new grad rn resume help

6 New Grad Nursing Resume Examples + How To Write

Are you a new grad nurse or about to complete your nursing degree? If so, congratulations on your impressive accomplishment! At this point, you may be wondering what is your next action in the strategy to secure a job. If so, read on for vital information to help you successfully navigate the unchartered territory of finding employment as a nurse. Preparing a top-notch resume is an essential step in securing a position after graduation. When thinking about how to compose a resume, you might ask, what are some exceptional examples of new grad nursing resumes? This article, 6 best new grad nursing resume examples, will guide you through the process of creating a professional new grad nursing resume that is sure to impress. Additionally, well-structured resume examples will visually aid you in designing your resume that is sure to catch the eye of your future employer.

What Exactly Is A New Grad Nursing Resume?

How is a new grad nursing resume different from an experienced nursing resume, 4 reasons why an exceptional resume makes a difference to new grad nurses, 1. you may be competing with experienced nurses-, 2. there may be many candidates-, 3. highlights new skills-, 4. helps to get your foot in the door-, what are some exceptional examples of new grad nursing resumes, example #1: resume of diane joyner, diane joyner, licenses and credentialing, clinical experience, student nurse.

• Performed new mom, baby and labor and delivery patient care duties on a 12-bed obstetrics unit. • Team leader for student nurse rotation on 2 occasions. • Developed nursing care plans on 2-3 patients each week. • Completed 75 clinical hours in obstetrics.

• Performed patient care duties on a busy 28-bed pediatric unit. Commended by clinical instructor, preceptor, and unit nurses for ease of adaptation, enthusiasm, and expert nursing care of children on unit. • Team leader for colleagues on 4 occasions. • Developed nursing care plans on 3-10 patients per week. • Developed and instituted engaging quiet activity lessons and entertainment boxes for children while in the hospital. • For children in quarantine, developed exercises to promote circulation and heart health while recovering in isolation, if applicable. • Completed 75 clinical hours in Pediatrics.

• Provided nursing care in a busy inner-city ER, ICU, and CCU. • Completed 90 hours total of critical care clinical hours. • Evaluated at 100% by the instructor for competence in critical care skills.

• Completed 30 outpatient hours as a public health nurse, either traveling for home visits or at a community clinic. • Evaluated and developed plans of care for patients from 7 months to 70 years old. • Completed 30 additional outpatient hours in a public elementary and middle school.

• Performed basic nursing care in a 400-bed community hospital with 2-4 adult patients daily. • Administered nursing services to seniors and disabled patients in community rehab and nursing facilities. • Completed 100 hours total of med-surg clinical hours.

Work History

Certified nurses aid.

• Performed basic hygiene and health aide services in a 300-bed nursing facility during vacations and summer.

Secretary to Bloomsburg University Department of Nursing

• Performed basic office duties such as filing, answering phones, and typing reports.

Babysitter for 2 diabetic sisters

• Hired to babysit and carefully monitor 2 diabetic children where carb counting, blood sugar monitoring, and insulin injections were necessary.

• Hostess, waitress, cook, and dishwasher duties as needed in a bustling restaurant.

Volunteer Work

• Mother of a newborn • Candy striper • Campus Catholic Organization • Church nursery worker • St Francis Soup Kitchen • Campus blood drive

What Makes This An Exceptional New Grad Registered Nurse Resume:

Example #2: resume of jan beck, licenses and credentialing.

1/2021-4/2021 Boseman, Montana

• Performed new mom, baby, and labor and delivery patient care duties on an 8-bed birthing center. • Developed nursing care plans on 1-2 patients each week. • Completed 75 clinical hours in obstetrics.

9/2020-11/2020 Boseman, Montana

• Performed patient care duties on a busy 20-bed pediatric unit. • Developed nursing care plans on 2-4 patients per week. • Completed 75 clinical hours in Pediatrics.

1/2020-5/2020 Boseman, Montana

• Provided nursing care ER, ICU, and CCU. • Completed 90 hours total of critical care clinical hours. • Evaluated at 99% by the instructor for competence in critical care skills. • Selected consistently by the staff and clinical instructor to work on Covid and burn units along with special cases.

11/2019-12/2019 Boseman, Montana

• Completed 30 psychiatric clinical hours at a 150-bed psychiatric hospital. • Completed psychiatric evaluations and instituted and monitored mental health treatment plans on 2 patients per day.

9/2019-10/2019 Boseman, Montana

• Completed 30 outpatient hours in a high school health clinic.

1/2019- 5/2019 Boseman, Montana

• Performed basic adult nursing care in a 200-bed community hospital with 2-4 patients daily. • Completed 100 hours total of med-surg clinical hours.

WORK HISTORY

University lab assistant.

5/2019-Present Boseman, Montana

• Selected by nursing faculty to assist in Anatomy and Physiology labs along with Microbiology lab.

Student Tutor

1/2020-Present Boseman, Montana

• Tutored students in course work for science, health, computer technology.

HONORS AND AWARDS

• Graduated second in nursing class with a 3.96 GPA • Received 4.0 in all clinical rotations • Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society • Award for future nurse in excellence and scholarship

Example #3: Resume of Joan Zimmerman

Joan zimmerman.

1/2021-4/2021

• Completed 60 clinical hours rotating between urgent care and family health clinic. • The preceptor stated she felt very confident in all skills and knowledge to independently care for patients under her supervision.

9/2020-11/2020

• Performed patient care duties on a busy 60-bed pediatric unit. • Developed nursing care plans on 2-4 patients per day. • Completed 75 clinical hours in Pediatrics.

1/2020-5/2020

• Provided nursing care ER, ICU, and CCU. • Completed 90 hours total of critical care clinical hours. • Evaluated at 100% by the instructor for competence in critical care skills. • Team head 3 out of 10-week rotation. • Nurses on the unit commented daily on my advanced knowledge of cardiovascular conditions and ability to handle patient care efficiently.

11/2019-12/2019

• Completed 30 psychiatric clinical hours at a 241-bed psychiatric hospital. • Completed psychiatric evaluations and instituted and monitored mental health treatment plans on 2 patients per day.

9/2019-10/2019

• Completed 60 outpatient hours rotating between units for women’s health, labor and delivery, NICU, PICU, and newborn nursery.

1/2019-5/2019

• Performed basic nursing care on adults in a busy 600-bed hospital with 2-4 patients daily. • Completed 100 hours total of med-surg clinical hours.

Walmart Cashier

5/2017-Present

Honors and Awards

• Graduated first in nursing class with a 3.99 GPA • Received 4.0 in all clinical rotations • Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society • Future Nurse Leader Award • School of Nursing Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award

Volunteer and Leadership Experience

• President of Student Nursing Association • Captain of the high school basketball team

Example #4: Resume of Lizzie Arndt

Lizzie arndt.

1/2021-5/2021 Jersey City, New Jersey

• Completed 60 clinical hours performing home health services on patients of a variety of ages and conditions, including prenatal and postnatal care. • Developed new mom instructional videos on breastfeeding and bathing.

9/2020-11/2020 Eastman, New Jersey

• Performed patient care duties on a busy 62-bed pediatric unit. • Developed nursing care plans on 2-4 patients per day. • Completed 75 clinical hours in Pediatrics. • Rotated onto pediatric burn unit.

1/2020-5/2020 Eastman, New Jersey

• Provided nursing care ER, ICU, CCU, and adult burn unit. • Completed 90 hours total of critical care clinical hours.

11/2019-12/2019 Eastman, New Jersey

• Completed 30 psychiatric clinical hours at a state prison on both men’s and women’s units. • Completed psychiatric evaluations and instituted and monitored mental health treatment plans on 1-3 patients per day.

9/2019-10/2019 Eastman, New Jersey

• Completed 60 outpatient hours rotating between units for women’s health, labor and delivery and NICU, PICU, and newborn nursery. • Achieved 100% on clinical skills and knowledge testing. • Developed competency checklist for pre- and post-natal teaching of pregnant women and new moms. • Established support reference material for new mom packet.

