Your registered nurse (RN) resume should highlight your ability to provide quality patient care, collaborate on multidisciplinary health teams, and uphold care standards.
This guide provides tips and examples to help you create a standout RN resume, whether you’re just starting your nursing career or have years of specialized experience.
Sarah’s resume effectively highlights her ability to provide patient-centered care while demonstrating strong collaboration and educational skills. Her experience section includes quantifiable achievements, such as improving patient satisfaction scores and reducing readmission rates, which showcase her impact in previous roles. Additionally, her certifications in pediatric, medical-surgical, and critical care nursing reinforce her qualifications as a well-rounded RN.
For more tips on structuring your resume, visit How To Write a Resume With No Experience.
David’s resume stands out due to its detailed performance metrics, leadership experience, and advanced education. His ability to mentor junior nurses and develop hospital policies highlights his leadership and expertise. Additionally, his experience managing patient care for over 1,000 individuals and improving efficiency by 30% demonstrates his direct impact on patient outcomes and hospital operations.
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Michael’s resume effectively showcases his expertise in ICU nursing, emphasizing his critical thinking and emergency response skills. His use of dynamic action verbs such as “implement” and “improving” highlights his proactive approach to patient care. Additionally, his experience in documenting patient data and applying life-saving techniques further reinforces his competency in ICU settings.
For more resume writing insights, visit How To List Promotions on a Resume.
Jenn’s resume presents her as a skilled medical-surgical nurse with expertise in post-surgical care, patient education, and staff training. Her achievements, such as reducing readmission rates and developing patient education materials, showcase her ability to improve both patient outcomes and hospital efficiency. The inclusion of multiple certifications in medical-surgical, oncology, and pediatric nursing further solidifies her expertise.
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John’s resume effectively demonstrates his expertise in intensive care, highlighting his ability to manage critically ill patients and respond to emergencies. The detailed work history showcases his progressive experience in high-acuity settings, making him a strong candidate for ICU roles. Additionally, the inclusion of certifications like ACLS and CCRN reinforces his qualifications.
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Sarah’s resume highlights her ability to provide specialized pediatric care, combining technical skills with patient-centered approaches. Her experience includes detailed metrics, such as improved vaccination compliance and faster emergency response times, showcasing her impact. The resume is well-structured, with certifications reinforcing her qualifications for pediatric nursing roles.
For more tips on structuring your resume effectively, visit How To Build a Resume.
Emily’s resume effectively highlights her expertise in neonatal care, showcasing specialized NICU skills and quantifiable achievements such as reduced infection rates and improved family confidence scores. Her work history is well-organized, and the certifications reinforce her qualifications in neonatal nursing.
For more tips on structuring your resume effectively, visit How To List Your Education on a Resume.
Miguel’s resume effectively demonstrates his ability to thrive in high-pressure emergency settings. His experience includes quantifiable achievements, such as reducing wait times and improving survival rates, which highlight his direct impact on patient care. His certifications further validate his expertise in trauma and emergency nursing.
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Jessica’s resume highlights her deep expertise in oncology nursing, emphasizing her ability to provide both technical and compassionate care. She includes quantifiable achievements, such as reducing hospital readmissions and improving patient education effectiveness, which demonstrate her impact in oncology care.
For more insights on structuring a strong resume, visit How To List Promotions on a Resume.
David’s resume showcases his expertise in cardiac nursing, with a strong emphasis on patient monitoring, post-operative care, and education. He includes measurable achievements, such as reducing adverse cardiac events and improving medication adherence, which highlight his ability to enhance patient outcomes.
For more advice on optimizing your resume, visit How To List Your Education on a Resume.
Lauren’s resume effectively highlights her broad medical-surgical expertise, emphasizing her ability to manage high patient volumes and improve patient outcomes. She includes quantifiable achievements, such as reducing infection rates and improving early ambulation, which showcase her impact.
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Brandon’s resume highlights his ability to work in high-pressure ICU environments, showcasing expertise in critical care procedures and life-saving interventions. His measurable accomplishments, such as improving code blue survival rates and reducing VAP, demonstrate his impact on patient outcomes.
For more tips on optimizing your resume, visit How To Build a Resume.
Stephanie’s resume effectively highlights her expertise in surgical nursing, emphasizing her ability to support a wide range of procedures while ensuring patient safety. She includes quantifiable results, such as reducing surgery start-time delays and improving compliance rates, which showcase her efficiency in the OR.
For more strategies on refining your resume, visit Best Resume Formats.
Christophers’ resume highlights his expertise in telemetry nursing, demonstrating his ability to monitor, assess, and respond to cardiac conditions. He quantifies achievements, such as reducing readmission rates and improving arrhythmia detection, to showcase his contributions to patient care.
For more guidance on resume structuring, visit Resume Objective Examples.
Mark’s resume effectively highlights his expertise in psychiatric nursing, emphasizing crisis intervention skills and patient care strategies. His measurable achievements, such as reducing patient aggression incidents and improving therapy engagement rates, showcase his impact in mental health care.
For more insights on resume building, visit Best Resume Formats.
Emilia’s resume effectively highlights her expertise in labor and delivery nursing, showcasing her ability to handle routine and high-risk births. She quantifies her impact, such as reducing emergency C-sections and improving breastfeeding rates, demonstrating her contributions to patient care.
For more strategies on optimizing your resume, visit How To List Promotions on a Resume.
Sophia’s resume highlights her expertise in dialysis nursing, emphasizing both technical skills and patient education. She includes measurable achievements, such as reducing infections and hospitalizations, demonstrating her direct impact on patient care.
For more tips on optimizing your resume, visit Best Resume Formats.
