Writing a registered nurse resume

Credentials appear in two places: after the name and in a separate license section. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) recommends a set order for credentials after a name. The highest earned degree comes first, followed by the license. State designations, national certifications and awards follow, in that order. A nurse with a bachelor's degree writes the name line as Jane Doe, BSN, RN.

The license section lists the state, the license type and its status. A nurse who holds a multistate license notes that on the same line. Employers confirm the license themselves through the national Nursys database or the state board. New graduates who have not yet passed the NCLEX-RN list the month they plan to test.

Certifications follow the license. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) awards the CCRN for critical care. The Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN) awards the CEN for emergency nursing. Each entry lists the certifying body and the expiration date. Life support cards, such as Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support, go in their own list with expiration dates.

Each job entry names the employer, the unit and the dates worked. Hiring managers recruit for specific units, such as medical-surgical, telemetry or intensive care. Naming the unit lets them match the entry to the opening quickly. The entry then describes the patient population and the usual assignment. Examples include adult post-surgical patients, patients on cardiac monitors or patients in isolation.

Entries also name the tools the nurse used on the unit. These include electronic health record (EHR) systems, barcode medication scanning, infusion pumps and cardiac monitors. EHR experience is listed because new hires chart from their first shifts.

New graduates list clinical rotations as experience. Each rotation entry gives the facility, the unit and the type of patients. The preceptorship, usually the final placement, gets the most detail. During a preceptorship, a student works the shifts of one assigned nurse and takes on a growing share of patients. Prior work as an LPN or CNA also belongs in this section, because it shows direct patient care before licensure.

The skills section lists clinical skills and soft skills. Clinical skills include patient assessment, medication administration, IV insertion, wound care and telemetry monitoring. Each one is listed because employers expect new hires to perform it on the unit. Soft skills include communication with patients and families, teamwork during shift handoff, and time management. Nurses communicate by explaining care plans and reporting changes in a patient's condition to physicians.

Many employers screen resumes with software that searches for terms from the job ad, so the skills section uses the employer's own wording. If an ad asks for patient education, the resume uses that phrase. The same skills come up again when nurses prepare for a hiring interview.