1/2019- 5/2019 Eastman, New Jersey

• Performed basic adult nursing care in a busy 575-bed hospital with 2-4 patients daily. • Completed 100 hours total of med-surg clinical hours in the hospital and adjoining rehabilitation center.

Swim Instructor and Lifeguard

5/2017-Present Jersey City, New Jersey

• Graduated first in nursing class with a 3.95 GPA • Received 4.0 in all clinical rotations • Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society • Outstanding Nursing Student Award • Scholarship for swimming • Scholarship for academic excellence

Extra-Curricular Activities

• Division I swimming all 4 years in college

Example #5: Resume of Lynn Horton

Lynn horton.

• Performed new mom, baby and labor and delivery patient care duties on a 50-bed women’s health unit. • Completed 75 clinical hours in obstetrics.

• Performed patient care duties on a busy 20-bed pediatric unit. • Developed nursing care plans on 2-4 patients per week. • Rotated onto pediatric oncology unit to care for 1-2 oncology patients per day. • Completed 75 clinical hours in Pediatrics.

• Provided nursing care in ER, ICU, and CCU units. • Completed 96 hours total of critical care clinical hours.

• Completed 30 psychiatric clinical hours at a 40-bed detox and substance abuse facility. • Completed psychiatric evaluations and instituted and monitored mental health treatment plans on 2-3 patients per day. • Assisted nursing and psychiatric staff with detox and substance abuse treatment and therapy.

• Completed 30 outpatient hours in a home health agency to include care for adults and children with cancer.

• Performed basic nursing care in a 600-bed community hospital with 2-4 patients daily. • Completed 100 hours total of med-surg clinical hours.

Certified Nurse Assistant

• Provided comfort and basic care to adult patients with cancer.

• Graduated Magna Cum Laude • Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society • Award for future nurse in excellence and scholarship

Volunteer and Extra-curricular Activities

• Served as a companion and nurse’s aide to a friend dying of cancer • Division III university softball player

Example #6: Resume of Paul Linney

Paul linney.

1/2021-4/2021 Tampa, Florida

• Performed new mom, baby and labor and delivery patient care duties on a 30-bed birthing center. • Performed basic nursing and prenatal care to walk-in women’s health center. • Completed 75 clinical hours in obstetrics and women’s health.

9/2020-11/2020 Tampa, Florida

• Performed patient care duties on a busy 38-bed pediatric unit. • Developed nursing care plans on 2-3 patients per week. • Completed 75 clinical hours in Pediatrics.

1/2020-5/2020 Tampa, Florida

• Provided nursing care in ER, ICU, and CCU units. • Completed 90 hours total of critical care clinical hours.

10/2019-12/2019 Tampa, Florida

• Completed 30 psychiatric clinical hours on a 62-bed psychiatric unit, which included detox and substance abuse treatment. • Completed psychiatric evaluations and instituted and monitored mental health treatment plans on 2-4 patients per day. • Assisted nursing and psychiatric staff with detox and substance abuse treatment and therapy. • Achieved 100% for clinical rotation. • Selected as team leader 5 out of 8 weeks on unit. • The Nurses and the preceptor remarked weekly about comfort level and ease with working with psychiatric patients.

9/2019-10/2019 St. Pete, Florida

• Completed 30 outpatient hours in a community center for at-risk youth. • Held group sessions for abused and traumatized teens. • Met individually with 2 patients per week for individual counseling and psychiatric sessions and care.

1/2019-5/2019 Tampa, Florida

• Performed basic nursing care in a 300-bed community hospital with 2-4 patients daily. • Completed 100 hours total of med-surg clinical hours.

VOLUNTEER AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

• Boys Club of Clearwater • Paxton Ministries Soup Kitchen • Special Olympics

HOW TO WRITE AN EXCEPTIONAL NEW GRAD RN RESUME?

1. proper format.

• Your name and contact information at the top of the page • Easy to read (not fancy) fonts such as New Times Roman, Arial, and Calibri • Font size 11 or12 • Stay consistent in fonts and style types • Be concise • No abbreviations or slang

2. Summary or objective

• Professional goals • Name of unit and institution where you are applying • Nursing skills and qualities pertinent to the position • Degrees and professional certifications

3. Licenses and credentialing

• The full name of your license or certification • Institution or body that issued license

4. Education

• Official school name • Location of the school • Dates you attended or graduated • Degree that you completed

5. Clinical rotations

• The type of the clinical rotation • Dates of the rotation and total hours completed • Name of institution (and city/state) of clinical • Name of unit you worked on

6. Work history

• Position held, then the name of the company/organization where you worked and the city and state with starting and ending date of hire • In a few words, describe the job

7. Volunteerism

• Church bake sales, nursery work, chicken BBQ worker, soup kitchen, and vacation bible school assistant • Hospital candy striper • Homecoming committee • Musical lighting and props • Prepped dinners for a homeless shelter • Assistant to professor • Staffed nursing department booth for college fairs • Blood pressure checks for health fairs • Assisted with blood drives on campus

8. Honors and awards

9. skills/language summary, 10. appropriate length, 11. match your resume to the job, 12. proofread, 7 common mistakes to avoid when writing your new grad nursing resume, 1. not including non-work experience-, 2. being too modest-, 3. too wordy-, 4. not personalized-, 5. leaving out accomplishments-, 6. not customizing-, 7. not proofing-, 3 consequences of a poorly written new grad rn resume, 1. you may never get an interview-, 2. your resume sets the stage-, 3. you may receive lower compensation-, my final thoughts, frequently asked questions answered by our expert, 1. what is the difference between new grad nurse resume and new grad nurse cv, 2. as a new grad nurse, when should i write my resume, 3. do i need a different resume for each new grad nursing job i apply to, 4. how long is my new grad nursing resume good for, 5. how many words should a resume be for a new graduate nurse, 6. how much time does it take to write an exceptional resume for a new grad nurse, 7. what is the best resume format for new grad nurses, 8. should i put my gpa on my new grad nurse resume, 9. should skills be on my new grad nurse resume, 10. what is a good objective for a new grad nursing resume, 11. how to list registered nurse license on my new grad nursing resume.

• Full name of nursing license • The body that issued the license • Expiration date

12. Should I Put Clinical Experience On My New Grad Nursing Resume?

13. should i include preceptorship on my new grad nursing resume, 14. can i ask someone else to write my new graduate nurse resume, 15. is it a good idea to use ready templates to write my new graduate nurse resume, 16. are there any online apps or tools that make writing a good resume for a new graduate nurse easy.

The Ultimate Guide to Nursing Resumes in 2024

How to write a nurse resume, nurse resume research, nursing resume readers & robots, choose a nurse resume format, nurse resume format & design, writing your nursing resume, common resume mistakes, nursing resume templates, nurse resume faqs.

Expert Reviewed by: Amanda Guarniere, NP, Founder of the Resume RX

In 2024, a vague, uninspiring nursing resume just won't cut it. Recent years have fostered growing competition for the best nursing jobs , creating a greater need for nurses to learn how to write exceptional nursing resumes. With vast opportunities and diverse requirements from various employers, every nurse must put their best foot forward to market themselves for the best positions. 

However, this ever-changing world of online applications and robotic resume readers makes it more complex for nurses to get to the first rounds of interviews. This article will help you tackle the daunting task of writing a nursing resume that stands out. We'll help you build a better nursing resume by giving you an inside look at how robotic resume readers work and providing tips on how to make your resume, things you should and shouldn't include, and provide examples and templates.

Think of your job search as your own personal marketing campaign. And the product is you! Your resume is an advertisement for your professional nursing brand. A brand is more than a logo - it’s the overall impression you give your audience. In this case, your audience is a potential employer. 

As with any advertisement, the goal of your nursing resume is to pique your audience’s interest in a limited amount of time. It’s commonly said that hiring managers will spend less than ten seconds reading your resume. And in many cases, it has to first be screened by a resume-reading robot before it reaches human hands.

So, you must carefully curate your brand for these employers. Captivate them with your professionalism, unique skillset, experience, and personality using your nursing resume. These tactics may help get your foot in the door for an interview, where you can close the deal by impressing them in person.

The first and most important step in any marketing campaign is the research phase. The more you learn about potential employers, the better you can tailor your registered nurse resume to their requirements.

