It’s difficult to write a compelling nursing resume in 2021. For starters, nursing professions encompass hundreds of skills and career details. Therefore, it’s difficult to determine which details you should include on your resume. Moreover, it’s difficult to differentiate your nursing resume from all the others with the same exact skills! In this article, we draw on over 40 years of combined experience as nurse recruiters to provide everything you’ll need to create exceptional nursing resumes for 2021.
Our 2021 nursing resume writing guide is packed with information. Below is a table of contents to help you navigate. Simply select a link and you’ll be taken to the beginning of the topic:
Table of Contents: Select a topic to jump to it.Please note that we created this guide for experienced nurses. However, it’s also useful for students and new-grads.
If you’re a student or new-grad, then be sure to check out our guide for New-Grad Nursing Resumes. If you’re a travel nurse, then be sure to check out our guide for travel nursing resumes.
First, let’s take a look at how healthcare employers screen nursing resumes.
Hiring managers, recruiters and software evaluate nursing resumes based on two general factors. First, they evaluate resumes based on the degree to which the content of the resume matches the job description.
This evaluation process is technical and robotic. Either the resume includes variables the employer seeks or it does not.
Second, they evaluate a resume based on how well it conveys that the candidate can excel at the job. This evaluation process is more subjective.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the content evaluation process nursing resumes typically go through.
In the vast majority of cases, you will apply for nursing jobs through an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). An ATS is a software application that helps employers manage the hiring process. If you’re filling out an online job-application, then you’re almost certainly using an ATS.
It’s important to note that most ATS’s allow healthcare employers to choose which ATS features they want to use and which they do not.
“Knock Out Questions” might be the most commonly used ATS feature in the healthcare industry.
Have you ever applied for a job online where the application asked you a question like, “Do you have 2 years of recent ICU Experience?” Or, “Do you have any violations on your nursing license?”
If so, then you have answered Knock Out Questions. Essentially, if you provide the wrong answer, then you’re out. It doesn’t matter what your resume says.
In any case, several things can happen when you upload your resume to an ATS.
First, the ATS might “parse” the content and automatically add it to the online application where applicable. This saves you time.
Second, the ATS might extract all of the resume’s content and enter it into a separate file in the ATS. Recruiters and hiring managers might use this version of your resume instead of referring to the actual document you upload. That’s right, it’s possible that your actual resume is never even seen.
Next, it’s possible that the ATS will score your nursing resume. The score is based on how the content of the resume matches the content that the employer programs the ATS to look for.
Then, the Applicant Tracking System might rank all the resumes from highest to lowest score. Recruiters can then start reviewing the highest-ranking resumes first.
We’ve seen other articles about nursing resumes claim that these scoring systems are standard in the healthcare industry. Our experience indicates otherwise. Instead, healthcare employers often do not make use of the resume scoring features.
That said, you must still optimize your nursing resume for the employer’s desired content.
More importantly, several humans review nursing resumes during the hiring process. Like the ATS, they also screen for the employer’s desired content.
Additionally, the humans evaluate the resume to determine if the candidate can excel at the job.
For most employers, a recruiter is the first human to review resumes. Afterwards, recruiters may or may not contact desirable candidates to ask a few questions and determine if the candidates are still interested in the job.
Once this process is complete, recruiters typically forward the best candidates to the hiring manager. Here again, the hiring manager typically reviews resumes for the desired content and judges whether the candidate can excel at the position.
It’s important to note that the “best” resumes are almost always the ones with all the critical details the employer desires. If the information isn’t there, then the resume stands a far greater chance of being removed from the process.
Essentially, the screening process necessitates that your nursing resume achieves two general goals pertaining to content.
Accomplishing these goals is easier said than done. Each goal has its own set of challenges. We’ll discuss those challenges and provide tips for overcoming them in the sections that follow.
First, it’s important that we have a basic understanding of the 4 general types of content that are applicable to all resumes.
Hard skills have two main characteristics. First, you can learn them in a classroom, from a book, or on the job. Second, they are often quantifiable.
Soft skills are subjective and typically unmeasurable. They are often referred to as “interpersonal skills”. They commonly define how you interact with other people as well as how you manage yourself and your personal responsibilities.
Duties are more general in nature relative to hard and soft skills. Basically, you often utilize your hard and soft skills to accomplish your duties.
Accomplishments convey how well you performed in your previous roles. They are often measurable. However, accomplishments can also involve the achievement of goals, awards and honors.
It’s important to note that the conventional wisdom on resumes contends that your resume should be “accomplishment driven”. Advocates of this approach advise against listing skills and duties on your resume.
However, nursing is a skills-based profession. Healthcare employers need to know that you have experience with the highly technical skills they’re seeking.
At the same time, healthcare employers want to know about your accomplishments too.
Fitting all of this information on your nursing resume is a major challenge. Managing this challenge represents a key difference between nursing resumes and most other resumes.
There are two key solutions to this problem. First, there are certain critical details that every nursing resume should include when applicable. These critical details implicitly convey tons of information so you don’t need to list your duties and skills. We discuss these details below.
Second, use your creative writing skills to frame your nursing skills and duties within statements that convey your accomplishments whenever possible. Essentially, you knock out two birds with one stone. We provide specific examples below.
And remember, not everything on your resume needs to be an accomplishment. The point is to make sure you’re thinking about your accomplishments and including them when you can. This is what will make your nursing resume stand out from the crowd.
Before we put our creative writing skills to work on our nursing resume, it’s best to create lists of potential content we might want to use. This practice is akin to making “word clouds”. However, we’re not going to make a “cloud”; we’re going to make some simple lists.
We recommend that you make lists for the following 6 categories:
Trust us, this is much less work than it seems. You only need to complete the lists that are specific to you one time. Once that’s done, you can focus on making lists that cover the employer’s you apply with, which is relatively quick and easy.
It’s an exercise that will save you tons of time in the long run. It will help you quickly create compelling nursing resumes customized for specific jobs. Let’s take a look at each list in detail.
