don’t go over the 1-page limit. Having trouble fitting everything into one page? Check out these one-page resume templates.
  • As a nurse you have probably earned some certifications for different areas of medicine. Create a dedicated section for your certificates so these stand out in your resume.

Use a Nurse Resume Template

Are you used to creating your resume in Word? Painful isn’t it? 

It’s easy to spend more time tinkering with formatting than it actually takes you to fill in the contents.

Then, you decide to make a single, small layout change, and BAM! Your entire resume layout falls apart.

There’s a better way than using Word: use a nurse resume template .

registered nurse resume example page 1

What to Include in a Nurse Resume

The main sections in a nurse resume are:

  • Contact Information
  • Resume Summary
  • Work Experience
  • Certificates
  • Awards & Recognitions

If you want your resume to stand out more, you can also try these optional sections:

Conferences & Courses

  • Professional Affiliations

Interests & Hobbies

Now, we’re going to go through each of those sections, and explain how to write them.

Not sure which sections to use? Check out our guide to What to Put on a Resume .

How to Get Your Contact Information Right

Maybe you’ve created the perfect resume with amazing content on your skills and experience. But if you mess up the contact section, you won’t be getting a lot of interview invitations (mainly because they won’t be able to call your misspelled phone number).

For your contacts, include:

  • Title - For nurses, your best bet is likely “Registered Nurse”.
  • Phone Number - Double-check, triple-check this. One typo can really mess up your chances of an employer contacting you.
  • Email Address - Make sure to use a professional email address ([email protected]), and avoid that email you created back in 5th grade ([email protected]).
  • (Optional) Location - Applying for a job abroad? Mention your current location.

job search masterclass

How to Write a Nurse Resume Summary or Objective

Fun fact - recruiters spend less than 6 seconds reviewing each resume. This isn’t that surprising, though. You can’t expect them to read the hundreds of resumes they receive from end to end.

So, if the recruiter doesn’t see that you’re relevant for the job in a single glance, your resume won’t even be read.

Now, the question is, what can you do to hook the recruiter the moment they look at your resume.

The answer is simple: use a resume summary or objective .

As a quick intro, both the resume summary and objective are sections that go on top of your resume, just under the contact information section.

The main difference between the 2 sections is that…

A resume summary is a 2-4 sentence summary of your professional experiences and achievements.

  • Trauma Certified Registered Nurse with more than five years experience working in emergency care. Compassionate, ethical health-care provider with a proven ability to stay calm during crises. Hold a Master’s of Science in Surgical Nursing. 

A resume objective , on the other hand, is a 2-4 sentence snapshot of your professional goals and aspirations.

  • Patient-focused nursing student with 2 years of healthcare experience. Pursuing internships as part of career goal to become Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse.

So, which one do you pick? A summary, or an objective?

As you can see from the above examples, the key difference between the two is that a Resume Objective is better-suited to those who are new to a field (student, graduate, or switching careers). Always go for a Resume Summary if you have already established your career path.

How to Make Your Nurse Work Experience Stand Out

Work experience is the most important section in your resume.

Sure, your medical skills are super important, but so is your professional experience. Here’s how to structure your work experience section…

  • Position name
  • Company Name
  • Responsibilities & Achievements

Brooklyn Hospital

01/2015 - 06/2019

  • Obtained and recorded patients’ vital signs, intake and output and blood glucose
  • Worked in the cardiatric and oncology wards of the hospital
  • Used EHR software to record patient information

Now, if you really want to stand out, you should focus on talking about your achievements instead of responsibilities.

Instead of saying:

“Screen patients upon arrival at emergency ward.”

“Administered emergency ward intake evaluations for up to 25 patients each hour by measuring vital signs and prioritizing cases accordingly.”

So, what’s the difference between the two?

The second one is more specific . You know exactly what the person did, and you can say that he/she can work efficiently. 

The first example, on the other hand, is too generic. Screening patients could be as basic as checking whether they have health insurance and entering their personal information into the hospital system. There is also no mention of how many patients this person is used to handling.

What if You Don’t Have Work Experience?

Maybe you’re a current student trying to land an internship or a recent graduate looking for your first full-time nursing job?