Initial Employer Research for Nursing Resumes

Before you begin tailoring your resume for specific jobs, take some time to answer the following questions about each company:

• Who are they?
• What is their company culture?
• What do they struggle with as an organization?
• What qualities are they looking for in a potential candidate?
• Which of their desired qualities do you possess?

Researching Company Culture and Values

The internet has made it fairly easy to hop online and start your research right now from your mobile device. Employers' websites and social platforms will give you an inside glimpse at their culture and values.

Instead of simply reading a job posting, take a few extra steps to investigate the employer's online presence:

• Check out the company website - what does their mission statement say?
• See what they tweet about
• Investigate what photos they post on Instagram
• Learn about the articles they share on Facebook
• Check their LinkedIn - do you have any connections at the company?
• Look at their Google ratings

Examine Required vs Preferred Nursing Qualifications

The research phase isn't just about investigating the company - you also need to understand the job description. Specifically, understanding the difference between "required" and "preferred" qualifications will help you build a tailored resume for each job:

Required Qualifications

These are just what they say - requirements. Those who do not possess these qualifications will not be considered. 

Preferred Qualifications

Skills that are desired but are not deal-breakers for the employer. You may still be considered even if you do not possess these. 

As you personalize your nursing resume to different opportunities, these qualifications will, in part, guide what you do and do not include. You should include any and all required qualifications if you want an employer to consider your candidacy. 

If you do not possess some or all of the preferred qualifications, you can apply anyway and still be in the running. However, including the ones you do possess on your tailored nursing resume is always the best practice.

Build a Master Resume

You may want a solid starting point from which you can use your research to build a dedicated resume for each position you apply for. Queue the "master resume," a comprehensive working document that highlights everything you've accomplished and every skill you've fostered as a nurse thus far. 

We recommend starting with a foundational nurse resume so that you can alter it for each role you apply to. This way, you won't be rewriting a new resume for every single position. But you'll also avoid submitting "cookie-cutter" resumes that employers won't bother looking at twice.

Use Research to Personalize Your Nursing Resume

Dale Carnegie once said that “A person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Personalizing your RN resume matters, with both how you mention and address the future employer and how to include your specific qualifications that match what they are looking for.

Using your research and leveraging your professional brand and personality to target your nurse resume could lead to the interview of your dreams. Not targeting it, however, could lead you on the fast track to nowhere.

The internet revolution transformed the hiring process, impacting the entire labor market in a very short time. 15 years ago, printing your resume on off-white linen paper and hand-delivering it to employers was the status quo. But as little as five years later, doing so might only get you some perplexed looks and urges to apply online.

Technological advances will continue shaping the job market in 2024.  USC Annenberg reports that up to 55% of companies are making investments in AI recruiting measures. But even now, many employers screen online applicants using resume-reading robots. 

This section explores how these bots impact the hiring process and how to get your nursing resume past them and into a real person's hands.

What Is a Resume Reading Robot?

ATS systems are highly technical but can only do what their program says, unable to come close to human discretion. So, knowing how ATS systems work can help you write a resume that passes their screening.

Here's a brief overview of how employers use ATS software to screen nursing applicants:

1. Knockout Questions

Recruiters can use an ATS to scan for keywords or "knockout questions" like "Do you have an active Washington State Nursing License?" These functions help them swiftly eliminate unqualified candidates.

2. Disqualifying Statements

They may also configure the ATS to include “disqualifying statements.” An ATS searching for these statements will automatically reject nursing resumes with certain keywords or phrases. 

For example, an ATS screening for bachelor's-trained nurses might reject resumes that mention an associate's degree. If you have both, consider listing only your BSN.

3. Keyword Screening

Finally, recruiters may use the ATS to find resumes with exact keywords or phrases. These may include qualifications listed in the job description, degrees, or skills. They can program the ATS to reject any application that does not include their specified keywords.

How Does ATS Work?

Not all ATS systems are created equally. They vary greatly in their functionality and behavior. Most ATS systems are programmed to score resumes according to keywords. However, they can be configured to search and score resumes based on various other criteria.

The results are imperfect. Some ATS systems can't differentiate between titles, such as Clinical Nurse II and Registered Nurse, or distinguish between the terms BLS and Basic Life Support. So how do you navigate these intricacies in your nursing resume?

Best Practice:   R ead the job description and use the exact wording for the qualifications listed that you possess.

If you use acronyms and abbreviations, make sure to spell out the entire word, followed by the shortened version. It would be disappointing to have all the requested qualifications but be filtered out by the ATS because you used only the acronyms when the robot was programmed for the full phrases spelled out.

What Are the Shortcomings of ATS?

The problem is that ATS does not ‘read’ a resume as a human would - it simply collects data. It doesn’t care about aesthetics, either. It is programmed by an employer to search for the right keywords, in the right order, on the right part of the resume.  

Also, the system can get confused pretty easily. For example, if the font is too fancy or if it encounters unrecognizable symbols, it may score the resume as ‘unqualified’ and move on to the next resume. It does what it is configured to do, nothing more and nothing less.

While ATS has streamlined the hiring process for employers, it’s also made job search extremely challenging for the job seeker. In fact, 94% of hiring professionals say that ATS has positively influenced their hiring goals, while 80% of job seekers say that their online job search is stressful.

What Other Hiring Technology Might I Encounter?

Recently, some employers have started to use artificial intelligence in a different way - during the interview process. Rather than having strict ATS filters, they offer more candidates the opportunity to interview, but there is a catch.

You don't interview with the employer but with a computer. In these one-way or “on-demand” interviews, you essentially get the opportunity to record your video response to interview questions. After you submit it, hiring managers or recruiters review the video responses before choosing the candidates for formal interviews.

Does Every Employer Use ATS?

While many employers use ATS, there are definitely employers who still rely on human resource professionals to screen resumes. In those instances, a human resources professional usually skims the resumes and invites the most qualified candidates in for an interview.

The problem here is that most employers will receive hundreds of resumes for a single opening. To get through the resumes quickly, the HR professional may resort to a simple scan of the resumes knowing that even qualified applicants may not make it. It’s simply a way to reduce the number of applicants.

In either case, the goal of the modern resume is to ‘sell’ yourself in an organized, targeted manner for a specific role. The best way to design an effective, attention-grabbing resume is by making strong assertions in the beginning followed by supporting evidence.

How to Get Past the ATS

• Target your resume to the specific position. Do this by reading job descriptions and selecting keywords noted in the descriptions - competencies, skills sets, education, and experience.
• Match individual experiences to keywords/key skill sets found within the job posting.  
• Research the employer and target the resume based on the facility's values and culture. 
• Make strong assertions within the top ⅓ of the resume.
• Follow those assertions with supporting evidence.
• Include a “ Professional Summary ” if you are an experienced Nurse.
• Only apply to roles that you match 100% of the “Required Qualifications.” 
• Use simple fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri.
• Never use smaller than 10-point font. See Part 5 for more styling suggestions. 
• Use simple black bullet (dots) points, not special bullet symbols.
• Save your resume as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf format.
• If using an abbreviation, always spell out the words followed by the abbreviation or acronym. You never know how the abbreviation was entered into the ATS. 
• Use standard, simple section headers such as “Work History” or “Education.”
• Settings you’ve worked in 
• Patient demographics
• Policies/procedures
• EMR/EHR used
• Medications administered
• Equipment used
• Don’t use the same title as at your current employer if it is different from the title in the job description. Use the title in the job description. 
• Don’t overload your resume with keywords. Use them appropriately. Overusing keywords will flag a resume and could cause the ATS to lower your score.
• Don't forget to support the keywords you use with evidence throughout your resume.
• Do not put your contact information in the header section because ATS will not see it.
• Do not include tables because most ATS can’t read them. Other ATS can only read them if their operator programmed them to do so. 
• Do not use creative section headers such as “Where I’ve Worked” because the ATS likely doesn’t understand what that means.
• Don’t include a headshot, graphics, special fonts, photos, colored fonts, or unique bullets. 
• Do not state, “References available upon request.” It takes up too much space and is unnecessary. If employers want references, they’ll ask. 
• Don’t place skills at the bottom of the resume. Many ATS systems only scan the top ⅓ of the resume for keywords. If you have important keywords at the bottom, the ATS may not see them and could disqualify your resume. 
• Don’t use “I” statements; resumes should be written in the third person. 
• Do not rely on resume builder software. Stay in control of your registered nurse resume.