As we mentioned above, one of the primary goals for our nursing resume is to make sure that it includes content that matches the job requirements. The first step toward that goal is creating a list of terms from the job posting.
It’s a seemingly straightforward process. However, it’s tricky if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Let’s take a look at an example.
Below is a list of terms we pulled from an actual job listing for an ER Nurse. Click this link to view the job listing.
As you can see, this list includes hard skills and soft skills. It also includes a few items you might not think to put on your nursing resume; the shift and employment type for example.
The list also includes mention of the hospital’s values, mission and philosophy. However, these items are not defined. Therefore, you may want to find definitions for them when you research the employer.
The truth is that employer research is most useful for job interviews. However, it doesn’t hurt to conduct employer research to help with your nursing resume.
When conducting employer research for your nursing resume, you want to find details about the employer that converge with your own experience. When you’re successful, it’s a great way to differentiate yourself and gain an edge over other candidates.
Unfortunately, every employer and individual are different. Therefore, we won’t be able to provide an exact example. However, here is a list of considerations:
When we use the term “Job Measurables”, we are referring to anything that is quantifiable. Here are some examples:
Contrary to popular opinion, you can include both individual and team accomplishments on your nursing resume. Here are some examples of accomplishments:
If you have difficulty determining your accomplishments, then we recommend reviewing your previous job performance reports/reviews.
Job duties are difficult to articulate for your nursing resume. To simplify, we recommend that you review your current official job description. This will help you articulate your duties in a way that is standard to the industry.
Almost every employer maintains an official job description for all positions, so it shouldn’t be difficult to obtain. In fact, your previous employers might even provide access to your former job descriptions.
If all else fails, we recommend that you review job advertisements for similar jobs.
Here are some examples:
The nursing profession is absolutely loaded with hard skills. In fact, nearly every nursing specialty has hundreds of hard skills. Here are some examples:
Here are some helpful questions to consider when you develop your own list:
For additional assistance, we recommend that you join BluePipes and complete one of our free nursing skills checklists.
We have skills checklists for every major nursing specialty. You can download them as PDF documents and use them to apply for jobs or bring them to job interviews.
Given that nurses care for patients and commonly work in teams, it’s obvious that soft skills are a very important part of the profession. Here are some examples:
We recommend that you review various job-postings to help you identify potential soft skills to include on your list. Remember, include only those skills that are truly relevant to you.
Obviously, you won’t have enough space to include all the information from your lists on your nursing resume. You will need to determine which details will make the cut. Remember, the two primary objectives are as follows:
Other websites make it sound like you only need to match the content of your resume to the content in the job posting. Doing so, they say, will ensure your resume includes all the content the employer seeks.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. First, employers don’t always include every detail they’re looking for in the job description.
For example, many nursing managers want to know if candidates have experience on units with a similar number of beds to their unit. Therefore, resumes that include this information will get more attention. However, you will rarely if ever see a job description that mentions the number of beds in the unit.
Second, some job descriptions are so massive that you won’t be able to fit all the information on a resume even IF you had all the desired skills and experiences. As a result, you’ll be stuck wondering what to include.
Therefore, we provide a list of the top 10 details to include on your nursing resume. This list is based on over 4 decades of combined experience as recruiters who worked with hundreds of hiring managers. We often say that including these details will never get your resume rejected, but missing them might.
These details will not fill out your entire resume. Rather, they will serve as a base. You can then use your content lists to determine opportunities to shine with specific employers.
Please review this list carefully as you will most likely uncover details which are missing from your nursing resume.
Many employers want to know if you belong to any professional associations. In fact, they’ll often ask about this on their job applications. Membership demonstrates your commitment to honing your skills.
Therefore, if you belong to associations like the American Association of Critical Care Nurses or the Emergency Nurses Association, then include the following details on your nursing resume:
Example professional affiliation statement:
Member of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses since 2014. Secretary of the Sacramento, CA Chapter since 2016, collaborating, sharing best practices and developing leadership skills with local colleagues.
As with all resumes, a nurse’s resume should include any honors and awards they’ve received. Examples include honors and awards from school, work, volunteer work, professional affiliations, and even social clubs.
Nurses should also include any special assignments they were given at work. Did you ever take charge-duty? Did you do any scheduling, mentoring or precepting?
You should also include honors and awards earned by teams that you contributed to. Did your Emergency Department earn a Lantern Award? Did your hospital achieve Magnet Status during your tenure?
You may choose to place these items under their own heading. However, this isn’t necessary. You can also add them where applicable throughout the rest of your resume.
Examples:
Selected as Relief Charge in recognition of demonstrated organizational, leadership and teamwork skills.
Contributed to knowledge management and learning development efforts on a PICU that achieved a gold-level Beacon Award for Excellence during tenure.
Elected President of a Sigma Theta Tau developing honor society and made significant advancements toward chapter status during tenure.
You must include the degree you earned (ADN, ASN, BSN, MSN, etc.). When you don’t include it, recruiters and hiring managers are more likely to remove your resume from consideration in favor of other resumes that include it.
This is because employers almost always have a degree requirement and/or a preference. Meanwhile, the staffing office can’t obtain this information easily on their own.
Here is a list of education details for your nursing resume:
Finally, you may also wish to include details on any continuing education units you’ve taken within the last 2 years.
If you are bilingual, then be sure to include it on your nursing resume! According to a recent study from TalentNeuron, “bilingual” was the second most commonly required skill listed on nursing job advertisements.
Example:
Bachelor of Science, Nursing (BSN) California State University Sacramento, Sacramento, CAWe highly recommend that you include the following for your licenses:
Many people argue that nurses should not put license numbers on their resumes as a matter of privacy. However, nursing license numbers are a matter of public record.
Anyone can easily obtain a license number from a state’s Board of Nursing using the basic information on all resumes. However, the recruiter’s job is easier if you provide the license number. In a competitive job market, that could make all the difference in the world.
