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 professional nurse sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
Writing a memorable experience section: Professional nurse resume edition
Checklist: Ways to make your experience section stand out
- Find balance: use 4-6 bullet points per position;
- Include positions that are relevant to the job you’re applying for;
- Use action verbs when describing your responsibilities and results;
- Highlight your achievements by adding numbers to them (e.g. instead of saying “achieved a steady increase in…”, say “achieved an X% increase in…”);
- Prove that you’re willing to work hard, both individually and in a team.
We’ve gathered the most impressive Professional Nurse experience sections from real Enhancv resumes. Check them out for some additional inspiration!
- Give compassionate care to patients suffering from injuries to debilitating conditions.
- Assess patients conditions and administer medications.
- Observe behavior and symptoms and report changes to on-call physicians.
- Educate families about patients conditions and provide support as needed.
- Frequently act as a charge nurse and preceptor to students.
- Proactively learned new procedures and treatment protocols from more established nurses.
- Assisted physicians with procedures and managed Iv's.
- Monitored telemetry and responded to codes.
- Stocked supplies and reported malfunctioning equipment.
- Took samples and specimens for doctor ordered lab tests.
- Educate patients on issues and post-op or delivery care.
- Assist doctors with in-ward surgeries and non-invasive procedures.
- Provided neonatal care and education.
- Primary care,assessment and evaluation pf gynecological and obstetric patients.
- Paediatric ICU
- Theatre
- Pain Management Unit
- Collaborated with interdisciplinary healthcare team to ensure optimal patient outcomes and satisfaction, resulting in a 97% patient satisfaction rate.
- Demonstrated expertise in IV therapy and wound care, resulting in a 30% reduction in hospital-acquired infections.
- Managed care for critically ill patients in the intensive care unit, resulting in a 20% reduction in mortality rate.
- Provided education and emotional support to patients and families, resulting in a 25% decrease in patient anxiety levels.
- Maintained accurate and timely documentation of patient care, ensuring compliance with hospital and regulatory standards.
- Demonstrated expertise in telemetry monitoring and management, resulting in a 40% decrease in cardiac-related complications.
- Provided nursing care to patients in medical-surgical, telemetry, and critical care units.
- Collaborated with interdisciplinary healthcare team to ensure optimal patient outcomes and satisfaction.
- Demonstrated strong communication skills with patients, families, and healthcare team members.
- Maintained accurate and timely documentation of patient care, ensuring compliance with hospital and regulatory standards.
- Collaborated with patients and their families to assess, plan, implement and evaluate age appropriate care, resulting in 95% patient satisfaction
- Developed individualized outcomes-based care plans incorporating the patient and family's readiness and barrier to learning, resulting in 20% decrease in readmission rate
- Initiated interdisciplinary patient/family meetings to facilitate communication regarding the plan of care, resulting in 30% reduction in medical errors
- Collaborated with nursing colleagues and others to implement the plan, resulting in a 15% increase in patient safety
- Evaluated the effectiveness of the planned strategies in relation to patient responses and the attainment of expected outcomes and knowledge, resulting in 25% improvement in patient outcomes
- Collaborated with unit leadership to maintain optimal patient care and support the professional development of nursing staff
- Facilitated cooperative and collaborative relationships among the various disciplines and departments to ensure effective quality patient care delivery
- Maintained a collaborative work relationship with peers and colleagues in order to create a positive and professional work environment, resulting in a 10% increase in staff satisfaction
- Delegated responsibilities to others with an understanding of their roles, knowledge and capabilities, resulting in a 20% increase in productivity
- Promoted unit and organizational growth through a shared governance model, resulting in a 15% increase in patient satisfaction
- Utilized nursing knowledge and judgment to perform procedures and treatments according to established unit/practice area guidelines and professional standards, resulting in a 25% decrease in medical errors
- Safely administered and assessed the patient response to medication utilizing essential knowledge of pharmacology and Hospital and Department Standards of Care, resulting in a 15% increase in patient safety
- Participated in performance improvement activities through data collection, analysis and evaluation, resulting in a 10% increase in patient outcomes
- Championed for quality, safety, regulatory, and patient-family satisfaction, resulting in a 20% increase in patient satisfaction
- Identified customer service needs on the unit, resulting in a 15% increase in staff satisfaction
PRO TIP
Include quantitative data throughout your Professional Nurse 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 professional nurse resume
Recommended reads:
Professional nurse resume: Crafting a strong skills section
Do this if you want to make your skills section stand out.
- Check the job advert for keywords and add them to your skills section to pass ATS;
- List only skills that are relevant to the position to keep the hiring manager focused;
- Balance between hard, soft, and technical skills;
- Elaborate on some of your strongest skills in other sections of your Professional Nurse resume, e.g. the experience section or your resume’s summary.