How to Spot an ATS

If you’ve ever visited a job posting and seen an “APPLY NOW” button, you’ve encountered the elusive resume-reading bot. ATS requires candidates to enter data on the front end. 

Maybe you’ve gone through the steps to create a login, complete the application and upload your resume. Perhaps you didn’t realize at the time that you were entering your information into an applicant tracking system.  

Raise your hand if you never heard back from an employer after applying online. Raise your other hand if you received an automated response “thanking” you for your interest and never heard back!

Now, keep in mind that it can be difficult to stand out when you are applying for a job online, especially when there is an ATS involved. As you consider your overall job search strategy, try to think of other ways that can increase your chances of getting a job. Don’t be afraid to ask your network connections for referrals and recommendations, or let friends and family know what type of position you are looking for and where. While your resume is absolutely important, it isn’t the only tool that can lead to you getting a job.

Prior to ever typing words onto your resume, it’s important to first decide on a resume format. There are three types of resume layouts. While we highly recommend the reverse-chronological layout for most nursing professionals, we’d encourage you to make the best choice for yourself.

Here’s a breakdown of the three most popular types of resume layouts: 

1. Reverse Chronological Nursing Resume

This layout focuses on career history and lists jobs in reverse chronological order. We recommend this type of registered nurse resume for the majority of healthcare professionals and will focus the details of this article on the format. It is best suited for:

• New nursing graduates
• Nurses with fewer than 5 roles within the past 5-7 years. 
• Travel Nurses with <10 completed assignments
• Nurses with experience in only 1-2 specialties
• Nurses applying for a similar role
• Nurses wanting to show vertical career progression 

2. Functional Nursing Resume

This nurse resume layout places emphasis on skills and deemphasizes work history. However, it does not pass the ATS test well, and hiring managers overall do not prefer it. We recommend against this layout for the majority of nursing professionals. Typically, people who use this format are: 

• Changing careers
• Have large gaps in employment
• Do have years of experience in the role in which they are applying

3. Combination Nursing Resume

This layout is a mixture of the reverse chronological and the functional resume. While it places emphasis on skill sets, abilities, and accomplishments, it also highlights applicable work history. We recommend combination resumes for nursing professionals with the following background, goals, and barriers: 

• Nurses with experience in multiple specialties and/or medical professions
• Seasoned travel nurses with >10 completed assignments
• Nurses with multiple small gaps in employment
• Nurses looking to change specialties
• Nurses interested in changing careers

Writing a nursing resume can feel overwhelming. It’s no easy task! Nowadays, nursing resumes must be able to pass through resume reading software before it even reaches a recruiter. That’s why we’ve put together THREE nurse resume templates to cater to your unique professional needs and employment situation.

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The first formatting and design consideration you should make when creating your nursing resume is how well an  ATS will read them. We recommend the following comprehensive design and formatting guidelines to appease common ATS systems:

Many experts believe you can achieve the perfect balance of text to white space in your nursing resume using the following margin settings:

• Top Margin: 1"
• Side Margins: .63"

Left alignment is standard since that’s how most people (and robots) read. You may think a justified alignment looks tidier, but it can leave uneven gaps between words and ultimately make text harder to read. 

In the nursing profession, length should not be the focus of the resume. While we recommend 1-2 pages, some nurses may have resumes with 3 (or more) pages.

Don’t stress over length too much. If the resume is slightly over the page amount by a few lines try changing the margin, font style, font size, or shortening statements. The bottom line is it should look visually appealing and should include keywords.

We recommend  Times New Roman or Arial to best utilize the functionality of the ATS. However, this is your personal preference. Take note that Times New Roman can be difficult to read if it is smaller than 11pt.

If you are striving for a resume that looks visually appealing when printed, there are great ways to achieve that without going overboard with design. For example, you could use the “small caps” feature for headings, which keeps the font the same but adds a bit more character and differentiation. Or, you could try a font pairing, using serif fonts for headers and sans serif for body text.

Important Note: Different font styles will take up different amounts of space. See how these identical statements look vastly different despite both being in 11 pt font:

Experienced Travel Nurse with 8 years experience in critical care nursing.

Throughout the resume, there should be different-sized fonts. We recommend the following for each section: 

It’s important to note that 10-point font should be the smallest size on the resume. 

While some ATS systems claim to read colors, we encourage you to simply use black. 

Special Characters

We recommend keeping the resume very simple. Basic bullet points (black dots) may be used when desired. Simple lines are acceptable as well. 

Design Features to Avoid

The following design features are best left off the resume: 

• Multiple font styles
• Special characters

As you’ve learned, ATS systems skim resumes and locate specific information in the correct order. We’d suggest using the following categories and section headers to optimize your nursing resume for ATS scoring.

Contact Information

This is the first section of the resume and does not require a title. Your name should be front and center. Don’t make the recruiter search for it. Make sure it’s the largest font on the page. While there are varying opinions on the exact placement of the name, we recommend a simple classic version in the following format:

Your name should be the first thing a recruiter, hiring manager, or ATS system sees on your nurse resume. It should share a line with your nursing credentials and be in a bold, readable, 18-22 pt font. If you go by a different name, make sure to list both in this section.

Nursing Credentials

Your nursing credentials should directly follow your first and last name on a nursing resume. The preferred order to list these in is Highest degree earned, Licensure, then National Certifications.

We've included a  credential quick reference guide below to help you fill out your resume perfectly.

The days of listing your home address on a resume are over - most employers don't need this information, and we advise against including it on your resume as a security precaution. However, this is a personal decision you can make at your own discretion.

You should never leave your location off completely because many employers have location parameters set in their ATS systems. Ensure you include your city and state in the contact information portion of your nursing resume.

Phone/Texting Number

Oh, technology! Yes, some employers will actually text their candidates. Make sure to indicate if you receive texts and whether the phone number is a cell phone or a home phone. This is a great time to make sure your voicemail message states your full name and is professional.

Email Address

It is in your best interest to ensure that you have a professional email address that does not reveal your age. Age discrimination is real, and listing your birth year or using an antiquated email service like AOL can definitely trigger it.

Your email address should include a variation of your name and some numbers if necessary. You can even make a totally separate email account and use it only for your job search.

LinkedIn Profile

If you have a LinkedIn profile definitely include it. If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, you could be missing out on opportunities. Now is the time to create one!

In your settings, you can easily create a shortened LinkedIn URL that doesn’t have a bunch of random numbers and letters.

How Your Digital Footprint Impacts Your Nursing Job Search

Though you may not list it, you should consider your social media and online presence when you complete the contact information portion of your resume. Potential employers will likely look you up online. Many Recruiters tell us that looking a candidate up on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter is one of the first things they do. So, make sure everything you post online is what you would want an employer to see. 

Additionally, online behavior can benefit you. Do you have a nursing-related website or blog? Are you an Instagram celebrity? Maybe you created a successful YouTube channel when you were a newbie nurse. Include all this on your resume if it relates to nursing. This is all part of your unique brand!

Nursing Resume Credential Quick Reference Guide

According to the American Nurses Credentialing Center (AACN), the preferred order is Highest degree earned, Licensure, and National Certification.

Educational degrees include doctoral degrees (Ph.D., DrPH, DNS, EdD, DNP), master’s degrees (MSN, MS, MA), bachelor’s degrees (BS, BSN, BA), and associate degrees (AD, ADN).

Licensure credentials include RN, LPN, CNA, and APRN.

National certification , which is occasionally voluntary for nurses and obligatory for advanced practice nurses, is awarded through accredited certifying bodies such as the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), includes RNBC (Registered Nurse-Board Certified) and FNP-BC (Family Nurse Practitioner-Board Certified).

You may also choose to include awards and honors:

Outstanding achievements in nursing, such as FAAN (Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing).

