Nursing Student Resume Template Example

If you seek a role as a nursing student, the first step is writing a resume that positions you as a top candidate and highlights your qualifications, including administering medications and assessing patients. Review our list of tips, including examples, that can level up your resume.

Resume Template Tips for Nursing Students

  • Use a simple resume template: The best resume template for nursing students is clear, concise, and well-organized. It should have good spacing and a simple design that works to make your professional experience shine.
  • Test your template: See how your resume looks on PDF, mobile, and desktop.
  • Use plenty of keywords: Choose a template that includes a skills section where you can add relevant keywords. This is one of the best ways to ensure your resume performs well on applicant tracking systems (ATS).
  • Avoid elaborate design: Graphics, logos, and text boxes can prove distracting, and ATS does not read any text appearing in them.

How To Write a Nursing Student Resume

As a nurse, your resume must demonstrate to potential employers that you can provide exceptional patient care. Your nursing student resume should include these sections:

  • Contact information
  • Profile
  • Key skills
  • Professional experience
  • Education and certifications

Contact information

Give your full name, phone number, email address, location, and a link to your online professional profile. Ensure your contact information is current so potential employers can contact you for an interview.

Example

Your Name
(123) 456-7890
[email protected]
LinkedIn | Portfolio
City, State Abbreviation Zip Code

Profile

In about two to three sentences, summarize your professional background, relevant skills, and experience as a nursing student. Use this section to make a strong, eye-catching introduction. Emphasize your unique strengths and integrate keywords from the job description to show you’re a good match for the position.

Key skills

As a soon-to-be graduate, you likely have many new skills you’ve acquired in your time at school or in previous medical positions. Instead of listing them all, study the job description and learn which ones hiring managers are looking for. Match up any required skills with your own and focus on those on your resume. Our table below will give you a good idea of what you could include on your nursing student resume.

Common hard and soft skills for nurses

Hard Skills Soft Skills
IV therapy Communication
Medication management Critical thinking
Patient assessment Empathy

Resume writer’s tip: Use common action verbs

As you write the descriptions for your experience section, action verbs can help you frame responsibilities and duties as achievements. They clearly communicate what you accomplished during your clinicals and other previous positions. Review our list below for some ideas as you write your nursing student resume:

Action Verbs
Administered Advocated
Assessed Collaborated
Contributed Documented
Educated Implemented
Monitored Prioritized

Professional experience

In your work history section, list your most relevant experiences. Related jobs, clinical rotations, and school projects can be mentioned here. Create bullet points under each experience to list your duties and achievements. How many patients did you treat? What were your patient satisfaction scores? How are you on a team?

Example

Nursing Clinical Rotation, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
January 2023 – April 2023

  • Assisted in patient assessments, vital signs monitoring, and medication administration
  • Monitored and documented patient responses to medications, leading to prompt adjustments and improvements in patient care
  • Successfully initiated and managed IV therapy for over 25 patients, ensuring proper hydration and medication delivery
  • Maintained accurate patient records and upheld strict adherence to patient confidentiality
  • Administered medications to an average of 10 patients per shift with 100% accuracy

Medical-Surgical Nursing Clinical, Cleveland Clinic, Beachwood, OH
September 2022 – December 2022

  • Provided direct patient care under the supervision of clinical instructors and registered nurses (RNs)
  • Assisted in 12 surgical procedures, maintaining sterile field integrity and patient safety throughout each operation
  • Demonstrated competence in wound care, IV therapy, and use of medical equipment
  • Achieved a 93% patient satisfaction rate in post-discharge surveys

Resume writer’s tip: Quantify your experience

Hiring managers love to see results, and one way you can put yours on display is by quantifying your experience. Use numbers to show the extent of your achievements in the workplace or during clinicals and internships.

Although it may feel like you didn’t accomplish anything tangible during your nursing clinicals, there are still ways to incorporate numbers into your experience section. Mention how many patients you interacted with each day or highlight any patient satisfaction scores you received.

Check out our example for a better idea of how to do this:

Do
  • “Administered medications to an average of 10 patients per shift with 100% accuracy.”
Don’t
  • “I was responsible for giving patients their assigned medications.”

Resume writer’s tip: Tailor your resume for each application

To create an attention-grabbing resume, align your document with the requirements and language listed in the job description. Hiring managers are looking for nursing students with specific skills and qualifications. You can increase your chances of landing an interview by incorporating them into your resume.

For example, if the job description emphasizes the importance of strong communication skills and clinical expertise, be sure to highlight your experiences in patient communication and clinical rotations. Describe relevant moments in your experience section and put these skills on display.

Resume writer’s tip: How to select the best resume format

If you’re transitioning into a new industry or entering the workforce for the first time, a combination format may be the more appropriate option. This format allows you to feature pertinent skills, certifications, and academic achievements above your professional experience, which can help you stand out even if you lack a robust work history.

What if you don’t have experience?

Unless you’ve had a job in patient care, you probably don’t have much, if any, hands-on nursing experience. Fortunately, health care employers understand this when they hire students. What you need is some confidence and strategy. Focus on the following as you write your resume:

  • Academic awards
  • Certifications
  • Clinical rotations
  • Education
  • Related health care jobs
  • Skills
  • Volunteer experience

Education and certifications

Even if you haven’t graduated yet, go ahead and list your nursing degree in your education section. You can provide the expected graduation date so hiring managers know when you’ll be finished with school and licensed to practice.

If you’ve earned any nursing-related certifications, include those as well. Anything to help set you apart from other candidates is great. Credentials such as basic life support (BLS), advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS), and wound care certifications show your commitment to the field.

Example

Education

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Nursing, Expected graduation date: May 2024
Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH

Certifications

  • BLS Certification, American Heart Association, valid through September 2024

Nursing Student Resume Template Text Example

Larry Torres
(123) 456-7890
[email protected]
LinkedIn | Portfolio
City, State Abbreviation Zipcode

Profile

Dedicated and compassionate nursing student with a strong educational foundation and a genuine commitment to providing patient-centered care. Granted the Student Leadership Award by nursing program staff as a first-year student. Strong history of administering accurate medication dosages and assisting in surgeries during nursing clinicals.

Key Skills

  • Collaboration
  • Electronic Health Records (EHR)
  • Empathetic communication
  • HIPAA compliance
  • Medication administration
  • Patient education

Professional Experience

Nursing Clinical Rotation, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
January 2023 – April 2023

  • Assisted in patient assessments, vital signs monitoring, and medication administration
  • Monitored and documented patient responses to medications, leading to prompt adjustments and improvements in patient care
  • Administered medications to an average of 10 patients per shift with 100% accuracy
  • Successfully initiated and managed IV therapy for over 25 patients, ensuring proper hydration and medication delivery
  • Maintained accurate patient records and upheld strict adherence to patient confidentiality

Medical-Surgical Nursing Clinical, Cleveland Clinic, Beachwood, OH
September 2022 – December 2022

  • Provided direct patient care under the supervision of clinical instructors and RNs
  • Assisted in 12 surgical procedures, maintaining sterile field integrity and patient safety throughout each operation
  • Demonstrated competence in wound care, IV therapy, and use of medical equipment
  • Achieved a 93% patient satisfaction rate in post-discharge surveys

Education

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Nursing, Expected graduation date: May 2024
Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH

Certifications

  • BLS Certification, American Heart Association, valid through September 2024
Andrew Stoner

Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach

A resume should be a forward-looking value proposition that showcases your most relevant accomplishments for a target role — not a rear view summary of your previous roles and responsibilities.

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