Nursing Resume Examples, Skills and Keywords

Nurses are responsible for the majority of patient care work. Nurses and their assistants are found everywhere, from assisted living facilities and primary care clinics to operating rooms. They’re responsible for making sure that patients are comfortable and healthy.

Even with high demand, you still need a strong resume if you want to get a job that you’ll love. Your resume is your best chance to show employers that you have the qualifications they want. The resume you’d write for a registered nurse job won’t get you a job as a nurse practitioner, because it won’t include the right qualifications.

You’ll get better results if you target your resume for the job you want. Employers can tell when you’re using a generic resume, and most hiring managers are more interested in tailored, unique resumes than boilerplate applications. Take the time to revise your application for a specific position to show that you care about it

The easiest way to learn how to write a good resume is to read good resumes. These three nursing resume examples can help you decide how to tailor your resume to the job you want.

Since many nursing positions involve specialized skills, hiring managers vet their candidates carefully. Many hiring teams use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to do their initial filtering so that they can save time. These systems look for specific keywords in your application, passing resumes with the right skill and terms to the hiring team and remove the rest. If you don’t include the right keywords for the job, a human being might never see your resume.

The nursing field is broad and spans a range of salaries, from entry-level positions to roles that require doctorates. Roles that require more schooling usually pay better. If you want to work in nursing, you can significantly improve your earning potential by committing to additional education.

All nursing jobs require a certain amount of specialized knowledge. The important thing for you is the amount of knowledge each role needs.

Nursing assistants need the fewest qualifications. The education requirements vary from state to state, but they usually involve several months of training, followed by a nursing assistant certification test. If you pass this test, you’re officially a licensed Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA).

Registered nurses have more responsibilities and require more training. They’re “registered” because they’re required to pass the National Council Licensure Examination Registered Nurse (NCLEX) examination. Prospective test-takers need to get an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in nursing before they can take the NCLEX.

Finally, nurse practitioners are registered nurses who have received additional degrees, whether it be a master’s or doctoral degree, in Science of Nursing. These programs include clinical rotations, like those done by doctors, and a research thesis. After attaining these higher levels of education, they’re certified to be a patient’s primary care provider.

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