When it comes to certifications, we highly recommend that you include the following for every certification you hold:
Example:
RN – Registered Nurse, CA, expires: Dec, 2022, # 625384
BLS – Basic Life Support, AHA – American Heart Association, expires: Dec, 2022
ACLS – Advanced Cardiac Life Support, AHA – American Heart Association, expires: Dec, 2022
Unlike many professions, nurses work round-the-clock. Therefore, your resume should convey the shifts you’re willing to work and indicate your willingness to relocate when applicable.
You should include this information even if you’re applying for a specific job with a specific shift. You never know if the employer has another opening that is unadvertised which you may qualify for.
Moreover, employers store resumes in their ATS for future use. Recruiters will use the ATS to find candidates in their database who match future job requirements.
Availability can have its own heading on your resume. However, it’s best to simply add your availability to your Professional Summary.
Example:
Registered Nurse with over 7 years of Emergency Room experience, willing to work Day Shifts or Night Shifts within a 1-hour drive of Sacramento, CA.
According to a recent study by TalentNeuron, “Electronic Medical Record” was the most commonly required skill in nursing job advertisements. “Epic Software” and “Meditech”, popular EHR software packages, were also on the list.
It’s imperative that you list any and all EHR / EMR experience you have. You may also want to include any other computer experience you have just in case it may be of value to the employer, or to at least demonstrate that you have computer skills if you lack experience with EHRs.
Of course, billing codes are a big part of EHRs. Both ICD10 and ICD 9 are among the most commonly listed skills in nursing job advertisements. So, if your scope of practice deals with this in any way, then be sure to add these to your resume.
You can include a separate heading for Computer Skills on your resume. Or, you can include your computer skills in your resume Summary. You could also mention them in your job descriptions.
Example:
Epic Credentialed Trainer, over 3 years of experience with Meditech, and strong Microsoft Office skills.
Various Facility-Details tell the potential employer a ton about your experience with very few words. Here are some examples:
You can include these details under the specific job description in your resume’s Work History section, or in your resume’s Summary. For example, if the job you’re applying for lists trauma hospital experience as necessary or desired, then it’s a good idea to identify your trauma experience in the resume Summary to make it stand out.
Just like the facility type, bed-counts tell the potential employer a ton about your experience with very few words. Include the following:
Unit details also tell the employer a lot about your experience with few words. Consider including the following details and others like them when available:
The most important thing we want to convey regarding the details you include in your work history is what NOT to do. Simply put, do not list duties one after the other each on a single line. For example:
First, this wastes a lot of space. All of these items could be listed continuously within the same bullet point. More importantly, it fails to differentiate you and demonstrate that you will excel at the job.
Unfortunately, tons of nursing resumes use this approach. We’re not going to. Instead, we’ll combine skills, duties and accomplishments into cohesive statements in order to maximize results with less space.
Provided patient care in a Cardiac ICU that took care of post-coronary intervention patients with IABP’s and Impella heart pumps, and post cardiac arrest patients requiring therapeutic hypothermia.
Integral member of unit’s Quality Assurance Team tasked with identifying and evaluating quality issues, managing patient census, and allocating staff assignments.
Selected as an original team member for the hospital’s new CVICU. Assisted in developing the unit’s policies and procedures and ensuring the unit’s successful launch.
Implemented discharge planning and provided health care education to the patient and significant other to promote recovery.
Selected to collaborate on Patient Satisfaction Taskforce tasked with developing, testing and implementing related policies and procedures.
Achieved highest possible quality review scores for duties realted to training and educating patients and families on ESRD.
Finally, we don’t want to scare you away from listing hard skills on your nursing resume. Again, nursing is a skills-based profession and listing skills is sometimes necessary.
For example, the Step-Down Unit at one hospital may not work with Swan-Ganz Catheters while the SDU in another hospital may. Therefore, you’d want to highlight such skills if you have them. Additionally, you could list skills in order to match the job requirements.
That said, we recommend against a heading specifically for listing skills. Instead, list them with your job details. Or, list them in your summary. For example, you might include the following on your resume if you’re applying for a position in the CVICU:
Proficient with starting IVs, Intra-aortic balloon pumps, 12-Lead Placements, 12-Lead Interpretation, AICD Insertion, Beta Blockers, Argotroban, Atropine and other cardiovascular medications.
Now that we have all our resume content ready, we need to decide on a format and a layout. We’ll discuss format first.
Generally, there are 3 resume formats. Let’s take a quick look at each.
The most common resume format is chronological. It emphasizes the candidate’s work history. It includes sections for Summary, Work History and Education. Work History and Education are listed in reverse chronological order. Hence the name.
A functional resume emphasizes the candidate’s skills, prior responsibilities, accomplishments and various other attributes. A functional resume may or may not include a section for Work History.
Simply put, a combination resume combines the attributes of chronological and functional resumes.
The best resume formats for nurses are the chronological resume and the combination resume. We urge nurses to avoid the functional resume format.
Now, you’ll see many articles on nursing resumes that recommend functional resumes for new-grads, nurses making career transitions, and nurses reentering the workforce after some time away. While this is the generally accepted recommendation for all industries, we believe it’s not a good choice for nurses.
First, if you’re a new-grad, then you can add your clinical rotations in lieu of work history. New-grads can also include work history outside the healthcare field. Select this link to view our article for new-grad and student nursing resumes.
Second, most nursing employers will only consider skills that the candidate utilized on the job within the last 2 to 3 years. As a result, a skills-based resume won’t work for new-grads or nurses who are reentering the workforce after many years away.
The only reason we can imagine for nurses to use a functional resume format is if they are not a new-grad and have absolutely no work history to list. This is a very rare scenario. Again, we urge nurses to use the chronological and combination resume formats.
The “layout” of your nursing resume refers to how you organize content on the page. In theory, there are an infinite number of possible layouts.
However, we can split layouts into two general categories. There are one-column layouts and multi-column layouts.
The traditional resume we’re all used to seeing uses the one-column layout. It’s a classic F or E pattern. Each line spans the width of the page.