Fortunately, nursing students or graduates gain plenty of practical experience as they navigate their way through their studies. Only so much of the medical field can be taught in the classroom. 

By the time you are in your second year of school, chances are high you’ve been in a health-care facility helping evaluate and treat patients. You may not be a registered nurse at this point, you can absolutely include the skills and procedures you’ve learned in school on your resume.

If you’re a recent graduate, you might want to check out our guide on how to make a student resume !

Use Action Words to Make Your Nurse Resume SHINE!

“Responsible for”

“Worked in”

These are the most common words you’ll find on ANY resume.

And since you want YOURS to stand out, we’d recommend avoiding them as much as possible.

Instead, use some of these power words to make your responsibilities and achievements stand out:

  • Administered
  • Specialized

How to List Education Right

The next section in any Nurse resume is the “Education.”

This one’s pretty straightforward. Simply list out your education entries, and you’re gold!

  • Degree Type & Major
  • University Name
  • Years Studied
  • GPA, Honours, Courses, and anything else you might want to add

MSc in Nursing

University of Southern California

  • Relevant Courses: Radiological Nursing, Advanced Surgical Procedures, Oncological Diagnostics

Clear? Good!

Before we move on, here are some of the most frequent questions we get about education on a resume (and their answers!):

  • What if I haven’t finished college?

Whether you’re still a student, or you dropped out, you should still mention your degree. All you have to do is include the years studied, and you’re good.

  • Do I list my high school education?

Only if you don’t have a higher education. No one cares about your high school education if you have a B.A.

  • What goes first, education or experience?

If you have any relevant work experience, then experiences go on top. If you don’t, though, then education.

Still have some questions? Check out our guide on how to list education on a resume .

Top 30 Skills for a Nurse Resume

skills for nurse resume

When the HR manager is going through your resume, they’re looking to see if you have the right skills for the job.

Imagine this: you’re the best nurse in the world and your resume is impeccable. BUT, you still get rejected, because you didn’t mention that you know the exact procedures or techniques that the health centre needs. 

Not sure which skills to pick?

Here are some of the most common nurse skills:

Hard Skills for Nurse Resume:

  • Assisting in surgery
  • Administration of medication
  • Chemotherapy administration
  • Bedside monitoring
  • Bladder irrigation
  • Blood administration
  • Emergency room care
  • Healthcare software
  • Infection control
  • Lab testing
  • Intramuscularly injections or IV therapy
  • Maternal care
  • Pain management
  • Physical assessments
  • Psychiatric care
  • Rehabilitation
  • Seizure precautions
  • Surgery preparation
  • Wound irrigation
  • Withdrawal of blood samples

Soft Skills for Nurse Resume:

  • Attention to detail
  • Communication (verbal & written)
  • Critical thinking
  • Physical endurance (since you will work long hours and have to use sometimes heavy equipment or patients)
  • Observation (since you need to track subtle and small changes such as a change in the color or odor)
  • As a general rule, we’d recommend not to go overboard with “Soft Skills.” They are certainly important in the medical field, but they are also harder to back up. Doctors need people with hard skills standing next to them, so give these priority. 

Looking for a more comprehensive list? Here’s a mega-list of 150+ must-have skills in 2024 .

Certifications for a Nurse Resume

As we mentioned before, many nurses will attain special certifications as they progress in their careers. These should be highlighted in your resume. For example:

  • CPR certified through the American Heart Association
  • Family Nurse Practitioner
  • Advanced Holistic Nurse, Board Certified

Other Resume Sections You Can Include

At this point, you’re probably ready to wrap up your resume and call it a day.

After all, we’ve covered all the essential sections, right?

Well, not exactly. See, the #1 goal of your resume is to stand out.

And if your resume looks exactly the same as everyone else’s, that’s where you fail.

If you’re already a good match for the job in terms of skills and experiences, these sections could end up being the deciding factor that gets you hired (and makes you stand out from the rest).

As part of their career development, many nurses will participate or even speak at nursing conferences. These are great to list on a resume because they highlight your dedication to the profession.

