Registered Nurse Resume Examples and Templates for 2024

Registered Nurse Resume Examples and Templates (Downloadable)

• Entry level
• Midlevel
• Senior level

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Health care organizations depend on nurses to treat, educate, and support patients. Your registered nurse (RN) resume must show potential employers you have the skills and experience necessary to provide high-quality patient care. In this guide, we’ll equip you with the tools to write a resume that highlights the best aspects of your medical career and proves you can handle the demands of a nursing job.

Key takeaways:

• Focus on specializations: Beyond your basic skills as an RN, emphasize your areas of expertise, such as pediatrics, oncology, or emergency care.
• Quantify patient care: Use numbers to describe aspects of your job and measure your contributions in previous nursing positions, such as how many patients you cared for each shift.
• Tailor your experience: To ensure your resume makes it through applicant tracking systems (ATS) and meets or exceeds employer expectations, incorporate relevant nursing experience and keywords throughout your resume.

How To Write a Registered Nurse Resume Example

To make the best impression on hiring managers, use a professional resume template. This gives you a strong foundation for your document and helps you organize your work history. Your RN resume should include these sections:

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

1. Share your contact information

Provide your most up-to-date contact information to let potential employers know who you are and how to reach you for an interview. At the top of your resume, include your full name, phone number, email address, location, and a link to your online professional profile, such as LinkedIn.

2. Summarize your registered nurse qualifications in a dynamic profile

Using a few powerful sentences, give a brief overview of who you are as a nurse and what distinguishes you from your peers. This should include your job title, years in the medical field, and any specializations. Describe how you approach patient care and include a credential or achievement you’re proud of.

If you’re applying for more than one job, you may choose to adapt your profile for each application. Not all of your experience or skills may be relevant to the nursing jobs you’re interested in. For example, if you’re applying for a position in a cardiac unit, mention your experience with telemetry and cardiac patients or any certifications specific to cardiac care.

3. Showcase your registered nurse experience

The professional experience section is where your nurse resume comes to life. Put your technical skills, bedside manner, and team collaboration on display with bulleted lists of your responsibilities and achievements. Specify the types of patient care you’ve provided, focusing on those experiences that best relate to the nursing job you’re applying for.

Your goal is to list specific examples of how you’ve excelled as a nurse. If you’re at the entry level, focus on demonstrating a strong understanding of foundational skills. For more seasoned nursing professionals, emphasize times you’ve shown leadership or taken charge of challenging situations.

Resume writer’s tip: Quantify your experience

To boost your nursing credibility, provide evidence of your past contributions by using numbers to quantify your work. This shows prospective employers that when you prioritize patient care, you achieve results. Whether you saved time, cut costs, or improved efficiency, giving measurable value to your duties and accomplishments can help you stand out from other qualified nurses.

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

Think of your resume as an advertisement to capture the attention of recruiters and hiring managers for an interview. To do that, you need to know what they want. Every health care organization has its own specialties, culture, and patient care philosophies. Your job is to determine how your experience, education, and skills are a perfect match.

Blend some of the company’s language into your resume organically, but don’t force it. For example, if they’re looking for someone familiar with “acute care settings,” and you are, use that exact phrase somewhere within your resume. These keywords should be placed strategically without repeating the entire job description word-for-word.

What if you don’t have experience?

Even if you haven’t worked professionally as a nurse yet, you can use plenty of transferable skills and relevant experiences as a starting point. Here are some examples of things to include on an entry-level RN resume:

• Educational achievements: Include any academic awards or honors recognition you may have received during your time at school.
• Clinical rotations: Leverage the experience gained during the practical portion of your nursing program. This is as close to professional experience as you can get.
• Health care work: If you’ve worked in a health care setting, add that to your resume as well. Any time spent working in a medical atmosphere is something to highlight.
• Volunteer work: If you’ve never had a paid medical position, describing times you’ve volunteered in a health care setting is another way to bolster your experience section.

4. Include education and certifications relevant to nursing

Nursing jobs usually require you to complete a two-year degree. So, start your education section with your highest nursing degree, including the school name and dates of attendance. For current nursing students, list the expected graduation date. If you had any specializations or a particular focus for your degree, mention that as well.

One of your most important credentials, your nursing license, should be listed in a separate certification section. Be sure to include which state(s) you’re licensed to practice in and provide your license number if requested by the employer. Any additional certifications focused on things like life support, emergency care, specialties, or training should be listed as well.

5. Outline your most useful nursing skills and proficiencies

As a nurse, you rely on an assortment of technical and interpersonal abilities to complete your daily tasks. The best way to highlight these skills is by making space on your resume for a “key skills” section. When a hiring manager scans your resume, this list offers a quick snapshot of your most relevant nursing abilities. In our list below, you’ll find hard and soft skills to include on your RN resume:

Resume writer’s tip: Use specific action verbs

Action verbs help make your RN resume concise and dynamic. Instead of saying something like, “I was responsible for administering,” start each bullet point with an action verb. Hiring managers already know who they’re reading about, so save space on your resume by avoiding first-person grammar. Begin sentences with an action verb to highlight your achievements and skills. These words below will help you get started:

How To Pick the Best Registered Nurse Resume Template

The best RN resume template will be clean, organized, and well-written. Aim to stand out among other nursing applicants, but avoid flashy templates with too many graphics. Instead, opt for a template that highlights your key skills, clinical experience, and certifications. Simple formatting and adequate spacing will allow your text to shine.

Registered Nurse Text-Only Resume Examples and Templates

Frequently Asked Questions: Registered Nurse Resume Examples and Advice

How do you align your resume with a registered nurse job description?

Across all health care settings, employment for RNs is expected to grow at a faster-than-average rate over the next decade. As older generations begin to require medical care, the demand for RNs will increase from hospitals to homes. Even with a rise in opportunities, your resume should be aligned with the job description you’re applying for.

Suppose you’re applying for a nursing position in pediatrics but your background is in emergency care. Focus on your experiences caring for children in the ER. Emphasize your ability to communicate effectively with the patient and their guardians. This approach will show hiring managers that you have the skills necessary to make a smooth transition into a pediatric setting.

What is the best registered nurse resume format?

The combination resume is often the best choice for nurses, whether you’re a recent graduate or seasoned RN. It combines the best of both the functional and chronological formats with a strong key skills list covering technical, medical, and interpersonal abilities. However, it also features an experience section, allowing hiring managers to clearly visualize your career progression.

Expert advice: include a cover letter with your resume

Once you’re finished with your resume, draft up a cover letter to accompany it. Even if it’s not a requirement for the job, you can use this opportunity to share your passion for nursing and describe why you’re the best candidate. This is a great way to differentiate yourself from other RN applicants and make a personal connection with the hiring manager.

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Andrew Stoner

Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach

Andrew Stoner is an executive career coach and resume writer with 17 years of experience as a hiring manager and operations leader at two Fortune 500 Financial Services companies, and as the career services director at two major university business schools.