People commonly refer to multi-column resumes as “Modern Resumes” or “Contemporary Resumes”. The reader must review content by section as opposed to drawing their eyes down the page while scanning from left to right.
We strongly urge nurses to use the traditional one-column layout. This recommendation is backed by our experience. It’s also backed by numerous studies.
For example, a study from TheLadders in 2018 found that recruiters spend an average of 7.4 seconds on their initial screening of a resume. While we believe this overdramatizes the reality, we agree that you have little time to catch a recruiter’s eye.
Perhaps more importantly, the study found that the top-performing resumes shared several common traits. They are as follows:
The worst-performing resumes also shared common traits. They are as follows:
As you can see, the research strongly supports a traditional one-column layout for your nursing resume.
The research also supports the use of clearly marked section and title headers. Below is a list of potential headings or sections for your nursing resume. We also indicate if we feel the section is required, optional, or if you should avoid it altogether.
Your name serves as the title header for your personal information. Include the following personal information atop your nursing resume:
Also, you should consider creating an email address just for job search purposes. You should also consider using burner phone numbers. Unfortunately, many job boards and related services sell your contact information to third parties who will inundate you with marketing messages.
You should list your nursing credentials after your full name in your Personal Information atop your nursing resume. According to the American Nurses Credentialing Center, they should be listed in the following order:
Many articles and advisers recommend that new-grads and others with little experience use an Objective instead of a Summary. They assert that there isn’t anything to summarize. Therefore, it’s better to provide an Objective that tells the employer what your goals are.
We, and many experts, completely disagree. First, everyone has a Summary to provide. Additionally, you can always include an Objective-Statement in your Summary.
That said, we firmly believe that you should avoid telling the employer how they can help you. And that’s essentially what Objective Statements do. Objectives almost always say, “Hey, here is my employment goal, help me achieve it.”
Instead, use every opportunity to convey why and how you will excel at the job. That’s what a summary is good for. Summaries say, “I’m the solution to your problem. Here is why.”
As mentioned above, studies show that resumes with clearly defined Summary headings perform better than those without. The Summary is a place for you to provide a quick, intriguing snapshot of who you are and how you can help the employer achieve their goals.
Select this link to discover how to write an amazing Summary for your nursing resume.
As we mentioned above, we strongly recommend a title-heading for Licenses and Certifications. Every nursing job requires them. Therefore, they should be prominently displayed on your nursing resume.
Please select this link to view the information we recommend you include.
Many articles recommend that nurses include a title-heading for Nursing Skills on their resume. We recommend that you avoid doing this for several reasons.
First, a skills title-heading is the cornerstone of a functional resume. We want to avoid this resume format at all costs.
Second, we recommend that you include a select set of skills within carefully crafted statements. You should select the skills based on the job description, employer research, rarity of the skill and/or demand for the skill.
Third, if you include the details we recommended above, then you’re already giving the reader a thorough idea of your skill set. For example, if you list that you previously worked in a 32 bed ICU at a level 1 Trauma and Teaching Hospital, then the reader has a very good idea of your skill set.
Finally, we want to avoid “keyword stuffing”. The study we cited above found this practice is counterproductive. Our experience indicates the same. A Skills section almost always involves keyword stuffing.
It goes without saying that the Work History title-heading is required on your nursing resume. Throughout this article, we’ve offered tips on what to include in this section. Below is an example:
Work History University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville, TN Staff RN, Apr 01, 2015 – Present24 bed ICU in a 581 bed Level I trauma and academic medical center. Recipient of Magnet, Comprehensive Stroke and Comprehenesive Cardiac Center designations.
Traditionally, career advisers recommended that you prominently display the names of employers on your resume. More recently, many recommend that you prominently display the job title on your resume instead. So, what should you do?
Well, the argument for highlighting job titles asserts that job titles say more about your experience and qualifications than do employer names. However, this isn’t always the case in nursing.
For example, “Staff RN” is a very common job title in nursing. You could be a Staff RN at a Long Term Care Facility, a Rehabilitation Center or a Level 1 Trauma Acute Care Hospital.
Therefore, we recommend that you highlight the names of your employers in most cases. The person reviewing your resume will know more about your experience if they see “UCLA Medical Center” than if they see “Staff RN”.
It also goes without saying that the Education title-heading is required on your nursing resume. Below is an example:
Associate of Science, Nursing (ASN) Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA, 2005-2008The sections below are all optional. You may choose to include them for any number of reasons. Also, these sections are good to add if you have limited work history and have chosen to use a Combination Format for your nursing resume.
A Specialties title-heading is the best way to make your specialties stand out. It’s also a great way to add some white-space to your resume, which will make it easier to read. Here is an example:
Specialties ICU – Intensive Care Unit (5 years of experience) SDU – Stepdown Unit (2 years of experience)You can add Specialty information in your Summary if you prefer. This will save space, but it will not stand out on the page as prominently.
As we mentioned above, computer skills are becoming increasingly important in the healthcare industry. Below is an example:
Computer Skills Epic: 7 years Meditech: 3 yearsAs we mentioned above, professional affiliations are important to many hiring managers. Below is an example:
Professional Affiliations AACN – American Association of Critical Care Nurses Sacramento Chapter – Member since 2014Of course, Honors and Awards are what resumes are all about! If you have many to highlight, or even a couple of prestigious ones, then you may choose to include a title-heading for them. Below is an example:
Honors and AwardsDAISY Award – Received over a dozen nominations. Award winner for November, 2018. (http://www.daisyfoundation.org/daisy-award/honorees/your-name)
Dianne Lanham Award Winner, 2018 – Recognizes the importance of leadership competencies as a component of nursing practice at the point of direct care.
Nurses are among the most caring and compassionate group of folks in any community. They routinely engage in volunteer work and greatly appreciate that their peers do as well.
