INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nursing positions are at a 9% growth rate, which is as fast as average. With that said, there are currently 3,080,100 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 276,800 to 3,356,900 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Nursing jobs was $75,330 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $53,410, and the highest 10% more than $116,230.
Our conclusion? The Nursing job market is wide open for candidates.
Top nurse manager sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write a nurse manager resume experience section
Nurse manager resume's job experience checklist:
- Use 4-6 bullet points per job title;
- Don’t go further than a decade behind when describing your job history, unless you’re applying for an executive position;
- Combine job responsibilities as well as achievements with numbers in results when you describe your past work;
- Start each sentence with a power verb and avoid overused buzzwords;
- Use either C-A-R or S-T-A-R methodology, when describing your experience.
The work experience samples below come from real Nurse Manager resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- Oversee all daily operations and staffing of a 58 chair center
- Managed payroll/Kronos for over 20 staff members
- Led a team of nurses for audit programs to ensure all staff are well-informed and to date with safety standards and protocols
- Established affective communication with staff members through daily huddle and newsletter
- Support staff engagement through clinical ladder project assistance and supporting committee involvement. Department achieved 100% participation for the employee engagement survey.
- Department received Care Gram Team Award 2019
- Provide direct patient care as needed for lunch relief, or staff call ins.
- Exceptional at de-escalating confrontational situations with challenging patients and care givers.
- Led ward quality team
- Held ward equipment portfolio
- Responsible for apprasials of ten staff
- Improved uptake of criteria led discharges through quality improvement project
- Supported progression of multiple nurses onto their proficient portfolio
- Sole acting CNM for one month
- Improved recognition of nursing on the ward through developing a poster to be made and displayed at the front of the ward
- Managed day-to-day operations of eight bed LDRP unit, and Surgical Services Department
- Foster trusting relationships with associates, surgeons and colleagues
- Build relationships across departments to align with the organizational Mission
- Assisted with day to day operations of Surgical Services, including OR, SDS, PACU, GI and SPD
- Participated in the South State Leadership Cohort
- Participated in the Frontline Leadership Development Course
- HRO Universal Skills instructor
- Complies with Baycare corrective action plan, using Baycare's values to gain respect, while providing dignity
- Participates in quality improvement meetings and activities to improve processes and the patient experience
- Scheduling/Payroll coordinator responsible for building and balancing the Emergency Department staff schedule to maintain compliance with productivity
- Investigates all Prism's (Incident reports), and reports about the findings to Risk Manager
- Liaison to EMS and their Senior Management, assisting with any barriers between EMS and staff. Recognizing EMS provider monthly for their quality care. Proudly receiving most of all EMS, in the county every month
- Hiring all new team members, using update behavioral-based interview questions. Monitors vacancy and turnover rates, while working with Manager to implement positive, affect strategies for staff retention
- Mentoring and coaching to improve staff development, advocating professional growth of EC staff
- Meets regularly with staff, obtaining feedback and guides to assist with positive quarterly evaluations
- Assists with the Manager with the completion of yearly annual evaluations of existing team members
- Collecting COVID-19 PCR tests
- Consulting with health care providers
- Managing staff schedule
- Analyze, review and judge different situations and take the right actions according to the situation.
- Team leading
- Managing workload
- Managing floor store
PRO TIP
Include quantitative data throughout your Nurse Manager resume to impress the hiring manager. Real facts and figures that show off your competency as an audit manager go a long way. Did you reduce the costs of audits? Manage a large team? Boosted efficiency? Show off the real numbers!
Action verbs for your nurse manager resume
Recommended reads:
Nurse Manager Resume Skills’ Tips & Tricks to Impress Recruiters
Resume skills section checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top skills for your nurse manager resume
Excel
CPR
Bilingual
Cannulation
BSL
Scout/Scrub
Patient care
ACLS
Customer service
Communication
Compassion
Patience
Flexibility, adaptability, and emotional stability
Proactive, ethical, and responsible nature
Honesty
Team-player
Strong work ethic
Time management
PRO TIP
When describing your experience, don’t go too far from its terminology. Recruiters use ATS systems to filter resumes based on them having certain keywords, so make sure you use at least a few keywords mentioned in the job description.
Recommended reads:
Nurse manager resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your nurse manager resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads.":
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Nurse Manager resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
Nurse manager resume summary best practices
Checklist: What to include in your Nurse Manager resume summary:
- Years of experience;
- Highlight top 3 skills and proficiencies;
- One big professional accomplishment you’re most proud of, that you can tie with the aforementioned skills;
- Use short, direct sentences - but no more than three - to keep the HRs interested.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
When writing a resume summary or objective, avoid first-person narrative.
Recommended reads:
Listing your education, certifications and courses
Resume Education Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Certifications for Your Nurse Manager Resume
Case Management Training |How to become a Nurse Case Manager
How to become a nurse case manager
New Manager: The Basics and More of Being a Great Leader
Go from a slightly uncertain, confused newbie to a confident, skilled manager who builds and leads effective teams.
Management Skills: New Manager Training Update 2022
Management Skills Certification in Developing People, Leading Teams & Process Improvement in the New Hybrid Work Culture
The Superboss Playbook for Managers
Discover how top managers develop high potential talent, lead by teaching, and foster creative, high-performance teams.
Management Crash Course: Tactical Training for New Managers
Master Real World Management Skills -- Practical Exercises to Help You Tackle the 7 Challenges that Every Manager Faces
Recommended reads.":
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Nurse Manager. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
How to Write a Nurse Manager Resume
There are three basic resume formats you can choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional resume format;
- Hybrid (or Combination) resume format;
The most optimal format for your particular case will depend on your years of experience, as well as whether you’re switching industries or not.
Reverse chronological resumes are best suited for experienced individuals who are sticking to their industry. The experience section takes a central place, and its bullets contain your responsibilities and achievements, coupled with numbers and results.
Functional resumes are used by less experienced jobseekers or career changers. Note that it’s not a format that recruiters prefer, as most are used to the classic chronological alignment. Instead of a list of job titles, functional resumes focus on your skills, and through what experiences you gained them.
Hybrid resumes are great for both experienced and entry-level candidates, as well as career changers. They combine the best of both worlds - most often in a double column format, where one side of the content is focused on your experience, whereas the other - on your skills, strengths, and proudest moments.
Here are more resume tips regarding your layout and style:
- Clear and legible 12p resume font size;
- Use 10’’ resume margins - that’s default for a great resume design;
- Use a one-page template resume length if you’ve got less than 10 years of experience; otherwise, opt for a two-page resume;
- Save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiter.
To take it a step further, check out how your resume can stand out without leaning too much on the creative side.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Test your draft Nurse Manager resume by sending it out to peers and mentors in your circles. Ask them to review it as if they are hiring you for a project and implement the feedback afterwards.
Other sections to include in your resume
Depending on the type of company (corporation or start-up; innovative or traditional), job seniority level and your location, you may want to include more sections to your Nurse Manager resume:
Nurse manager resume: How to make yours more creative & stand out
When you send your resume to a potential employer, chances are it's the fiftieth one they've seen that day. That's why you need to make your Nurse Manager resume stand out for the right reasons. That means showing your personality, not just your professional experience. Employers are far more likely to remember a candidate who seems like a genuine person and not a robot. Do this by including your passions (which is also a great place to demonstrate skills on a resume), share your favorite books, or even what your usual day looks like.
What makes a great nurse manager resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
