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Registered nursing is a step up the nursing ladder, allowing you to provide care directly to patients. Licensure as a registered nurse (RN) is also a pathway to graduate nursing programs, practice as a nurse practitioner, and specialty certification. As an RN, you’ll provide education and advice to patients and coordinate with physicians and other members of your healthcare team, meaning communication skills are also essential.
As an RN, you’ll need a firm grasp on essential skills. Focus on technical skills you’ll need, like phlebotomy, rehabilitative care, triage, and electronic health record (EHR). If you want to include soft skills or more than a handful of hard skills, use your accomplishments to highlight accomplishments that demonstrate them in action.
Focusing on accomplishments in your bullet points is good, but even better is if you can provide the context for those achievements. A bullet point reading “triaged 50+ patients daily” is far more descriptive than simply “triaged patients.” Try to give clear numbers when talking about the size of teams you’ve led or number of patients you’ve cared for.
As a hiring manager who has recruited nurses at top hospitals like Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and Johns Hopkins, I've seen hundreds of nursing resumes. The best ones always catch my attention by highlighting the candidate's unique skills, experience, and impact. Here are some tips to make your registered nurse resume stand out:
Highlight any specialized areas of nursing you have experience in, such as:
Also, be sure to list relevant certifications that demonstrate your expertise, like:
These specializations and certifications show you have advanced knowledge and skills that can benefit the specific unit or department.
The resume summary is an optional section that can be a powerful way to introduce yourself and your unique value to employers. While your resume already summarizes your skills and experience, a well-crafted summary can provide additional context and highlight your most relevant qualifications for the registered nurse role you're targeting.
However, avoid using an objective statement, which focuses on your goals rather than what you can bring to the role. Instead, think of your summary as a snapshot of your nursing career, tailored to the specific position and employer.
Your work experience section is the heart of your resume. It's where you showcase your professional accomplishments and paint a picture of your nursing career. In this section, you'll list your relevant work history in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position.
When writing your work experience section, focus on highlighting your achievements and the impact you made in each role. Use specific examples and metrics to quantify your contributions whenever possible.
When describing your nursing experience, use powerful action verbs that showcase your skills and responsibilities. Here are some examples:
Avoid using weak or passive language, such as:
Your education section is a key part of your registered nurse resume. It shows you have the necessary qualifications and training. Here are some tips to make sure your education section is effective and helps you stand out.
The skills section of your registered nurse resume is one of the most important parts. It's where you showcase your nursing expertise and specializations to hiring managers. A well-written skills section can help you stand out from other candidates and demonstrate your qualifications for the role.
In this section, we'll walk through key tips for writing an effective registered nurse skills section, with examples of what to do and what to avoid.
Here are examples of popular skills from Registered Nurse job descriptions that you can include on your resume.
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Registered Nurse job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more likely you should include it in your resume.
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