If you have a consistent and long-tenured history of volunteer work, then you should certainly consider including a title-heading to highlight it on your nursing resume. Below is an example:
Volunteer WorkMercy Ships: Spent two weeks in 2016 and 2017 providing patient care in the Operating Room of the Africa Mercy, the world’s largest NGO hospital ship.
Loaves and Fishes: 2015 – Present: Provide assistance in multiple areas including resource allocation / distribution and clinic support.
Resume formatting involves things like fonts, margins, sizing, etc. Resume formatting affects both the humans and the applicant tracking systems that read your resume.
As the study we cited above indicates, humans respond better to resumes with clean fonts and appealing white-space. Meanwhile, images and various uncommon formatting characteristics can confuse applicant tracking systems.
Follow these formatting tips to make sure your nursing resume is appealing to humans and software.
The margins on your resume will affect how much content you can fit on one page.
However, margins also affect the amount of white-space on your resume.
Too much content makes your resume look busy and cluttered, which we don’t want.
Using 1-inch (1”) margins all around the document is the standard approach. That said, most experts agree that margins of .5” to 1” are best for your resume.
Whatever you choose to do, just make sure that the top margin is equal to the bottom margin and the left margin is equal to the right margin.
The conventional wisdom contends that resumes should be 1 page. As a result, many people are tempted to use tiny margins and cram as much as they can on one page.
Please don’t do that! The conventional wisdom is wrong. In fact, 2-page resumes are actually more successful.
If you’re still not convinced, please review our article on nursing resume length. Either way, please do not cram your resume with content just to make everything fit on one page!
Simply put, your nursing resume should use a font that is standard, common and simple. Do not use cursive, calligraphy or handwriting fonts. Also, do not use fonts with awkward angles or variances in font weights.
Here is a list of clean, simple fonts for your nursing resume:
Most resume resources recommend a minimum font size of 10pt. However, it’s a little more complicated than that.
Different fonts have different units of measurement. Therefore, the size of Times New Roman using 10pt is much smaller than Arial using 10pt.
We agree that you should not use less than 10pt for any font type, but the minimum size for certain font types, like Times New Roman, should be 12pt. You’ll need to run some comparisons between fonts to determine whether the base font size for a particular font type is small or large.
With that in mind, you also want to use different font sizes and font weights to highlight certain aspects of your nursing resume. It’s good to experiment with this aspect of your resume, but the table below will help:
| Content Type | Font Size | Font Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Your Name | 20pt – 24pt (2x the Description font size) | Bold |
| Your Contact Information | 10pt – 12pt | Normal |
| Section Headings | 14pt – 16pt | Bold |
| Employers (or Job Titles) | 12pt – 14pt | Optional (Bold or Normal) |
| Descriptions | 10pt – 12pt | Normal |
Unfortunately, the internet is littered with misinformation and outdated information on what document types are best for resumes. This is largely the result of misconceptions about which document types applicant tracking systems can handle. So, let’s set the record straight for nursing resumes.
First, the ATS will let you know what document types it supports. For example, most ATS’s will display supported document types in clear view. The example below is from Davita Kidney Care. They use WorkDay which is one of the largest applicant tracking systems.
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Moreover, nearly every applicant tracking system will prevent you from uploading unsupported document types. The example below is from Dignity Health. They use iCims which is one of the largest applicant tracking systems.
Select image to enlarge
A significant percentage of nursing jobs will go through one of the following ATS’s:
ALL of these ATS’s will let you know what document types they support. And they ALL support PDF and .doc formats among others. In fact, it’s difficult to find an ATS that does not support these document types.
We recommend you name your nursing resume document as follows:
We’ve mentioned several things to avoid throughout this article. Here are some additional items to avoid on your nursing resume:
Kudos to you for making it through our nursing resume guide! We’re confident that you’ll create an amazing resume by following the tips herein.
Below are some sample nursing resumes so you can see everything in action. We created these resumes with the free nursing resume builder on BluePipes.
BluePipes helps you manage your entire nursing career on one platform. You can create career related documents and manage your licenses, certifications and clinical records all for free. Join today to simplify your nursing career!
Select a link or image to view the sample nursing resume:
Good luck with your nursing job search!
https://blog.bluepipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/nursing-resume-writing-guide-2021-enfold.png 321 845 BluePipes, Inc https://blog.bluepipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/bluepipes-logo-blog-7g7.png Kyle Schmidt Top 10 Details to Include on a Nursing Resume and 2021 Writing Guide
72 replies alexandria soros says:I am wondering how to list my experience as a maternal-child float RN of 2+ years. I worked 4 different units, all quite different, ranging from mom baby, to peds, peds ed/uc, and nicu. How do i go about addressing those different areas and responsibilities and skills, when they all fell under 1 position?
bricallia says:Thank you for the information, its very helpful. This site is of so much help to me. thank you, and it is also free. Its amazing, I just can’t appreciate it enough I was wondering, i am a one year experience nurse at a step down ICU (PCU), I am now looking for a job in an ICU. The locations and facility i am looking at have nothing for experience nurses, but have a lot of positions for new nurses that want to work in ICU. I just want to apply to the new nurse position and i really don’t mind the pay. Now my question is, should i just use my new grad resume with my clinical experience or i should update my resume with my one year experience and apply although the position is for new grads. please i will really appreciate any advise. thanks you
Bricallia
Hi Kyle, How can I include my Medical-Surgical Certification from ANCC on my resume. Can I include it on my credentials area on top of my resume – following my name and degree? I ask because the ANCC instructs to do so on their website. I’ll be honest it’s somewhat confusing though, at least to me. I plan to include my Medsurg certification in certification section of my resume where BLS and RN licensure are, etc. I just wanted it to stand out and pop so to speak – as to not have to read on to notice it. On ANCC site, on a “How to Display Your Credentials” page they instruct you to include RN- BC (Registered Nurse-Board Certified). Was hoping you could clarify or add something else. Great web site … thanks. Regards,
Jesse
I hope this helps!