Meanwhile, nurses also participate in courses devoted to specialized topics in nursing or medicine. Perhaps these courses don’t involve formal certification in a specific area, but they do demonstrate certain career interests.

For example, maybe after five years of working in nursing, you decide to take a course in End-of-Life Care because it’s an area you may want to pursue future certification. Once you’ve taken the course, there’s no reason not to put it on your resume.

If you’ve got the space, try to include a Conferences & Courses section on your resume.

An extra language or two can always come in handy, even if it doesn’t have anything to do with the position you’re applying for. You never know when a foreign language might help save a life.

If you know any foreign language & have extra space in your resume, feel free to add a language section.

Make sure to split the languages by proficiency:

  • Intermediate

Now, you might be thinking, “what does my hiking hobby have to do with my profession as a nurse?”

Well, nothing, but it does have something to do with you as a person. Strong teamwork is essential in the health-care field, so doctors and administrators are looking for someone they’ll get along with.

And what’s something you can bond with potential employers about? Hobbies and interests, exactly!

Not sure which hobbies & interests you want to mention? We have a guide for that!

Match Your Cover Letter with Your Resume

Yep, that’s right.

You might be thinking, “A cover letter?! Surely the nursing skills on my resume speak for themselves!”

Well, here’s the thing: cover letters are still very important .

They show the recruiter that you’re passionate about working for THIS position in THIS company, and you aren’t just sending your resume all over the place.

Having a solid cover letter with your resume can significantly boost your chances of getting the job.

The first step to writing a convincing cover letter is to get the structure right. Here’s how to do that.

structure of cover letter for nurse application

And here’s what you’d write in each section:

Contact Details

Your personal contact information, including full name, profession, email, phone number, location.

Hiring Manager’s Contact Information

Full name, position, location, email.

Opening Paragraph

Your introduction should be very strong. If you don’t manage to hook the hiring manager here, chances are, they’re not going to read the rest of it. So, mention:

  • The position you’re applying for
  • Your experience summary and top achievement

Once you’ve got the hiring manager hooked, you can go through the rest of your background. Some of the points you can mention here are:

  • Why you want to work for this specific company.
  • Anything you know about the company’s culture.
  • What are your top skills and how are they relevant for the job.
  • If you’ve worked in similar industries or positions.

Closing Paragraph

This is where you:

  • Wrap up any points you missed in the body paragraph
  • Thank the hiring manager for their time
  • End with a call to action. Something like, “I’d love to further discuss how my experience as an X can help the company with Y”

Formal Salutations

Use a formal closing, such as “best regards” or “Sincerely.”

Need more inspiration? We get it - creating a cover letter is very hard work. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with your step-by-step guide on how to write a cover letter .

Applying for a different position in the medical field? Our related resume examples can come in handy:

  • Medical Assistant Resume
  • Pharmacist Resume
  • Dentist Resume

Key Takeaways

If you followed everything we just taught you to the T, you’re pretty much guaranteed to land the job.

Now, let’s go through everything we’ve learned real quick:

  • Get the right formatting for your nurse resume. Use a reverse-chronological format, and follow the best practices we mentioned on getting the layout right.
  • Use a resume summary or objective to catch the hiring manager’s attention.
  • In your work experience section, try to talk more about your achievements than your responsibilities.
  • Emphasize hard skills more than soft skills (both are important but hard skills save lives)
  • Match your nurse resume with a convincing cover letter.

Suggested Reading:

  • Use Resume Keywords to Land the Job [880+ Keywords]
  • 26+ Biggest Interview Mistakes (To Avoid in 2024)
  • How to Write a CV That Gets Noticed (With 2024 Examples)

cookies image

To provide a safer experience, the best content and great communication, we use cookies. Learn how we use them for non-authenticated users.

  • Registered nurse (RN) objectives and summaries

Registered nurse (RN)

Registered nurse (RN) Objectives & summaries

14 Registered nurse (RN) objectives and summaries found

A well-written objective or summary on your resume can be the difference between getting rejected, or getting invited for an interview. Copy any of these Registered nurse (RN) objective or summary examples, and use it as inspiration for your own resume. All examples are written by certified resume experts, and free for personal use.