Top skills for your professional nurse 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 picking skills to feature in your resume, make sure they'll be relevant to the position you’re applying to. The point of listing skills is for you to stand out from the competition. Stay away from repetitive, meaningless skills that everyone uses in their resumes. Or else, they’ll backfire and make you look like an average candidate.
Recommended reads:
Professional nurse resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your professional nurse 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 non-discrimination policies about what kind of information can be included on your Professional Nurse resume. This might include a photo (which is often included in a resume header and might be on personal web pages you link to). You can always email the company’s HR department to ask about their policies before you apply.
How to write an inspiring professional nurse resume summary
Checklist: writing a resume summary that makes you stand out
- Keep it short and use well-structured sentences;
- Mention your total years of experience in the field and your #1 achievement;
- Highlight your strengths and relevant skills;
- Add keywords from the company’s website or the job description.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Your summary section should act as a professional taster. Use it wisely. Effectively convey your professional profile and let the hiring manager know that if they hire you, they won’t be disappointed. Make sure to include keywords from the job description too! Elaborate on your abilities further in your experience section. Again, cater to the job description.
Recommended reads:
Making the education section of your professional nurse resume stand out
Education section checklist for your Professional Nurse resume:
- List your highest education degree: including your major, year of graduation, and the institution you attended;
- Highlight the extracurricular activities that have helped you gain additional expertise;
- Share more about the certifications you’ve got, especially if they are relevant to the job position;
- Entry-level applicants: Mention relevant courses and projects.
Top certifications for your professional nurse resume
Nursing Professionals Get Motivated! Motivation For Nurses
A Month Of Encouragement For Nurses and Those In Nursing School Taking Nursing Courses
AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional Practice Exam
Be an AWS Solutions Architect Pro! AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional Practice Tests for the SAP-C01 Exam
OET Preparation for Nurses: Writing
Improve your score in the OET Nursing Writing Sub-test
Home Health Aide, Nurse Aide, Caregiver Certification Course
Become A Certified Home Health Aide, Personal Care Aide, Nurse Aide/ Caregiver At The End Of This Course. Enroll Now!!
AWS Certified Developer Associate Practice Exams
Be an AWS Certified Developer! Covers AWS Certified Developer topics to pass the AWS Certified Developer Associate exam!
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Professional Nurse. 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.
Professional nurse resume: formatting tips & tricks
Which came first: the hen or the egg? This question reminds us of the thing our resume experts hear most often in their job – which comes first: the content or the format? Well, we advise you to pick the format first and then go on with drafting your resume’s content.
And how do you choose a resume format? Well, based on your applicant profile. In general, there are three basic resume formats for you to choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
Let’s look at each one of them in more detail:
The reverse-chronological resume format is quite straightforward. Here, you describe all your previous jobs in a reverse-chronological form, meaning your latest job comes first. This resume format is great for people with lots of experience and skills who don’t have any career gaps.
If you are a recent graduate or don’t really have much experience in the industry you’re applying for, go for the functional skills-based resume format. This format focuses on skills and character traits, rather than experience. It makes the hiring manager realize you’re the perfect fit for the role without putting too much emphasis on your work history.
And if you’re looking for something a bit more intriguing and exciting, check out the hybrid resume format. It’s a combination of the reverse-chronological and functional skills-based formats, which makes it great for all types of job-seekers. The hybrid resume allows you to showcase both your professional experience and your skills, education, and additional qualifications. If you’re feeling creative, add a separate section about your typical day or life philosophy.
Our top style and layout resume format tips:
- Go for a standard 12p resume font;
- Choose 1-inch resume margins for a professional and easy-to-read feel;
- ry your best to fit your resume in a one-page template. If you’re a professional with over 10 years of relevant experience, having a two-page resume is also fine;
- Make sure to save your resume as PDF – this will help you avoid unwanted editing and formatting issues.
Read this: How to make your resume stand out
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Sometimes you’ll want to go after a job which requires more experience than you have. Instead of using a typical Professional Nurse resume layout, you can use a creative layout. Getting noticed is the most important challenge and a creative resume layout might help you get invited for an interview as most of other accountants have boring resume designs.
Other sections that’ll look good on your Professional Nurse resume
Do you want to move beyond the traditional skills, education, and experience section? Easy-peasy!
Just choose one or two additional sections to help recruiters get a fuller picture of who you are, both as a person and as a professional:
Adding a splash of creativity to your professional nurse resume
Boring resumes are no longer an option if you’re looking to impress recruiters.
And no matter whether you’re looking to give your old resume a new life or want to start building a new one from scratch, being at least moderately creative is always a good idea. Do this by adding a ‘favorite books’ section or even a pie chart of what your typical day looks like.
What makes a great professional nurse 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.