Karen says:I have been working out of the acute care setting in public health nursing for 7 years. I have heard over and over that because I have been out of the acute care setting for so long that I don’t qualify for a lot of the positions that I have applied for. Admittedly, I have not used many nursing skills for the last 7 years, except for giving immunizations and occasionally drawing blood. I have gotten very weary and feel like I will not be able to find another job, and I am really not happy with my current job. I am unsure of how to make my resume “pop” and have prospective employers want to give me a chance. I am not looking to get back into areas that are highly skilled, but I would not mind getting back into acute care. Any ideas.
Katie says:Kurt, I am an RN at a VA hospital in cardiac telemetry. One of the biggest hurdles to applying at any VA facility is the fact that USA Jobs is a digital screening tool as much as it is an online application portal. Matching as many keywords in the functional statements for your desired role in your application can be the difference between getting an interview and being passed over. Hope this helps!
Jessica says:Hello Kyle, In your article you talked about whether or not your previous/current employer received recognition or rewards. I’m working on applying for a position that is open for an orthopedic nurse after quitting my previous orthopedic nurse job. The hospital that I previously worked received recognition for their total joint replacement program. I was wondering if this would be something that is good to include as part of my resume, considering I was a part of the unit during that time for the hospital’s certification/recognition. If so, how would you go about including that in without making it seem just a random fact listed and make it more as an accomplishment for myself also since I was a part of that unit/team during that time. Thank you,
Jessica
Thanks for the inquiry, Jessica. Yes, this is definitely something you can include on your resume. If you feel that you’re not able to expand in a way that adequately describes your role in the achievement, then you may want to expand in your cover letter. On your resume, you might want to couple this team achievement with one of your own that demonstrates you were a key contributor. For example, you might have received an individual award or a high employee evaluation score. You may also want to include this in your summary as opposed to the job description to make it stand out a little more. I hope this helps!
Susan Leong says:Hello Kyle, I am an experienced OR nurse who has performed in just about every surgery setting from Open heart to Ophthalmology, outpatient as well as pre-op admitting and recovery In the past I have managed a surgery department at a busy hospital and also ran a surgery center. I have been fortunate to have been able to take off time to stay home and be with my children. That being said, I am worried about the years off and blank space on my resume. How would you go about filling in the gap? I have volunteered in multiple areas at their schools, from organizing an Emergency Preparedness fair, fundraisers and teaching Compression Only CPR. My license and continuing CEU’s have always rained current. Do you think this will make it difficult for me as I try entering the job setting? I appreciate any suggestions you might have.
Thank you,
Susan
Hey Susan, Thanks for the inquiry. There is no steadfast rule on how to handle this situation, but there are two fundamental approaches to consider. First, you can consider a “Functional Resume.” Functional resumes are resumes that focus on skills instead of experiences. In your case, you would focus on all of your OR experience. You might have a small section to list your previous employers. or you may even choose to leave it out entirely. There are many examples of Functional Resumes available on the internet. Second, you could use a traditional chronological resume. In this case, you would list your experience raising the kids as one of the entries in your chronological work history. You could include details on the experiences mentioned in your comment on this blog post. Again, there is no right or wrong way. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. To answer your question, yes, this situation is always a bit of challenge. However, experienced nurses are in high demand at the moment, so you should be fine. Also, I’m personally inclined to recommend the chronological format. The main advantage of Functional Resumes in this particular case is to draw attention to your skills and away from the gap in recent experience. However, employers are going to find the gap no matter what. So, I think it’s best to embrace it. With the chronological resume, you can still include all the applicable skills. I hope this helps!
I have worked in home health and corrections for about 5 years now. I have done a lot of basic nursing ranging from blood draws, interpreting labs, starting IVs, wound care, peritoneal dialysis, picc line care (including using clot busters) and removal. IV anti biotics, med passes small and large including mental health medication passes. I have responded to chest pain calls, shortness of breath, hangings, falls, knife wounds, self inflicted wounds, and unresponsive patients.
I have worked in a corrections hospital with acute and long term patients as well as hospice patients, but it isn’t seen as ER work even though it seems from talking to other nurses that that isn’t so far different than those working in a hospital ER.. Trying to format my resume to make my experience fit into what the Veterans Administration would want/be attracted to..
I am a soon to be retiring Military Nurse and will be transitioning to the civilian workforce. How important are listing awards? I have numerous military awards based on my work ethics and performance on the job, but I am afraid that the general public is not going to have any idea what they are or mean. Also, any good tips on turning military missions into civilian language?
Hey Chris, Thanks for your service!! I think it’s a great idea to add the awards to your resume. You could do one of two things. Simply list them out by their official name. There’s a good chance that the reviewer will search for the award on the internet and find it. Or, you could add a very brief description of the award in parentheses. For example: X Award (earned for valor in action). Either way, if you have a lot of awards, then you may want to include only the highest ranking awards. If you choose to list many of them, then put them in columns or in a continuous stream separated by commas to save space. Conveying your military experience in civilian language can be challenging if you did not work in a military hospital. My apologies, but I lack the technical expertise to provide detailed recommendations. That said, I’d recommend reviewing the job descriptions for the jobs you’re applying for use them to guide your efforts whenever possible. I hope this helps and thanks again!
Emily says:I have a position working in a “float pool” (we call it the Mobile Unit). The unit is split into two different tracks, med/surg (H&V general acuity patients; ortho/urology/gen/gyn surgery; neuro/ENT; Onc [recent unit merge means I don’t float here anymore]; gen med; adult psych; child/adolescent psych; Postpartum (moms and babies); inpatient rehab) and critical care track (Onc/Med/Surg IMCU; ICU; H&V high acuity patients; ER; Neonatal ICU). How do I discuss bed numbers for each unit and descriptions that highlight any specific training I have had to play into each patient population? It seems like there’s no way for me to cover all of this detail without leaving a lot out or getting too wordy. I also accepted a critical care position, but have not transitioned yet. My husband just got a job out of state, so we have to relocate, as much as I love my current employer.