Olivia’s resume effectively highlights her expertise in community health nursing, showcasing her ability to lead vaccination programs and provide outreach education. She quantifies her impact with metrics such as increased immunization compliance and improved patient adherence.
For more resume structuring advice, visit Resume Objective Examples.
Daniel’s resume highlights his expertise in hospice and palliative care, emphasizing both technical pain management skills and emotional support. He includes quantifiable results, such as reducing patient discomfort and increasing caregiver preparedness, to showcase his impact.
For more insights on structuring a resume, visit How Long Should a Resume Be.
Lisa’s resume highlights her ability to provide healthcare in a correctional setting, balancing security protocols with patient care. Her measurable results, such as improving medication compliance and reducing communicable diseases, showcase her impact.
For more resume tips, visit How To Build a Resume.
David Thompson
[email protected] | (123) 456-7890 | Baltimore, MD | LinkedIn
Skilled RN with a Master’s degree in nursing from Johns Hopkins University. Extensive experience in managing patient care, mentoring junior nurses, and maintaining compliance with nursing policies. CCRN.
Senior Registered Nurse
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD | January 2018 to present
Registered Nurse
University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, PA | June 2015 to December 2017
Select an easy-to-read template with distinct sections for your summary, key skills, professional experience, education, and certifications. An organized template will help employers see your relevant qualifications.
Your resume summary should give the three to five main reasons you’ll excel in your target RN position. Highlight your years of experience, patient care strengths, and any major achievements. For example, mention specific certifications or any recognition or awards you’ve won. This section sets the tone for your resume, so make it impactful and concise. (Note: Most job seekers find it easier to write this section last.)
“Compassionate RN with five years of experience in ICU and emergency care settings. Skilled at managing complex patient cases, leading nurse teams, and improving patient outcomes. Certified in ACLS, with a record of enhancing patient satisfaction and reducing hospital readmissions.”
“Experienced nurse looking for a job in health care. Good at working with patients and administering care. Seeking a position in a reputable hospital.”
Your work history should emphasize not just your duties but the results you achieved. Use relevant numbers to quantify your impact in past RN roles. For instance, have you reduced readmission rates, improved patient satisfaction scores, or introduced successful care protocols? If so, how did you generate those results? Use bullet points to set off your most impressive career details.
Managed care for around 10 post-surgical patients per shift, reducing post-operative complications by 20% and increasing patient satisfaction by 15%
Responsible for taking care of patients after surgery
Detail your nursing education, including your degree, institution, location, and optionally your graduation date. Also, include any relevant certifications and the organizations that issued them. Credentials such as CPN, CCRN, or ACLS show your strong knowledge base and commitment to professional development.
Include both your hard and soft skills. Hard skills include technical proficiencies like medication administration, patient assessment, and use of EMR systems. Soft skills include teamwork, leadership, and other abilities that reflect your approach to your work and the type of organization you can help build. A balanced mix of these skills will show you can perform the technical aspects of nursing while collaborating with patients, families, and health care teams.
| Hard and soft skills for nursing resumes: | |
|---|---|
| ACLS | Case management |
| Clinical operations | Efficiency improvement |
| EMR | HIPAA |
| Medication administration | Patient advocacy |
| Patient and family relations | Patient assessment and monitoring |
| Patient education | Patient-centered care |
| Task prioritization | Team leadership |
| Vital signs monitoring | Wound care |
Resume.org offers free, HR-approved resume templates to help you create a professional resume in minutes.
Build Your ResumeChoose a professional and straightforward resume template. For registered nurse roles, the focus should be on clarity and the ability to quickly communicate your clinical expertise, patient care experience, and certifications. Avoid overly elaborate designs that might distract from your qualifications. Instead, opt for a simple, clean design that emphasizes your healthcare background, key clinical skills, and the quality of care you provide.
The following verbs can help you emphasize your active role in patient care, teamwork, and health care management:
| Action Verbs | |
|---|---|
| Administered | Assessed |
| Clarified | Collaborated |
| Coordinated | Created |
| Documented | Earned |
| Educated | Evaluated |
| Implemented | Improved |
| Maintained | Managed |
| Monitored | Oversaw |
| Prevented | Provided |
| Reduced | Reported |
| Streamlined | Updated |
| Verified | Won |
One great way to customize your resume is by adding brief descriptions of the health facilities you’ve worked in, in [brackets] right next to or below the organization name. These descriptions let you show any similarities between your past employers and the one who posted the job. For example, maybe you’ve worked for hospitals of a similar size, region, or patient population. By adding these details, you can make your resume more relevant to the RN job opening at hand.
Most RNs should use the combination (or hybrid) format. True to its name, this format combines two important features of other resume formats: the chronological format’s experience section and the functional format’s profile section. (The resume examples on this page all use combination format.)
By fusing these two features, a combination resume offers the best of both worlds. The experience section lets you outline your recent work history – essential information for most employers. At the same time, the profile section lets you display your career highlights at the top, regardless if they’re from that work history or another part of your background. As a result, you can present yourself both clearly and strategically. With this format, you give nurse managers the best view of your experience and relevant strengths, so they can make an informed decision to call you for an interview.
Career Coach
Irina Pichura, founder of Resumeology, is a renowned career coach with over 10 years of recruiting experience at Fortune 500 companies like Goldman Sachs and ADP, as well as startups such as Investopedia. With a degree in Psychology from Fordham University in New York City, Irina offers a unique perspective on what it takes to stand out in a competitive job market.
Resume.org offers free, HR approved resume templates to help you create a professional resume in minutes. Choose from several template options and even pre-populate a resume from your profile.