Other certifications that recognize additional skills, such as the EMT-Basic/EMT, awarded by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.

Here is an example of contact information on a nursing resume that puts it all together:

Penny Lite, BSN, RN   Los Angeles, CA | Text/Call: (987) 654 - 3210 | [email protected] | www.linkedin.com/pennylitern

Professional Summary

Don’t make an employer (or ATS) search your entire resume for reasons to invite you to an interview. Tell them right off the top exactly why you are the best candidate for the role.

Every position is unique, and this is your first opportunity to optimize the resume for ATS and to also catch the employer’s eye. Spend a little time to target it and let your qualifications and accomplishments shine. 

While there is some debate about how to introduce your resume, we suggest using a professional summary as opposed to a career objective. The professional summary can be formatted in either a short paragraph or a bulleted list asserting qualifications and providing a concise career snapshot.

How to Write a Professional Summary for a Nursing Resume

Think of your resume summary as an “elevator pitch” - a quick, attention-grabbing, loaded statement that entices the reader to want to continue on. Your professional summary is unique to you and should be targeted to a specific role, just like the cover letters career counselors used to tell us about.

However, it could definitely include the following information: 

• Number of years of experience in a specialty 
• Common keywords found in nursing job descriptions e.g., excellent patient care, acute care, family education, compassionate
• Facility designations or info about facilities 
• Supervisory experience and number of subordinates
• Special certifications or awards
• Language abilities
• Soft skills such as patience, compassion, and a cooperative spirit

Nursing professional summary example: 

4+ years nursing experience with strong clinical background in critical care (CCU) and intermediate care nursing (IMCU). Proactively streamlines operations, initiates tasks, and supports the healthcare team while prioritizing excellent patient care. Champions patient and family education by providing compassionate, inclusive care that encourages self-sufficiency. Recipient of the Daisy Award. Bilingual in English and Spanish.

Nursing Skills and Areas of Expertise

List your nursing skills within the top ⅓ of the resume - Don't make the common mistake of adding them last. With the popularity of ATS, this mistake could cost you an interview. This is especially true in nursing, as the profession requires very specific skills. 

Additionally, your hard skills should be directly targeted to the role as expressed in the job description. Is the employer asking for a specific EMR that you are experienced with? List it! Are you an expert at starting IVs because of your five years of experience in the emergency room? List it!

This should not be a generic list of skills but a specific list that is as quantified as possible. It’s possible that if you are a newer nurse or are making a specialty pivot you may not have hard skills to include. In that case, it’s okay to omit this section and highlight your transferable  soft nursing skills within your job history.

While most nurses list their license titles on their resumes, it’s been our experience that they leave off a few very important details - most notably, whether the license is active and the expiration date. 

Why is this important? Including this information lets potential employers know that you are ready to start work ASAP. They don’t have to wait for the licensing process. Including your license number is optional, and you can make this decision based on your privacy comfort. The employer will likely be verifying your license online anyway (this is all public information).

If you are an advanced practice nurse, you may decide to leave off license numbers for privacy purposes, especially your DEA number or controlled substance registration number.

Here’s an example of how to list your licensure:

Registered Nurse - California, #RN00101, expires 4/17/2024.

Certifications and Credentials

This is another key section where some important details are typically missing on the nursing resumes we’ve seen. While most nurses list their credentials, it’s important to list them in a specific manner.

Don’t simply list acronyms, as some ATS systems may not be programmed to read shortened versions. Make sure to list the accrediting body, credential/certification number (where applicable), and expiration date. 

Here’s an example of how to list your certifications and credentials: 

Basic Life Support (BLS), American Heart Association, expires: 12/1/2021

Work History

Employers want to know what you can do for them, period.  Nurse recruiters we’ve talked to will zero in on this section. What are they looking for? Evidence, facts, quantifiable points - proof to support the assertions made in your resume summary.

Vague work histories are particularly frustrating to employers - especially when applicants copy and paste job descriptions. To avoid falling into those pitfalls, try incorporating these tips: 

Use simple section headers such as “Work History” or “Relevant Experience,” these are ATS friendly. “What I’ve Done” is not. 

List your experience in reverse chronological order.  If you have a lengthy employment history, you may consider only including the most recent 10-15 years of experience. This will shorten your resume and also limit the chances that you’ll encounter age discrimination. Looking at the big-picture experience from 25 years ago doesn’t necessarily speak to your recent nursing experience because employers care about what you can do for them now.

Work History Format

Adding your work history in a logical format can help your nursing resume beat the ATS and impress recruiters. We recommend using the following format for each work history segment:

1. Job Title and Specialty

This is a controversial subject, but we believe employers care more about what you’ve done than who you’ve worked for. Use the job title as it is listed in the job posting, or use a more industry-wide job title. Registered Nurse as opposed to Clinical Nurse II. 

2. Facility Name

Add the name of the facility or company you worked for after your job title. You can add this on the same line or a different line, but using the same line will optimize space.

3. Employment Dates  

These are important and can be listed in a number of ways. However, it’s been our experience that specific dates are not necessary for a resume. On an application, yes, on a resume, not so much. You can simply list the months and years (mm/yy - present).

4. Facility-Specific and Unit-Specific Information

This information is helpful and important to employers but is left off the majority of resumes we’ve seen, it includes: 

• Trauma level: level I, II, III
• Facility Designations 
• Total Hospital beds
• Total unit beds

Primary Duties and Accomplishments

This section looks best in a bulleted list of no more than six points and should include duties, noteworthy accomplishments, and achievements. It’s important to emphasize specific duties and not be too vague.

Also, try your best not to simply regurgitate basic nursing duties that would be assumed of your role. This will take up valuable space on your resume and not really tell the reader much about you !

Wondering what specifics to include? Here are a few questions to get those wheels turning:

• What illnesses, injuries, or traumas do you care for? 
• What cases do you work on? 
• What type of medications do you administer and how? 
• What therapies do you perform? 
• What equipment do you use? 
• How have you improved processes? 
• When have I been first or best?
• No. 1 achievement in each position?
• Which achievements have the most impressive numbers?
• When have I been publicly recognized?

Write Strong Nursing Resume Bullets

Wondering how to order your bullets and what to include? Try this: start with a verb leading to quantifiable data or a specific point and include a relevant duty.

Use our comprehensive tables to build compelling nursing resume bullets that make your achievements shine:

Here is a brief work history resume example for nurses that puts it all together:

Registered Nurse, Acute Care - Example Medical Center 09-19 - Present

• Supervised staff of 15 registered nurses, 8 certified nursing assistants, and 7 paramedics while multitasking excellent patient care. 
• Cared for up to 4 patients per shift with acute neurological disorders, including strokes, spinal cord injuries, and head trauma.

Education and Training

In the nursing profession, education and training are of utmost importance. If you have work experience, this section can be fairly brief.  You should list your relevant degrees in chronological order. 

There are varying opinions regarding the specific ordering of education. However, we believe that the degree or certification title should be listed first. Employers care firstly that you have the education requirement they need and secondarily where you obtained the requirement. 

We suggest the following format:  Degree or Certification Title (acronym), Institution Name 

Here’s an example: 

Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (BSN), University of Washington 

Should I Include Graduation Dates on a Nursing Resume?

You are not required to include your college or high school graduation dates on your nursing resume , as it could reveal your age. Age discrimination is the top form of employment discrimination and affects all age groups. If you graduated more than 10-15 years ago, it may be a good idea to omit the date.  But this is a personal decision you should make at your own discretion.

Should I Include My GPA on a Nursing Resume?

Including your GPA in your nursing resume is optional. If you are particularly proud of your GPA, by all means, add it! However, it is not required. If you graduated with honors that you are proud of, you can definitely include that as well. Again the resume is a unique snapshot of you!

Should I Include my Non-Nursing Degrees and Credentials?

If you possess other degrees not related to nursing, it is not necessary to include those on your nursing resume. Some second-career nurses like to list this information, especially if there has been an interesting career pivot or one that brings a lot of value to your role as a nurse. Remember, you are telling your personal, unique story, and you get to decide what to include.