Learn more about: objective vs. summary

Registered nurse (RN) resume summaries

Supportive, motivated, and patient-oriented registered nurse (RN) with 2 years’ clinical experience. Dedicated, efficient, and detail-oriented team player with excellent interpersonal skills, compassion, and dedication towards collaboratively maintained treatment plans. Licensed medical professional with history of monitoring patients, administering medications, and supporting doctors and hospital staff on operational tasks.

Patient, persistent, and reliable registered nurse (RN) with relevant clinical experience supporting patient care initiatives in a hospital setting. Proactive and responsible problem solver with excellent multitasking skills, attention to detail, and ability to work independently or as part of a team to coordinate hospital rounds and patient treatment schedules. Solutions-oriented team player with strong communication skills.

Motivated, reliable, and efficient RN with 5+ years’ experience supporting monitoring patients and controlling treatment plans. Efficient and collaborative medical professional with excellent written and verbal communication skills, ability to multitask to complete daily responsibilities, and thorough understanding of HIPAA regulations and patient confidentiality best practices. Accurate and organized expert in wound care, IV maintenance, and efficient patient transfers.

Insightful, reliable, and educated senior registered nurse (RN) with 15+ years’ clinical management experience and skills in project management and cross-functional team leadership. Detail-oriented and knowledgeable mentor to individual medical professionals and teams of prospective nurses with critical thinking and multitasking skills. Dedicated floor supervisor able to manage multiple administrative, operational, and care planning operations while supporting process improvement efforts.

Organized, knowledgeable, and proficient RN with 5 years’ clinical experience driving acute care management efforts in fast-paced healthcare environment. Dedicated and supportive caregiver with excellent relationship management skills, passion for accurate documentation, and ability to complete tasks in fast-paced environments. Responsible and trustworthy team member with stamina to withstand long shifts and ability to properly manage and maintain confidential patient information.

Organized, efficient, and patient-oriented registered nurse (RN) with 8 years’ clinical experience working with patients in hospitals and healthcare facilities of varying sizes. Proactive and detailed caregiver with strong interpersonal skills and history of providing personalized care in urgent care, ICU, and outpatient settings. Collaborative and educational team player with ability to shadow and coach new and prospective nurses with hands-on experience.

Innovative and big-picture focused Registered Nurse adept at examining multiple facets of a situation and discovering improved solutions. Patient-centric healthcare professional dedicated to promoting physical and mental health wellness in the field of nursing. Demonstrated competency in patient care, documentation, effective communication, and collaboration with other health care professionals. Skilled in-patient assessment, training and mentoring other nursing professionals, and administration of appropriate interventions. Accomplished in promoting and providing outstanding patient care and medical services.

Dedicated and Compassionate Nursing Manager with 15 years of demonstrated experience in promoting physical and mental health wellness in the field of nursing. Visionary leader with extensive clinical experience combined with administrative oversight and staff leadership resulting in high-performing medical units with exceptional quality and service standards. Develop and executive programs to improve quality, productivity, profitability, and effectiveness with a primary focus on patient care. Implement evidence-based practices by utilizing clinical research to determine the best patient care. Leverages a solution-oriented approach to resolve conflict, manage staff, and work with strategic partners to achieve optimal results.

Registered nurse (RN) resume objectives

Proficient and self-driven registered nurse (RN) eager to leverage clinical experience and skills in managing patient treatment plans towards new healthcare opportunities. Adaptive and hands-on learner leveraging strong multitasking skills and passion for continued personal and professional growth.

Passionate and patient-oriented nursing student with clinical experience pursuing RN license and seeking immediate opportunities to continue work in healthcare administration. Eager and dedicated problem solver looking to leverage impressive interpersonal skills and proven track record in maintaining patient relationships to support collaborative and forward-thinking teams in a clinical setting.

Proficient, organized, and self-driven senior RN with 15+ years’ clinical management skills and pursuing new opportunities in healthcare management. Reliable problem solver seeking to lead nursing teams to provide top-quality patient service and support healthcare initiatives.

Proficient, organized, and effective registered nurse (RN) with 5+ years of professional clinical experience and desire to work with innovative and progressive healthcare facilities. Reliable and consistent caregiver leveraging skills in determining, administering, and managing individualized treatment plans for hospital patients.

