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Your resume is your first and perhaps only opportunity to make an impression. A superbly written nursing resume is the only incentive that may help you obtain a position and not be dismissed due to inattentiveness in the hectic world of healthcare, where HR managers read dozens or even hundreds of resumes for one job advertisement.
A study by TealHQ affirms this, with recruiters taking an average of 7.4 seconds when skimming through a resume in the first instance. That is hardly enough time to read more than a paragraph or two; therefore, readability, topicality, and organization are all that matter.
Whether you’re a fresh graduate of a nursing school or an experienced RN, you must make a good nursing resume to show what is specific and special about you, and what employers in this field seek. This article will teach you to write a registered nurse resume that is ATS-compatible, and it will be interesting even to actual reviewers.
We will look at what should be included in a nursing resume, how to make a nursing resume more impressive, and other insights for new graduate students and working nurses. Let us get started.
Your resume is not merely an overview of your credentials in nursing, but a marketing tool listing your skills meant to target potential employers. As we already know, the conditions of the job market and the ever-increasing demand for healthcare workers also create a necessity to get the best job on the market with all the best perks. A finding in our research from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data is that they predict a 6% increase in the employment of registered nurses between 2022 and 2032, which is higher than the rate of all occupations.
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are designed to sift through resumes long before a human gets to see them, and they are used in the major portion of hospitals, long-term care facilities, and clinics. This implies that you should make your resume not only optimal in terms of the keywords but also appealing visually, while knowing what to include in a nursing resume to make the cut of the initial screening and capture a recruiter’s attention.
“A strong nursing resume should highlight not just what you’ve done, but the impact you’ve had in patient care,” says Michiell, a former RN, senior nurse resume writer. “We look for clear, concise accomplishments, not just tasks.”
Whether it is your entry-level position or your next attempt to be a leader, a superb resume will give you a head start because it will present your professional story in an engaging and relevant manner.
Before writing, you should know the major components that make your nursing resume stand out. Consider your resume like a picture of your credentials, which is shallow enough to be reviewed quickly but deep enough to show your worth.
The following is the outline of a nursing resume and what it should contain, along with the explanations:
| Section | Purpose |
| Header | Your name, phone number, email, LinkedIn, and an option to add RN license number. Make sure your contact information is updated. |
| Professional Summary | A vision of your experience, strengths, and goals in 2-3 sentences. Try to tailor this for every role you apply for. |
| Licensure & Certifications | Write the available licenses (RN, BSN, and so on) and certifications (ACLS, BLS, PALS, and so on). Add the expiration dates of all the licences. |
| Work Experience | Highlight your nursing roles with measurable results and patient impact. Use bullet points. List your work experience in reverse chronological order, with the most recent experience mentioned at the top. |
| Education | Include your degree(s), the school name, your graduation year, and any honors you’ve received. Education should be listed in the same way as work experience, in reverse chronological order. |
| Skills | The skills section should help you highlight your clinical and soft skills relevant to the job, like wound care, triage, or patient education. We recommend editing this section according to the position. |
| Optional Sections | You can create separate sections for languages, affiliations (like ANA), volunteer work, publications, or awards. This can really help make nursing resume stand out. |
When you make a good nursing resume, it is important to give equal importance to both structure and content. Always try using some type of formal font, such as Arial. Use bullet points and subheadings so that your content is easy to read and understand. White space and distinctly marked sections are valued among recruiters, they do not want to dig through to get your credentials.
In the following part, we will take you through all these components step by step, offering examples that appeal to both novices and more experienced nurses.
We all know that the task to create a nursing resume when you have no idea on how to write a nurse resume in the first place can be frustrating and exhausting, particularly when you have pursued a lengthy career or when you want to add a new accreditation. In this part, the process of nursing job resumes is explained to you step-by-step, starting with the top of the process.
Your header should be straight, concise, and easy to locate. Include:
This section is your elevator pitch and a key element to make a nursing resume stand out. It goes below your header and is typically 2–3 concise sentences.
Example for Experienced RN:
Loving RN experienced in handling patients in the ICU and offering critical care in a fast-paced hospital-based practice setting. Focus on patient triage and emergency response skills, and a passion for improving patient outcomes and promoting evidence-based practices.
Example for New Grad:
BSN is a recent graduate nurse practitioner with pediatrics clinical and oncology clinical experience. BLS / ACLS certified. I wish to provide caring attention and evidence-based expertise in a high-paced hospital.
Where hiring managers are concerned, they want to know that you are qualified quickly. Create a clean, bulleted list that includes:
Example:
Registered Nurse – California (License #RN123456) | Expires: March 2026
Basic Life Support (BLS), American Heart Association | Expires: Jan 2025
Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), AHA | Expires: Jan 2025
This is the heart of your resume. Each position should include:
Example Bullets for a Med-Surg Nurse:
Tip: Use numbers to quantify impact whenever possible.