How Do I Add In-Progress Advanced Education Programs?

If you are currently enrolled in higher education to advance your studies within the nursing field, that should be listed on your resume and state that the degree is pending or in progress. However, if you started a graduate degree program, never finished, and do not plan on finishing, it is unnecessary to include it on the resume. 

Should I Include my High School Education?

Nurses do not need to include their high school diplomas on their resumes. The nursing profession requires completion of higher education, and therefore, your higher degree trumps your diploma. 

Awards, Accomplishments, and Affiliations

Though this section is not required, we encourage including awards and accomplishments that are relevant to the nursing profession. These details will provide the potential employer with more proof and evidence of who you are as a nurse. 

In this section, you can include: 

• Awards and recognitions that are specific to the hospital or facility where you work, e.g. the Daisy Award, Employee of the Month, and Nursing Excellence Award
• Professional memberships and affiliations relating to nursing and/or healthcare
• Volunteer work, if it relates to nursing

We suggest the following format: Title, organization, year

Here are a couple of examples:

• Recipient, Nursing Excellence Award, Washington Medical Center
• Volunteer, American Red Cross - Haiti - 2012

Naming Your Nurse Resume Save File

One last thing, saving! Don’t just give your resume any old name! Hiring professionals sometimes receive multiple documents from candidates, and they don’t want to waste time sorting through every document to find the resume. Some prefer to organize resumes by specialty. Tell them exactly which document is your resume. 

We suggest the following format: firstlast_specialty_resume.doc

Here’s an example:

PennyLite_ICU_resume.doc

We’ve seen a lot of resumes over the years, and you might be surprised by the amount of strange information people have included on them. So, here are the top mistakes we’ve seen:

Woot! If you’ve made it this far you should have an excellent understanding of how to write a great nursing resume. We know it’s a lot of information right now, and we hope that you’ll use the information to advance your career.

For a little more help, try using our free resume templates. And when you’ve landed your next interview, check out the next part in this series, The Complete Guide to Nursing Job Interviews .

>> Download free nurse resume templates!

What should be included in a nursing resume?

• A nursing resume should include your education, experience, including clinical, work, and volunteer, any certifications you have, and skills. 

How do I write a nurse resume?

• You can use a template to fill out your nursing resume or fill out your own. 

How do I list my nursing skills on my resume?

• List skills that are in the job description or outline on the facility’s website. For instance, common nursing skills include critical thinking, teamwork, communication, team management, and high ethical standards. 

Do you put RN after your name on a resume?

• You can include "RN" or "RN, BSN"  if you have other credentials. If you haven’t passed your NCLEX yet, you can put G.N. for Graduate Nurse.

How long should a nurse's resume be?

• A nursing resume should be no longer than 1-2 pages. 

What is your greatest skill as a nurse?

• The most valuable skill you have as a nurse may depend on your exact role and specialty, but in general, communication, kindness, empathy, and critical thinking are highly valued traits as a nurse. 

How far back should a resume go?

• If you’re a recent graduate, you don’t need to go to high school, just include your college experience and degree. For experienced nurses, include all relevant experience. 

Amanda is an Ivy-league-educated nurse practitioner and career mentor who helps nurses find and land their dream jobs. She founded The Résumé Rx  in 2018 to help nurses with career and résumé strategy  Learn more about Amanda and her products at  www.theresumerx.com  and follow her on Instagram  @theresumerx.

Angelina has her finger on the pulse of everything nursing. Whether it's a trending news topic, valuable resource or, heartfelt story, Angelina is an expert at producing content that nurses love to read. She specializes in warmly engaging with the nursing community and exponentially growing our social presence.

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New Grad Nurse Resume Example (W/ Templates & Tips!)

You're an aspiring nurse, and you just graduated!

You've mastered the art of patient care, so now you’re out and looking for your first job as a registered nurse.

But when it comes to writing your resume, you're self-diagnosed with writer's block.

It's ironic that after so many detailed reports you've tackled during nursing school, you just can’t seem to show off your skills and experience.

Just take a deep breath.

Preparing a resume might not be as exciting as your first clinical rotation, but it doesn’t have to be difficult.

With the right pointers, you can create the perfect new grad nurse resume!

And guess what? We're here to guide you every step of the way.

In this article, we’re going to cover:

• What an Amazing New Grad Nurse Resume Example Looks Like
• 8 Steps to Writing a Job-Winning Resume as a Recently Graduated Nurse
• The 67 Top Nursing Skills for 2024

...and so much more!

Ready to begin? Let’s jump right in.

New Grad Nurse Resume Example

That’s a spot-on example of a resume for a recently graduated nurse.

Here’s what it gets right:

• Uses the reverse-chronological resume format. This recent nursing grad has a resume that shows their newest experience first and then works its way back, so hiring managers can have a clear look at their experience.
• Starts with a strong resume objective. The nursing resume example above includes a brief paragraph in the header that catches employers’ attention and lets them know the candidate’s top skills, achievements, and professional aspirations.
• Only includes relevant contact information. Social media profiles aren’t appropriate for a nurse job application, so this candidate only lists her full name, phone number, email address, and location.
• Quantifies achievements. The candidate backs up their achievements with relevant data, which lets employers immediately see the benefit of hiring them.
• Expands on education. Since the candidate has just recently graduated, they elaborate on their education and how well-prepared they are for the role.
• Shows off in-demand skills. This new grad nurse resume makes sure the most relevant hard skills are in plain view, so hiring managers can easily see just what the candidate can do.
• Adds optional sections. The candidate leverages sections such as conferences and languages to make their resume stand out from other recently graduated nurses with similar skills and experience.
• Fits everything on one page. This new grad nurse resume uses every bit of space available to fit all the sections on one page.

8 Steps for a Great New Grad Nurse Resume

You know what a spot-on new graduate nurse resume includes, and now it’s your turn to write one.

Luckily, you just need to follow these easy steps:

#1. Choose a Resume Format

Before you can fill in the contents of your resume, you have to decide how it’s going to look.

Start by choosing the right resume format .

You have three main resume formats to choose from:

• Reverse-chronological (sometimes called chronological)
• Functional (sometimes called skill-based format)
• Combination (which blends elements of both)

For the vast majority of nursing graduates, the reverse-chronological resume format is the best choice.

This format shows your most recent work experience, skills, and accomplishments, which are what healthcare employers will want to see first.

It’s also hiring managers’ favorite resume format worldwide, so that should make it your first choice. 

Here's a quick glance:

Next, it’s time to perfect your resume layout .

Before a hiring manager reads your resume, they’re going to look at it. But if your resume is chaotic and hard on the eyes, it’ll probably get tossed aside.

Here’s how to make sure your new grad nurse resume leaves a great first impression:

• Adjust the margins. The margins on your document should be set to one inch on all sides so it doesn’t look too cluttered.
• Choose an appropriate font. Your resume’s font should be easy to read and stylish, but not overused. Skip Times New Roman and opt for something like Roboto instead.
• Set the font size. If the hiring manager has to squint to read your resume, they might just stop altogether. Use 10-12 pts for the body of your text and 14-16 pts for headings and section titles.
• Change the line spacing. To make sure your text isn’t too spaced out or overlapping, set the line spacing to 1.0 between text and 1.15 after subheadings.
• Send it in the right file format. Your new grad nurse resume should always be sent as a PDF. This way, your layout stays intact regardless of what device or software the hiring manager uses to open it.

Or Use a Professional Resume Template Instead

Starting your nurse resume from scratch takes a lot of effort.

You have to tweak the margins, adjust the line spacing, pick the best font, and make sure the sizes are uniform throughout your whole resume.

What if there was another way?

Just give any of our free resume templates a go and spare yourself the hassle.

Each of our templates is designed hand-in-hand with hiring managers from around the world, all to make sure your resume meets industry standards easily fits on one page, and lets you show off your personality.

Check for yourself how one of our resume templates compares to a standard text editor template:

#2. Fill In Your Contact Details

Once you’ve taken care of your resume format and layout, you can start filling in its contents.

Your contact information is the easiest section to fill out. All you need to do is make sure it’s factual – this isn’t the place to be inattentive. A single typo in your phone number or email address could cost you an opportunity.