Compassionate, determined, and proficient registered nurse (RN) with NY and MA state licenses, looking to support patient care initiatives in doctor’s office and outpatient environments. Collaborative and proactive team player leveraging critical thinking skills and ability to function under pressure.

Compassionate RN with 7 years of dedicated experience in delivering nursing services at critical care unit serving 200 beds. Looking for RN positions in the Medical Surgery unit willing to work in night shift.

  • Easy step-by-step builder
  • Professional templates
  • Try for free!

Professional resume templates

Make a resume that wins you interviews! Choose one of these professionally-designed resume templates and follow 3 easy steps to complete.

Create a perfect resume in a few minutes

  • Field-tested resume templates created by experts
  • Powered by Resume.io
  • Try now for free!

Resume examples

Free resume templates

  • Free for personal use
  • Direct download as a Microsoft Word document
  • Created by a CPRW certified resume expert
  • Optimized for applicant tracking system (ATS) screening

Choosing a correct resume format and template

Resume examples

Resume template

Download our American style resume template. Chronological resume format. Download a functional resume template .

resume chronological

Learn more about the differences between a resume and a CV .

CV template

Download our British/European style cv template. Similar to a resume but more commonly used in Europe, Asia and Africa.

cv template

Download cv-template.docx 29.34 KB

Resume Worded

Nurse linkedin summary examples.

Approved by LinkedIn experts and recruiters, these Nurse LinkedIn summary examples will increase your profile's engagement and ensure you give people a strong first impression. Optimized for 2024's LinkedIn algorithms.

Hiring Manager for Nurse Roles

Table of contents

  • Pediatric Nurse
  • Senior Clinical Nurse
  • Skills to add to your Nurse summary

OPTIMIZE YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE FOR FREE

In just 10 seconds, our free AI-powered tool will give you personalized feedback on your LinkedIn profile.

Join over 100,000 people and learn exactly how to get five times more opportunities on LinkedIn.

Nurse LinkedIn Summary Example

professional summary examples registered nurse

Narrating a Personal Journey

A personal touch in your LinkedIn summary can make a world of difference. The story of your fascination with the human body from a young age that led to your nursing career, is engaging and makes you relatable. It shows conviction, purpose and makes your passion for nursing authentic. This narrative journey is a great way to connect with the reader and make them interested in your professional story.

Highlighting Achievements

Your achievements at Mayo Clinic carry a lot of weight. Not only does it show your capability to lead and implement meaningful change, but it also provides quantifiable results. By providing specific percentages, you make your accomplishments real and measurable. This gives the reader an idea of the tangible impact you brought to your former organizations and what you could potentially bring to their organization.

Team Collaboration and Mentorship

Your time at Mount Sinai displays your ability to collaborate with different teams and take up mentorship roles. These are valuable skills in nursing that demonstrate your ability to work effectively within a team and foster growth in others. Highlighting these experiences not only speaks to your technical skills but also your interpersonal abilities, which are equally important in nursing.

Balancing Professional and Personal Life

Detailing your interests outside of work gives a more rounded view of who you are as a person. It shows your dedication to health extends beyond your professional life and into your community. It also shows you value work-life balance, which can be a positive trait for potential employers.

Stating Your Beliefs and Values

By stating your belief in the art, science and compassion of nursing, you establish your values and how they align with your profession. This shows your commitment to your role and gives a clearer idea of your personal brand and work ethic.

Direct Call to Action

The closing statement in your summary is a direct call to action. By expressing your interest to chat with those looking for a nurse with your skills, you are making yourself approachable and open for conversations. This is a great way to encourage potential connections and employers to reach out to you.

Listing Your Competencies

Listing your competencies at the end of the summary ensures they are easily visible. This is a smart way to highlight your skills and align yourself with what recruiters may be searching for. Plus, LinkedIn's algorithm picks up on these keywords, potentially increasing your visibility in search results.