Hey Emily,
This is a great question; thanks for posting it here! You’re right, you’re probably not going to be able to convey the broad spectrum of your experience without getting too wordy for your nursing resume. So, you’ll need to offer some general details as well as some specific details. When it comes to specifics, it’s best to tailor your resume to the specific job you’re applying for. Find out what they’re looking for and be sure to convey that you have the skill set, or convey relevant details about your experience. I believe this is the most important consideration for your resume. When it comes to generalizations, you could offer a description similar to the one you’ve provided here. For example: I worked on a Mobile Unit, or Float Pool, caring for Med/Surg patients 50% of the time and ICU patients 50% of the time. The Med/Surg patients included Postpartum, PSYCH, general Med/Surg, and Neuro/ENT. The ICU patients included ER, NICU and general ICU. Unit sizes varied from 5 beds up to 25 beds. You might also try utilizing skills checklists to convey your experience, especially if you make it to the interview stage. Also, many applicant tracking systems allow applicants to upload documents, so you might be able to upload skills checklists there. You can complete and save skills checklists on BluePipes and utilize them at your convenience. I hope this information helps!
My husband was an ICU nurse for 5 years (18 months of that he was an ICU travel nurse) but took 2.5 years off to work in another field. He’s now applying for nursing positions as we prepare to move. Should he address the clinical gap in his resume? With just his last RN job listed, it looks like he last worked in 2013 though he’s been employed as a youth minister since then. How should he handle this?
Hey Rebecca, Yes, you should address the gap in the resume. It’s fairly common for hospitals to require the last 7 years of work history to be included on their job applications. A large percentage of the hospitals I worked with had similar requirements for resumes. Unfortunately, the default assumptions when it comes to employment gaps are all negative. Do your best to tie the experience into nursing. I believe most career advisers would recommend the same. I hope this information helps!
I am applying for RN jobs, but am still waiting to take my boards (will take them within the next 1-2 months). How should I address this on my resume?
Hey Michaela, You may want to add an excerpt under Licenses and Certifications or your Summary (or wherever appropriate) that provides the date you’re scheduled to take the exam. For example: RN: Scheduled for NCLEX on July 9, 2015. I hope this helps!
Thank you! I think that’s what i’ll do. Emily says:For a new graduate of a second-degree BSN program, would you recommend including GPA (3.9) on a resume?
Thanks for the question, Emily! Yes, I recommend adding a great GPA to your nursing resume. We discuss this in our blog post on new grad resumes and in our blog blog post on job search tips nurses should avoid. Many people argue that your GPA doesn’t matter. They say that all that matters is that you’re licensed. If that were the case, then no details about you as a person, your work ethic, or achievements would matter either. And we know that’s not true. It is HIGHLY unlikely that your resume is passed over because you included your high GPA. Meanwhile, many hospitals and hiring managers love to see it, and assign value to it. So yes, by all means, add it. I hope this helps! Great work, by the way!
Debbie Ruth says:Hi Kyle, I am wondering if I should include phone numbers for my previous employers? If yes, which number should I use – the general number, the unit, or HR? Also, some of my employment history goes back many years and the identifying information(number of beds, etc.) has changed. I do not have the correct information from when I worked there. How should I list this information? Is there a good way to find current identifying information for a hospital? Thanks in advance for your response. Debbie
Hey Debbie! Thanks for posting these great questions! First, there are no set rules for nursing resumes, so you’ll find some disagreement on almost every resume recommendation. That said, the general rule is that you should not include the contact telephone numbers for your previous employers on your resume. In fact, you don’t need to include the complete address either. The city and state will suffice for your resume. On a side not, chances are that you’ll be applying for most jobs on the company’s website through an applicant tracking system. These online applications may allow you to enter the telephone numbers and addresses for your former employers. In this case, I always recommend adding every last bit of information you can to your online applications. Again though, that’s separate from your resume. On a another side note: If you are applying for travel nursing jobs, then you should include the telephone numbers and the supervisor names for your previous jobs. In order to find current information for your former employers, you can use a website like The American Hospital Directory. They have a free hospital profile lookup tool. I recommend using the “advanced search” for best results. Please note that the links to these pages are underlined in blue. Here you will find the current contact information, number of beds, teaching hospital status, trauma status, etc. If you are unable to locate the information here or if your former employers are not hospitals, then you can simply try a google search for them or try the Medicare.gov site. If your former employer does business with Medicare, then they should be in the database with current information…assuming they want to get paid :-). Now, about your older work history. Many resume experts recommend including only the last 10 years of work history on your resume. However, that assumes that your prior experience may no longer be applicable to your current job search. Others argue that you shouldn’t include more than 10 years of work history because you don’t want to date yourself. They’re concerned about “ageism” in the hiring process. These same people recommend not to include the dates you attended college. Ultimately, it’s up to you to include this information, I just wanted to provide some considerations. I hope this information helps. Please let me know if there are further questions! Thanks,
Kyle
Help! I have over 22 years of clinical experience including ICU, hemodialysis, and outpatient surgery ctr (pre and pacu), and for the last 6 years (in addition to the 22 years) I’ve been reading electronic charts to extract data and support level of care (I’m told this is utilization review by a friend but we never called it that in work). Now Ive been laid off (it was a large comp layoff). I’m trying to get into QA, UR, pre cert or case managment. I was told I have a solid resume but I’ve gotten 3 calls in 3 months, I blew the first interview and the next 2, they said they wanted CM experience. What do I need to do to get into these fields? Any suggestions?
We’re sorry to hear about your current situation! It’s always difficult to break into an entirely new field. However, it sounds as though you have some experience to build on. Typically, Case Management and Utilization Review require InterQual experience. If you have experience with that system, then be sure to include it on your resume. Otherwise, see if you can obtain some training in it. Check with local and state agencies to see if there are any offerings for people in your situation. Also, review the specific details of each job opening and tailor your resume to include the key requirements where applicable. Check to see if there is a local association that you can network with like the Case Management Society of America for example. Ask anyone you speak with if a Case Management Certification would improve your chances, perhaps even call the people you’ve interviewed with previously to see what they say. If so, look into certification. We hope this information helps!
