Frequently asked resume questions for nursing students and recent nurses

Required elements of a nursing resume change often, so for nursing students and recent nurses, knowing crucial elements and doing them well may help them land their first or next nursing role. But what details ought to be included and what ought to be omitted?

Covering all features of a nursing resume may be daunting, but identifying and highlighting your entire clinical experience, soft skills, and work or volunteer history will make you stand out. Here are some often asked questions on nursing resumes for college students and recent nurses.

Should I include clinical rotations on my resume?

Clinical rotations immerse you within the healthcare environment and introduce you to a wide range of specialties and complicated medical environments. You will want to spotlight these instances. Having a bit dedicated to students’ clinical experiences highlights your knowledge and skills.

Rutgers University School of Nursing provides several resume examples that cover various ways to spotlight clinical rotations. One example is the section titled “Student Clinical Experience,” which recommends listing all health care settings by which you accomplished major rotations (e.g., pediatrics, obstetrics, psychiatry, medicine/surgery). There isn’t any need to offer an excessive amount of detail about each item aside from the situation, setting, variety of hours, and the yr and season (e.g., spring 2022).

You can mention any significant experiences you’ve had or skills you’ve acquired, akin to working with ventilators or helping with procedures akin to inserting an IV, within the bulleted list below your clinical experience. If you’ve accomplished an internship or internship, be sure you include these details. These cases may be listed within the “Professional Experience” section. You’ll want to spotlight your responsibilities in each position, in addition to the abilities you’ve got acquired, akin to becoming more efficient at charting or taking a patient’s vital signs.

Once you begin your first job as a registered nurse (RN), clinical rotations and externships not should be interchanged. If you might be already a Licensed Practical Nurse/Licensed Vocational Nurse (LPN/LVN), Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), or Patient Care Technician with recent experience, there isn’t a must list your clinical rotation. You would simply list the positions you held after earning these credentials.

Do I would like to say skilled experience aside from nursing?

Non-nursing work experience highlights the flexibility of your skills, so it’s best to definitely include it in your CV. Whether you are a nurse in your second and even third position, or a nursing graduate with minimal work experience, you’ve experience you may draw on.

Valuable skills you’ve got learned in other positions (e.g., budgeting, writing, sales, or office management) may overlap with the attributes and soft skills you’ll have in a nursing role. Even a lifeguard or a waitress speaks volumes about your character and qualities.

In accordance with CV guidelines from Northwestern University in St. PaulIt’s also an excellent idea to offer non-nursing work history if you’ve employment gaps or limited nursing-related work experience. Adding these instances also can show your adaptability in several work environments.

Should I add activities related to highschool and volunteering?

If you’ve held a leadership role at college or in knowledgeable association, akin to your local association chapter National Association of Student Nurses, place it within the category titled “Leadership and Volunteer Experience.” Also take into consideration any special academic recognition or acknowledgment you’ve received, akin to being named to the dean’s list or graduating magna cum laude, and add them to this section.

Avoid including highschool coursework as this experience could also be considered irrelevant on knowledgeable resume. Volunteering or community service is one other essential a part of a nurse’s resume. Examples of volunteering include helping at a homeless shelter, a blood bank, Meals on Wheels, or youth groups. Please don’t hesitate to explain more if you’ve volunteered.

If you’ve received special recognition or an award on your community service or other related activity, you’ll want to highlight it. For example, in the event you hosted a blood drive at your school or read to residents at a nursing home, describe these occasions intimately.

Does my CV must be on one page? What format details should I consider?

According to the Yale University School of Nursing: Your CV ought to be one to 2 pages long in length. The university also recommends a margin of 0.5 inch or larger, a text size of 11 points, and a normal font akin to Times New Roman to make sure readability. When constructing your CV, additionally it is essential to take care of consistency.

Make sure your spacing, indents, bullets and capitalization follow the identical structure as this can make your CV easy to know. Additionally, when describing your job responsibilities inside each job history, ensure that that motion verbs are written up to now tense – except on your current position. For example, in the event you previously held a position in a physician’s office, you’ll write your duties as: “Assist with the patient admission process.” Ask a friend, classmate or member of the family to examine your CV.

A second set of eyes may help ensure that the whole lot looks and reads appropriately. In fact, an article In Journal of Nursing Education showed how helpful this practice may be. Once nursing students were interviewed and had their resumes reviewed, they received practical suggestions that they might apply to their future resumes. Peer review may be an efficient practice for catching potential formatting errors or missing information.

Is a canopy letter required on your CV?

A canopy letter – often one page long – provides a more personalized introduction to who you might be professionally. It also allows potential employers to learn why you wish to work for them while expressing your passion for nursing and other special interests.

Although cover letters could seem dated, they complement the points in your CV and highlight certain skills or experiences you’ve had. You invite potential employers to learn in regards to the features of your profession and education that you just value most.

According to Duke UniversityWhen writing a canopy letter, it’s best to also consider the next elements.

• — When crafting your cover letter, you will need to ensure that you make an excellent first impression. In the primary paragraph, it’s best to include attention-grabbing information describing why you might be one of the best candidate for this position.
• Duke University suggests creating statements that “go beyond” what other applicants use. So collecting certain experiences and highlighting them in a singular way will assist you to stand out. For example, you may describe tasks you performed in specific positions that required high precision. You can then relate these experiences to the abilities required for the nursing position you might be applying for.
• A canopy letter is a chance to indicate who you might be. There are a wide range of ways to do that, but a method is to attach your talents, interests, and experience to features of the organization’s values ​​or mission. This implies that you’ve done research on the organization or facility to know who they’re and what they stand for.
• When describing the skill set or trait you embody, be clear and factual. When potential hiring managers or recruiters read your cover letter, they are going to need to see examples of skills and traits that match the experiences in your resume.

As you create your nursing resume and begin applying to potential employers, be sure you highlight the whole lot you completed at school, during clinical rotations, internships, volunteering, and more. By incorporating all of those elements and highlighting your experience, you take a crucial first step toward your recent nursing journey.