Pediatric Nurse LinkedIn Summary Example

professional summary examples registered nurse

Emphasize Personal Connection to your Profession

By sharing a personal anecdote related to your chosen profession, you can create a genuine connection with your reader. In this case, the story of caring for younger siblings and cousins not only humanizes the pediatric nurse, but also underscores her deep-rooted passion for her work. This kind of personal narrative can be a powerful tool to engage potential employers or networking contacts on an emotional level. It's not just a job, it's a calling.

Highlight Specific Achievements

LinkedIn users appreciate concrete examples of your achievements. In this example, introducing a new pre-surgery preparation protocol that reduced patient anxiety by 30% not only showcases initiative and innovation, but also gives a tangible measure of the impact you've made in your previous roles. This kind of detail can help you stand out in a sea of generic summaries. Remember, it's not just about what you did, but how it made a difference.

Showcase Commitment to Continuous Learning

Showing a commitment to continuous learning and professional development is particularly important in fields like healthcare where the landscape is constantly evolving. By mentioning attendance at pediatric nursing conferences and giving presentations, this summary effectively conveys a proactive approach to staying informed and contributing to the field. This is a clear signal to potential employers that you're someone who takes their professional growth seriously.

Include Hobbies that Align with Professional Values

Mentioning hobbies that align with your professional values can subtly reinforce your commitment to your career. In this case, volunteering as a mentor for a local youth group and hosting bake sales for pediatric cancer research aligns perfectly with a pediatric nursing career. It paints a picture of a dedicated, compassionate individual who lives their values on and off the job.

End with a Call to Action

Ending your summary with a call to action invites the reader to take the next step, whether that's reaching out for a potential job opportunity or partnering on a project. It's a proactive way to conclude your summary and invites engagement. Plus, it shows you're open to new opportunities and collaborations.

Senior Clinical Nurse LinkedIn Summary Example

professional summary examples registered nurse

Highlighting your educational journey

Your journey in nursing began at UCLA - mentioning this is a great move. It shows where your foundational skills and knowledge were formed. By emphasizing the values you learned - empathy and good communication - you're showing that you're not just technically proficient, but also human-centric, which is integral to patient care. In a nutshell, you're not just a nurse, you're a nurse who knows how to connect with patients.

Demonstrating impact through past experiences

Describing the impact you made at your previous workplaces, like at Kaiser Permanente, is a winning move. You've quantified your success with a 15% improvement in patient discharge times, showing you're not just a doer, but a problem solver. You're also subtly suggesting that if you could do it for them, you can do it for a potential employer as well. Such concrete evidence of your past accomplishments can really pique a recruiter's interest.

Showcasing mentoring experiences

Being a mentor to over 30 nursing students doesn't just speak of your experience, but also your leadership and commitment to the profession. It indicates that you've not only worked in the trenches, but you've helped others do the same. Plus, it's a nod to your interpersonal skills, showing you're capable of guiding others and sharing your expertise.

Illustrating your compassion through volunteering

Volunteering at the local animal shelter is a brilliant addition. It's not directly related to your nursing career, but it shows your compassion and commitment to care outside of a professional setting. It tells the reader that you are patient and caring, both of which are essential in healthcare. It also adds a personal touch to your summary, making you more relatable.

Listing specific competencies

Ending your summary with a list of competencies is a slick move. It gives potential employers a quick snapshot of what you're good at. Plus, these are all keyword-rich terms that could boost your visibility on LinkedIn when recruiters are looking for nurses with specific skills. Just remember to keep these updated as you gain more skills and experiences.

Skills to add to your Nurse LinkedIn summary

If you're unsure what skills to add into your LinkedIn summary, here are top skills we see across top Nurse LinkedIn profiles.