Tailor this section to each job, mentioning your unique, technical, and interpersonal skills. Use a mix of hard and soft skills mentioned in the job description.
| Clinical Skills | Soft Skills |
| IV therapy | Communication |
| Wound care | Empathy |
| Telemetry monitoring | Time management |
| Electronic Health Records (EHR) | Conflict resolution |
Keep the qualifications and degrees in a simple and organized manner:
Example:
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
University of Texas Health Science Center – Houston, TX
Graduated: May 2023 | Dean’s List, GPA: 3.8
As a graduate of a nursing school, this is a massive achievement, yet you will have to compete in an ocean of candidates who are fresh graduates to get your dream nursing job. You may ask yourself what to put on a nursing resume when a person has no experience. The good news? Employers don’t expect you to have years of experience. They’re looking for clinical knowledge, professionalism, and potential.
Here’s what you should focus on:
Similar to your work history, list your nursing clinical rotations that are most relevant in the experience section. Include:
Example:
Clinical Rotation – Pediatrics
Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
January 2023 – March 2023 | 120 hours
– Provided daily care to up to 8 pediatric patients under RN supervision
– Assisted in administering immunizations and tracking developmental milestones
New grads should highlight nursing credentials, especially licences prominently, especially:
Have you worked in a health fair? Have you participated in outreach programs? Have you worked as a CNA in school? Then those are the experiences to put on nursing resume. It demonstrates initiative and patient-focused treatment.
“We look for new grads who can communicate well, think critically, and adapt under pressure,” says Stephanie Marsh, Nurse Manager at Sutter Health.
Don’t undersell yourself. Your strengths are your nursing experience, practical training, and motivation to learn; use them to your advantage clearly and authoritatively.
Let’s say you have the proper structure, qualifications, and top skills, but how can you cut the clutter to ensure your nursing resume is heard in the crowd? Some recruiters have the duty of reading tens of resumes a sitting, and how can you make yours be noticed in measures to this?
These are time-tested tips on how to use your resume to become memorable:
Follow the description of the job. Many hospitals and health care systems employ Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and they read keywords.
Do this:
Use a straightforward layout with lots of white space, legible fonts (such as Calibri or Arial), and distinct section headers.
| Do | Don’t |
| Use bullet points | Write in long paragraphs |
| Keep a 1–2 page limit | Cram everything onto one page |
| Save as PDF (unless told otherwise) | Submit screenshots or images |
Go beyond the basics with optional resume sections that highlight your unique value:
One of the most frequently asked questions to our healthcare resume writers by job applicants is, “How long should a nursing resume be?” especially by those in health. The answer? It is decided by the level of your experience, yet it is advisable to have 1 to 2 pages.
| Experience Level | Recommended Length |
| New Grad or < 1 Year RN | 1 page |
| 2–5 Years Experience | 1–2 pages |
| 6+ Years or Specialized RN | Up to 2 full pages max |
Note: Hiring managers are more concerned about relevancy and clarity than length. A two-page resume is okay, as long as all the information on it is relevant.
Avoid cramming. Are you about to consider making the font smaller or removing the spacing just to add more text? Well, consider this: What is it in the content that really adds value?
The question is not how long your nursing resume should be – the question is:
Remember, recruiters often skim. Make sure the top third of page one tells your best story, credentials, summary, key skills, and recent experience.
Creating a well-polished and ATS-friendly resume does not always have to be a one-person task. Whether you have a clean sheet of paper to work with or already have a draft that needs some polishing, some devices will enable you to write nursing resumes quickly and with greater success.
| Tool | What It Does |
| Zety | Provides resume templates and ideas for bullet points specific to the nursing occupation. |
| Resume Writing Lab | We are the perfect place to create formatted, neat resumes by professional certified resume writers. |
| Jobscan | Compare your resume and job descriptions to increase ATS scores and identify missing keywords. |
| Grammarly | Tracks grammar, tone, and clarity problems so you can submit them before they get noticed. |
Trying to make nursing resumes for the first time or even revising after many years, they will save you time, help you avoid errors, and make your nursing resume shine in every possible way.
When you make a nurse resume, make sure you review it before clicking on the send option on the job application. A careless mistake, such as a misspelled word or an old phone number, might cost you your interview.
We have created a last-minute before submission checklist to make it easier for you to recheck if you have covered all the important bases:
Tip: Never overlook the fact that it is always a good idea to have a colleague or a mentor look through your resume; an extra set of eyes is likely to pick up on things you might have missed.
Such last steps indicate your interest in focusing on accuracy and professionalism, which every employer expects of a nurse.
It is not a simple task to write nursing resume; it is a chance to introduce your professional self in a manner that is attention-grabbing and reflective of your good points, and it should meet the goals of the employer in the healthcare sector.
So, wherever you are as a new graduate getting ready to go into your first job as a nurse or an experienced RN considering working in a leadership capacity, investing in structuring, refining, and customizing your resume may change everything. Be sure to note important certifications and action-driven bullet points, and submit a resume tailored to each position you are applying for.
Michelle Howard, BSN, Nurse Educator at NYU Langone, says: “The best nursing resumes are storytelling ones; they allow the candidate to describe what they have already achieved and how they will be as a healthcare provider.”
Having understood how to write a nursing resume, it is time to get a job. Try one of the free nursing resume templates or use the best nurse resume writing service to get a basic understanding and later alter it to your liking.