Here’s what you need to include in this section:

• Full Name. (E.g. Jessica Smith)
• Professional Title. Make sure your resume’s professional title matches the specific nursing job you’re applying for. (E.g. Pediatric Nurse)
• Phone Number. If you're aiming for a job abroad, don't forget to include the dial code at the front of your number.
• Email Address. Ideally, use a combination of your first and last name. Quirky email addresses from high school won't cut it. (e.g. [email protected] is great, but [email protected] isn’t.)
• Location. List your city and state/country. If you’re willing to relocate for a job, specify it somewhere in your resume.

Jessica Smith - Registered Nurse +1 234 567 8910 [email protected] San Francisco, CA

Jessie Smith, Nurse 1234 567 8910 [email protected] Cali, USA

#3. Write a Convincing Resume Summary (or Objective)

Hiring managers go through hundreds of resumes daily, and they rarely spend more than a few seconds looking at a single resume . So if you want your new grad nurse resume to make an impression, you need to have an elevator pitch ready.

That would be the brief paragraph in your resume’s header, where you summarize some of your top skills, achievements, and other qualifications that make you right for the role.

Depending on your level of experience, here’s what you can write:

• Resume summary. If you have any clinical experience or internships from your time at university, a resume summary is the ideal choice. It provides a snapshot of your hands-on experience, primary nursing skills, and academic achievements.
• Resume objective. For fresh nursing graduates with limited experience, a resume objective is the way to go. This focuses on your nursing skills, relevant academic accomplishments, and your passion for patient care.

Here's a sample for a new grad nurse with some hands-on experience:

• Committed and compassionate Registered Nurse, seeking a position with Hospital X. With over two years of clinical experience during studies, skilled in patient care, medical documentation, and emergency response. CPR and First Aid certified. Eager to support a team in delivering patient-centered care.

For those just stepping into the nursing profession, here's a resume objective for a student with no experience :

• Dedicated Nursing Graduate, eager to join Hospital Y. Proficient in patient assessments, foundational nursing procedures, and effective communication. Motivated to contribute positively to patient outcomes and grow professionally in a dynamic healthcare environment.

#4. List Your Work Experience

The work experience section of your new grad nurse resume is what hiring managers will pay attention to, even if you're fresh out of school.

Presentation is key, so let's make sure yours is on point.

Here’s how to structure this section:

• List in reverse chronological order. Since you're newly graduated, start with your most recent clinical rotations or internships and then any related roles.
• Add the name of the facility. Specify the name of the hospital, clinic, or healthcare facility, and then its location.
• Include dates. Stick to the mm/yyyy format for clarity.
• Describe responsibilities and achievements. Highlight five to six key examples from your most recent experience in bullet points. Older roles might only need two to three.

But if you’re a recent nursing graduate, just listing your experience the right way isn’t enough.

You need to make it shine. Here’s how:

• Tailor your experience to the job. Look at the job ad and compare it to your experience so far. Your recent pediatric rotation might be more relevant for the position of school nurse than that summer you spent as a lifeguard.
• Focus on your impact. The hiring manager knows what a typical nursing student does, so you won’t impress them that easily. Instead, wow them by focusing on the difference you made during your rotations, such as improving patient outcomes or boosting morale.
• Quantify whenever possible. Put numbers next to any achievement you can. Quantifying your achievements can change the generic "assisted with patient care," into the more impressive "aided in the care of 10-15 patients daily under supervision."
• Use strong verbs. Instead of just "helped" or "worked", use powerful words like "administered", "collaborated", or "monitored" to show you as a proactive worker.

Check out this example for a nursing graduate:

Nursing Intern

St. Peter's Hospital

Seattle, WA

05/2022 - 09/2022

• Collaborated with a team of 5 registered nurses in the cardiac unit, assisting in the care of 10-12 patients daily.
• Administered medications under supervision, achieving a 100% accuracy rate throughout the internship.
• Assisted in patient documentation, updating medical histories and vital signs for over 250 patients during the rotation.
• Monitored and reported changes in patient conditions, resulting in timely interventions on several occasions.
• Received commendation from the head nurse for dedication and keen attention to detail during high-pressure situations.

What If I Don’t Have Work Experience?

Entering the world of healthcare as a fresh graduate nurse might seem overwhelming, especially if your resume feels light on professional experience.

However, your nursing resume can absolutely reflect your dedication and skills, even as you’re entering the field!

It's all about highlighting relevant experience, even if it isn’t professional.

Here are some examples you can choose from:

• Volunteering at health camps or local clinics
• Personal projects related to healthcare
• Academic projects related to patient care
• University health drives or campaigns

For example, if you volunteered at a health camp during your summer break, that’s an invaluable hands-on experience that can elevate your resume as a recently graduated nurse.

Here's an example:

Nurse Intern & Health Educator

Springfield Health Camp

06/2022 - 08/2022

• Volunteered in patient care, assisting registered nurses in administering basic treatments and wound care.
• Educated local community members about preventive healthcare measures, receiving positive feedback for clear communication.
• Assisted in organizing health seminars, ensuring informative sessions on nutrition, and hygiene.
• Collaborated with fellow interns to gather patient feedback, leading to improved patient education materials.
• Partnered with local schools to conduct health check-ups, providing basic healthcare knowledge to students.

#5. Add Your Most Vital Nursing Skills

Nursing is more than just administering medication or checking vitals. The job requires a broad range of skills , and the ones you add to your new grad nurse resume should align with the specific nursing position you're after.

Your skills section shows potential employers your clinical competencies and the depth of your training. If you tailor this section right, they’ll see how prepared you are to step into the role.

Here are some tips for writing a great skills section:

• Tailor them to the ad. Does the job description mention certain requirements for candidates? Whether it's wound care, patient education, or managing specific health conditions, add the skills you have to your resume.
• Research what skills you need. The world of healthcare is ever-evolving and the key to success is ongoing learning. Stay updated on patient care guidelines, innovative treatment methods, or emerging healthcare technologies.
• List hard and soft skills separately. Your new grad nurse resume should keep soft skills and hard skills neatly separate. This way, employers can find exactly what skills they’re looking for at a glance.

You've got the know-how to list your nursing skills.

All that’s left is to figure out which you should include on your resume.

Take a look at this list of the 67 most in-demand hard and soft skills for recently graduated nurses to get started!

67 Most In-Demand New Grad Nurse Skills

51 new grad nurse hard skills.

• Aseptic technique
• Electronic Health Records (EHR)
• EPIC Systems
• Record keeping
• Patient assessment
• Wound dressing
• IV insertion and management
• Medication administration
• First Aid and CPR
• Basic Life Support (BLS)
• Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
• Catheter insertion and care
• Infection control
• Vaccination administration
• Pain management
• Patient education
• Care and discharge planning
• ECG interpretation
• Emergency response
• Surgical assistance
• Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP)
• Oxygen therapy
• Endotracheal intubation
• Fluid and electrolyte balance
• Palliative care
• Ventilator management
• SOAP note documentation
• Patient charting
• Patient transport
• Tracheostomy care
• Gastrostomy feedings
• Diabetes management
• Hemodynamic monitoring
• Sterilization techniques
• Seizure precautions
• Ostomy care
• Orthopedic casting and splinting
• Isolation procedures
• Defibrillation
• HIPAA compliance
• Manual blood pressure measurement
• Nasogastric (NG) tube placement
• Critical care
• Telemetry monitoring
• Mobility assistance

16 New Grad Nurse Soft Skills

• Communication
• Adaptability
• Critical thinking
• Time management
• Problem-solving
• Active listening
• Self-awareness
• Stress management
• Interpersonal skills
• Organizational skills
• Conflict re solution

#6. Elaborate on Your Education

In any resume, work experience and skills speak louder than academic credentials. Usually, this section only gets a passing mention.

However, when you’re a newly graduated nurse, you might want to dive into more details.

If you don’t have as much hands-on experience as your peers, your education section is where your resume can shine.

