A Winning Nursing Resume
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011Each job is different. Every person is unique. Every resume is unique. A nursing resume does not need to meet the same requirements as an engineer’s resume or a submarine commander’s resume.
No matter the position you apply for, your resume is your most effective sales tool. It is literally your foot in the door. It would be wise to take the time to think about what the hiring manager – your “sales” target – needs to know about you and what he most wants to find in you.
The resume comes before the hiring manager even sees your face. Neither voice nor face will get a chance to perform if the resume doesn’t give him plenty of reasons to ask you to come in for an interview.
Nursing is a very competitive profession, so if you want to land an interview, make that resume awesome. Here is how a resume writing service would manage it for you.
1. CREDENTIALS
Let’s get the most basic information out of the way first. There are certain credentials employees require in any health care field, and nursing is no exception. Those credentials will be a lot more demanding to work in an OR, ER or ICU post than if you are applying for a post in a nursing home.
Regardless of the specific position, credentials are the first thing HR staff will look for before deciding whether to read anything more, so get make it easy for him to find them.
If you scored well on the NCLEX exam, you may also want to include that on your resume.
2. EXPERIENCE
As in any other field, experience counts. It is always better to show what you are capable of, not just guess what you are capable of. In that light, you can see that “experience” is not just a list of positions you have held over the years. Give some meat, some detail. What kind of facilities were there, how big was it, what were the specialties, what challenges did you face there?
Don’t forget that anybody you are competing against also can post titles. Take the time to think about what makes you stand out, how you exceeded expectations, how you gave superior care, how patients and families reported positive experiences due to your efforts.
3. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Experience also encompasses such things as:
- How you have handled difficult patients and difficult relatives.
- How you handled things in a crisis, keeping a cool head, protecting the patient, etc..
- Your attention to detail, especially at the end of a tiring shift (this is crucial for someone handling meds and keeping track of everything in the patients’ charts).
- Your stamina, because it’s not easy to work on your feet for eight or twelve hours a day.
It could be said that important than “experience” in the traditional meaning of the word, is your character and your ability to manage stress, fatigue, multitasking and details.
4. CUSTOMIZE
Nursing is not a homogeonous field. Many nurses specialize in one type of nursing or another – and each one requires its own set of skills.
For instance, when applying for an ER job or even an OR or ICU position, you’ll have to demonstrate clearly that you have proven to exercise sound judgment and keep performing to 100% under stress.
If you seek a job in a nursing home, you would be wise to emphasize more the empathic, caring side.
Go forth and blow them away with your well-thought-out nursing resume, and put your foot in the door for your next career move.