Raquel says:Hello Kyle,
I have been reading through some of this thread and was wondering if you do any resume/cover letter revisions? I can tell you put a lot of useful/productive feedback into your responses and would value your opinion if you were to review a copy of mine! P.S. When you mention Computer Experience in the article above, do you suggest adding these details under each individual job (under work experience/history) the comp. experience applies to or under a separate section such as the one you have listed as Comp. Experience? Thank you for all your time and effort!
Hi Raquel!
Thanks for reaching out! My sincerest apologies, but I do not do resume/cover letter revisions. Thanks so much for your interest though. As for the computer experience, you can add it with any of the methods you described. The important thing is that it’s there. The resume builder on BluePipes.com lists computer experience under a separate heading. We do this as way to ensure that members recognize and record it and perspective employers and recruiters are able to easily locate the details on the members’ profiles and resumes. Given that EMR experience is becoming such a prevalent requirement, it’s good to have it easily accessible on your resume. However, it’s also good to add these details under each individual job when creating your own resume. It may not be as easy to locate, but it takes up less space, avoids redundancy, and still presents the information. We hope this information helps!
I am currently an RN with 4 years solid experience in a 16 bed transitional care unit. Now I’m trying to move to a more challenging position. Prior to immigrating to America I was a medical doctor for 9 years in ER. Would it be wise to mention that experience? …maybe describing my duties and medical college?
David Hildreth says:Kyle,
I work in a program that enrolls military medic and corpsman and gives credit for their military experience towards an intensive BSN-RN program. My question is what should the graduates highlight on their resumes? Many have extensive trauma and nursing care experience. Suggestions?
Hi! I have a question / concern. I just finished my 2nd year of nursing and on a med Surg unit. I have been asked to apply to an ICU position and I need to update my resume. I don’t know what to include. Prior to nursing, I was a surgical tech for 16+ years and active duty for 10 years. I really enjoyed your blog and will refer to it when updating my resume! Thanks- Abbey
Hey Abbey, We’re glad to hear the information was useful. Congratulations on being asked to apply for an ICU position. That’s a good sign! 🙂 Sounds like you have a lot of great experience to include on your resume. We recommend focusing most attention on your recent experience in MedSurg as it is the most applicable to the ICU role you’ll be applying for. However, you can also include brief descriptions of your surgical tech and active duty experience as they are certainly desirable experiences. Relate all your work history descriptions to the ICU position. To do so, find out as much as possible about the job and the unit. We hope this helps!!
Windy says:Oh MY! I’m sooOOO grateful to have found your blog page! I was about to do my sister a grave disservice –as you’ve mentioned. Indeed, the day of the one page crammer is passe’. Especially with the value of the keyword in electronic filing. Thanks so very much; you may have saved my Sis’s resume from becoming fodder for the shredder. [[shudder]] ~Wendy
We’re glad to hear the information is useful. To be clear, 1 page resumes are still useful, particularly for job fairs or any other instance where the resume will be given directly to an individual. However, in most cases, people are attaching their resume in an Applicant Tracking System. In this case, it’s still good to be brief and choose your words wisely. Don’t be overly verbose and don’t “keyword stuff.” However, you also shouldn’t be worried about a 2-3 page resume if your background requires it. Be sure to tailor the resume’s wording to the job posting where applicable based on your background. We hope this helps!
Leigh says:Thank you for this article! I realized that my resume was not up to par by reading this. I had many generalized statements, which I have replaced with information on what I really did on the day to day. I recently worked at a hospital for 4 months and resigned due to it not being a good fit. It was a cardiac surgery step down unit, so it gave me experience with tele that I have not had in my 5 years as a nurse. Should I include it on my resume?
You’re welcome! We’re glad to hear you found the information useful. This is a tough question. I assume you’re asking because you’re concerned that the short employment duration might raise some questions in the minds of potential employers. That’s a valid concern. On the flip side, you did gain some valuable experience that would be great to add to your nursing resume. There is another issue to consider. Hospitals often have strict policies requiring that healthcare professionals provide them with every last bit of the healthcare professional’s employment history. Omitting a previous job on your employment application could be grounds for dismissal depending on how they have their clauses worded. Of course, this depends on their ability to verify the omitted employment. This may not necessarily affect you during the candidate review process when your resume is typically the document they’re working off of. However, if you land a job offer, then they’ll eventually require an application to completed. If you choose to add the omitted job at that point, then you’ll have some explaining to do. Utltimatly, the decision is yours. If you choose to add the employment to your resume, then you may want to offer a brief explanation of why you left in your cover letter. It’s all about the story you tell. We hope this helps.
Kristin C says:This is all great information but I do have a question. I am a recent BSN grad and licensed RN trying to land my first job. Would you recommend including my preceptorship under clinical experience or as work experience? I have seen it both ways in examples online.
Thanks, Kristin. We’re glad to hear this information on was useful. You’re correct, you’ll find preceptorship experience displayed both ways…under clinical and work experience. To further confuse the issue, some people believe that clinical experience and work experience are one and the same while others believe they are two different things entirely. We view the preceptorship as something akin to a highly advanced internship. For all intents and purposes, it is work experience. However, it doesn’t constitute a traditional employment relationship. Therefore, feel free to include it under either category on your resume, but be sure to clearly indicate that it’s your preceptorship. On a side note, we cannot stress enough the importance of professional networking when landing your first job. 70%-80% of all jobs are obtained through networking. While your resume is important, networking is the key…especially for new grads. We hope this information helps. Best of luck!!
Heidi F says:Great info – I could have used that for my last job application! Do you have any tips / strategies to prepare for job interviews? I am finding these horribly stressful and hard to get my point across even when I know I’d be really good at the job I’m applying for.
Thanks, Heidi! We don’t have any blog posts regarding interviews yet. Thanks for the suggestion. We’ll explore the topic soon.