  • Medication Administration
  • Medical-Surgical
  • Patient Education
  • Pediatric Nursing
  • Certified Pediatric Nurse
  • Patient Safety
  • Inpatient Care
  • Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
  • Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
  • Healthcare Management

Nurse Skills and Keywords to Add to Your LinkedIn Summary

  • Communications summary examples
  • Architect summary examples
  • System Administrator summary examples
  • Sales summary examples
  • Marketing Professional summary examples
  • Education summary examples
  • Software Developer summary examples
  • Customer Service Manager headline examples
  • Electrical Engineer headline examples
  • Customer Service headline examples
  • Lawyer headline examples
  • Non Profit headline examples
  • Communications headline examples
  • Product Manager headline examples

professional summary examples registered nurse

Thank you for the checklist! I realized I was making so many mistakes on my resume that I've now fixed. I'm much more confident in my resume now.

professional summary examples registered nurse

IMAGES

  1. FREE 9+ Sample Registered Nurse Resume Templates in MS Word

    professional summary examples registered nurse

  2. Nurse Resume Example & How-to Guide for 2023

    professional summary examples registered nurse

  3. 24 Nursing Resume Examples That Worked in 2023

    professional summary examples registered nurse

  4. FREE 9+ Sample Registered Nurse Resume Templates in MS Word

    professional summary examples registered nurse

  5. Customize Your Registered Nurse Resume with MyPerfectResume

    professional summary examples registered nurse

  6. Unforgettable Registered Nurse Resume Examples to Stand Out

    professional summary examples registered nurse

VIDEO

  1. Devious Nurse's Sinister Plot Unraveled in Hospital Drama

COMMENTS

  1. How To Write a Nursing Resume Summary (With Tips and Examples)

    1. Understand the job description When writing your nursing summary statement, tailor it to the exact job you are applying to. For instance, your summary for a hospital job might look a bit different than your summary for an outpatient clinic job. Get to know what the employer is looking for by carefully reading through their job description.

  2. Registered Nurse Resume Examples for 2024: Templates & Tips

    Registered Nurse Resume Examples, Guide & Expert Tips By Kellie Hanna, CPRW, Career Advice Expert Editor: Maria Ratcliff Last Updated: January 09, 2024 Build my resume EXCELLENT 8684 reviews on 30% higher chance of getting a job 42% higher response rate from recruiters Our customers have been hired at: * Foot Note

  3. 6 Great Registered Nurse Resume Examples

    Below, we'll share examples of Registered Nurse professional summaries for different job candidates. Good example: " An experienced Registered Nurse with over 10 years of experience providing quality care to patients in both acute and long-term care settings.

  4. Registered Nurse (RN) Resume Examples

    A professional registered nurse resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes. How to write a resume for registered nursing jobs that will land you more interviews. Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on an RN resume. How to describe your experience on a resume for registered nurses to get any job you want.

  5. 28 Nursing Resume Examples That Worked in 2024

    28 Nursing Resume Examples That Worked in 2024 Stephen Greet January 18, 2024 Although the demand for nurses is growing, getting a job in the nursing industry isn't easy, especially if you're making a start.

  6. Registered Nurse Resume Examples & Template [2024]

    How to write a nursing resume in 7 steps Step 1: Use a Registered Nurse Resume Template Step 2: Format Your Contact Information Section Step 3: Craft a Strong Summary Statement for a Registered Nurse Step 4: Showcase Your Professional Experience Step 5: Emphasize Top Nursing Skills Step 6: Listing Relevant Degrees, Certifications, and Licenses

  7. Ultimate Guide to Nursing Resumes 2024

    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.

  8. Experienced Nurse Resume Example for 2024 (Plus Guide)

    Experience Westview Memorial Hospital, Registered Nurse April 2018-Current Assess 15 to 20 patients per shift for immediate care due to traumatic or critical injuries Supervise a team of five entry-level nurses to ensure high-quality patient care Monitor patients after emergency operations and surgical procedures to minimize risks

  9. Registered Nurse Resume Examples and Template for 2024

    Registered Nurse Resume Examples Sample #1 Sample #2 Cody Fredrickson Seattle, WA | 206-555-0175 | [email protected] Summary Organized and professional Registered Nurse with two years of hands-on experience working in clinical settings. Trained to work with patients of all ages, from pediatric to geriatric.

  10. How to Write an Effective Nursing Resume Summary

    Sample Nursing Resume Summary. Below is one example of a summary: Summary. Registered Nurse with over 7 years of critical care experience. Specialized practice in cardiovascular surgery, post-operative recovery, and intensive care. Extensive experience and thorough understanding of pathophysiology and pharmacology of critically ill patients.

  11. Nurse Resume Example & How-to Guide for 2024

    A resume summary is a 2-4 sentence summary of your professional experiences and achievements. Nurse Resume Summary Example. Trauma Certified Registered Nurse with more than five years experience working in emergency care. Compassionate, ethical health-care provider with a proven ability to stay calm during crises.

  12. Registered Nurse CV Examples for 2024: Templates & Tips

    (555) 555-5555 [email protected] Summary Statement Registered nurse with strong experience in delivering quality care to patients. Professional with more than eight years of practice in emergency room care, triage and post-surgical recovery.

  13. Registered Nurse Resume: Examples & Templates for 2024

    As a registered nurse, there are a variety of technical and soft skills to highlight on your resume — something handled perfectly across the multiple skills sections in the example above. Incorporates relevant experience and achievements

  14. Registered Nurse Resume Examples, Skills, and Keywords

    One great registered nurse resume example summary is, "Experienced registered nurse eager to provide compassionate and ethical patient care at Brown Hospital. 12+ years of nursing experience include coordinating patient care during staff shortages, assisting with complex medical issues, and maintaining a positive attitude in fast-paced ...

  15. Nursing Resume Summary Examples

    Approved by hiring managers, here are proven resume summary examples you can use on your Nursing resume. Learn what real hiring managers want to see on your resume, and when to use which. Compiled and approved by: Gerrard Wickert Senior Hiring Manager - Nursing Roles 25+ Years of Experience Jump to a Summary example Nursing Critical Care Nursing

  16. Nursing Resume Examples & Writing Guide for 2024

    FIRST AND LAST NAME Email: [email protected] Phone: 775 422 3142 Address: 1243 Valley Wood Drive, Reno, NV 89523 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yourprofile Resume Summary Nurse RN with 6+ years of experience providing quality care to a wide variety of patients.

  17. Nurse

    Summary examples Supportive, motivated, and patient-oriented registered nurse (RN) with 2 years' clinical experience. Dedicated, efficient, and detail-oriented team player with excellent interpersonal skills, compassion, and dedication towards collaboratively maintained treatment plans.

  18. 24 Registered Nurse (RN) Resume Examples

    Two Example Career Objectives: Example 1. "A caring and curing Registered Nurse with 5 years of clinical experience in acute care. I have a desire to improve the well-being of patients and my focus is caring for every patient the way we would care for our family members.

  19. Nursing Resume Career Summary

    Lanzalaco offers the following example: Patient-Centric, ACLS-Certified ER Nurse Leader | RN Since 2014 Caring, Compassionate Patient Advocate * Award Recipient, General Hospital "Nurse of the Year" Tailor your summary to the career goal

  20. Registered nurse (RN)

    Demonstrated competency in patient care, documentation, effective communication, and collaboration with other health care professionals. Skilled in-patient assessment, training and mentoring other nursing professionals, and administration of appropriate interventions.

  21. Professional Nursing Resume Examples

    Mid-career Nursing Resume Example: Nursing Manager This resume for a nursing manager shows off both skills and a consistent employment history in the field. A combination format showcases not only the job seeker's work as a nurse and nurse manager but also a strong skill set and summary of medical-related qualifications.

  22. Professional Nurse Resume Examples & Samples for 2024

    Professional Nurse Resume Examples. Professional Nurses provide patient care in homes and healthcare units. Typical duties seen on a Professional Nurse resume sample are monitoring health condition, administering medication, handling and maintaining medical equipment, offering advice to patients and their families, and collaborating with ...

  23. Nurse LinkedIn Summary Examples

    Resume Guide Skills Profile Career Profile Headline Examples Nurse LinkedIn Summary Examples Approved by LinkedIn experts and recruiters, these Nurse LinkedIn summary examples will increase your profile's engagement and ensure you give people a strong first impression. Optimized for 2024's LinkedIn algorithms. Compiled and approved by: Jason Lewis

  24. Registered Nurse, Emergency Department Resume Examples

    Why this example passes: Numbers and statistics add detail and quantify the results this registered nurse, emergency department delivers: 4% improvement and a class size of 20-25. Good use of strong words and active language. References specialized value cahier provides with "individualized lesson plans.".