Here’s how you should format the basics:

• Degree Name. (E.g. Bachelor of Science in Nursing)
• University Name. (E.g. Metropolitan University of Health Sciences)
• Location. (E.g. Los Angeles, CA)
• Years Attended. If you haven’t graduated yet, don’t worry about it. Over 74% of new graduate nurses have a job offer lined up before graduation. Instead of using the yyyy - yyyy format, you can specify your expected graduation date. (E.g. Expected graduation: May 2024)
• Optional Details. List any relevant coursework, such as classes, projects, or clinical rotations, that’s relevant to the nurse position you’re applying for.

The goal here is to paint a clear picture of how your studies have prepared you for the hands-on work in the world of nursing. Everything you add should be relevant, so you should skip your high school education.

Here’s an example of how your education section might look:

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Metropolitan University of Health Sciences

Los Angeles, CA

08/2019 - 06/2023

• Relevant Coursework: Pediatric Nursing, Critical Care Nursing, and Nursing Ethics.
• Research Project: "The Impact of Patient-Nurse Ratios on Care Quality."
• Clinical Rotations: Completed practical training in Pediatric, ICU, and Emergency Nursing departments.

#7. Leverage Optional Sections

Once you’ve come to the end of your new grad nurse resume, you have some leftover space.

This is a great opportunity for you to add optional sections, which can take your resume to the next level. These sections can be the cherry on top, giving potential employers deeper insight into who you are both professionally and personally.

Here are some sections you can choose from:

• Licenses and certifications. The more qualifications you have, the more commitment and readiness for nursing your resume shows.
• Awards. Any scholarships, academic honors, or nursing-related competitions you've won are good for showing off on your new grad nurse resume.
• Memberships. Being a part of professional nursing organizations gives you credibility and shows your drive to stay updated with industry trends.
• Languages. Hospitals and clinics appreciate nurses who can communicate with diverse patient populations, so speaking multiple languages is a huge plus.
• Publications or conferences. If you've written healthcare-related articles or created presentations for nursing school or even conferences, list them! It shows expertise and enthusiasm for particular subjects.
• Hobbies and interests. This section gives a glimpse into your personality. Activities like team sports can show teamwork skills and physical stamina, while interests like medical literature or meditation can show an interest in continuous learning and stress management.
• Florence Nightingale Academic Scholarship State Nursing School - 2022
• Top Performer American Red Cross First Aid Competition - October 2021

Memberships:

• National Student Nurses' Association (NSNA) Member - 2020

Always be sure to keep the optional sections you add to your new grad nurse resume relevant. Your interests in cooking or experience in the university drama club probably won’t do.

If you’re based in the USA, you should always include your nursing license number on your resume. But in countries where Nursing graduates are automatically registered with the board, there’s no need to add this credential.

#8. Attach an Equally Well-Made Cover Letter

Once you’ve completed your resume, your work isn’t done yet.

The last step on your resume-writing journey is writing a cover letter .

In reality, not writing a cover letter can significantly lower your chances of getting an interview since hiring managers expect to get cover letters .

There’s no need to worry, though! Your new grad nurse resume can be paired with a matching cover letter in no time.

Just take a look at what a great cover letter for a recently graduated nurse looks like:

You know the drill - you’ve seen a great cover letter, so now it’s time to make one yourself.

Follow our cover letter tips to nail it:

• Include the right contact information. Your new grad nurse cover letter should have the exact same contact information as your resume. Your full name, phone number, professional email address, and general location are enough, followed by the hiring manager’s contact information.
• Address your cover letter. Don’t skip the greeting or use something generic like “To whom it may concern”. Instead, do a bit of research and address the hiring manager by name to make a strong impression.
• Start with a strong opening. Your first paragraph should always include why you’re writing and what skills you can offer the employer, so they’ll want to read more.
• Expand on the details. This is the place to get creative! Elaborate on anything that makes you perfect for the job, but don’t just repeat what’s on your resume. Offer the hiring manager insight they wouldn’t get from just reading your new grad nurse resume.
• Finish it appropriately. Once you’re ready to wrap it up, invite the hiring manager to do something, like contact you. Then add an appropriate closing line and sign your name.

Key Takeaways

And that’s a wrap!

Now you’ll be well on your way to delivering extraordinary patient care.

But before you pick out your new scrubs, let’s recap what we talked about:

• Always add an eye-catching paragraph at the top of your new grad nurse resume. A resume summary is a great way to catch the hiring manager’s attention.
• Don’t worry too much about not having enough professional experience. Hiring managers won’t expect a fresh graduate to have Dr. House’s list of achievements.
• List your soft skills separately from your hard skills so hiring managers can easily find what they’re looking for, and make sure to tailor any skills on your resume to the job ad.
• While your education is usually less important than your hands-on experience, don’t be afraid to give more detail if you’re very inexperienced. It still shows off your medical know-how and it’s better than having blank space.
• Any licenses and certifications are a great addition to your resume as a newly graduated nurse, so make sure to add them right after your most important sections are filled in.

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How to Write an Exceptional New-Grad Nursing Resume

Writing a new-grad nursing resume is a daunting task for most new-grads. The fear of having no experience and being unqualified leaves many wondering what details to include . Moreover,  many new-grads wonder how to structure their nursing resume in a way that best conveys their current skill-set and value to prospective employers. As former recruiters, we reviewed thousands of new-grad resumes. In this blog post, we’ll draw on that experience to provide a comprehensive guide to creating an amazing nursing resume for new-grads.

How to Structure Your New-Grad Nursing Resume

How you structure your resume has an impact on its effectiveness. Let’s first consider which headings to include on your resume. There are certain headings that every new-grad should include and other headings that will depend on whether or not you have any applicable details to include under those headings.

Headings that every new-grad nursing resume should include (Required)

Every new-grad resume should include the following headings (we’ll discuss why we recommend these headings and provide tips for each below):

Licenses and Certifications

• Clinical Rotations

Optional headings for your new-grad nursing resume

Each of the following headings should be considered and included based on whether or not you have relevant details to include:

Work History

Affiliations, volunteer activities, honors and awards, skills summary, how to order the headings.

Now let’s take a look at the ordering of the headings. Of course, your contact information should be at the top of your resume. As usual, you should place the Summary as first heading on your resume. Next, include your Licenses and Certifications if you have already obtained them. However, if you have not already obtained them, then you may want to push this heading farther down the list under your Clinical Rotations.

Next, include your Education followed by your Clinical Rotations. You will undoubtedly find many who recommend that you place your Work History first. Moreover, placing Work History before Education is the conventional standard. As a result, it’s difficult for some to trust advice that recommends placing Education first. So, here’s our supporting argument…

As a new-grad, you may not even have work experience. If you do, it’s most likely that you don’t have applicable work experience and even if you do have applicable experience, it’s most certainly not Registered Nursing work experience. You can’t obtain RN work experience without an RN license and you can’t get an RN license without first graduating from an accredited nursing program and passing the NCLEX.

Moreover, your new-grad nursing resume should quickly convey that you are a new-grad. There is no point in trying to hide this fact. If employers are considering new-grads for an open position, then recruiters and hiring managers are going to be receptive to your situation. If they’re not considering new-grads for the opening and are instead requiring experience for the position, then they’re not going to be receptive to your situation. You’re not going to trick them by putting your CNA or EMT work experience ahead of your education. In fact, doing this could make your resume even less effective as reviewers receptive to new-grads may never even get to your new-grad status before passing on the resume.

Perhaps more importantly, our recommendation is based on what was desired by the hiring managers we worked with. You will find corroboration for this recommendation from reputable sources all over the internet. For example, the sample new-grad resumes from California State University Chico and  University of Texas San Antonio  both have the headings listed in the order we recommend. Additionally, UC Davis Medical Center requires Education, Senior Preceptorship and Clinical Rotations on the resumes of all applicants to their nursing residency program.

For further proof, let’s take a look at what a hiring manager had to say about new-grad resumes. As the Director of Workforce Development for Orange County Memorial Care University and a Board Member of the Association of California Nurse Leaders, Maria-Jean Caterinicchio, RN, MS said, “It (your resume) should state where you have done your clinicals and any certifications such as EKG and ACLS. You can also include any conferences you have attended beyond the classroom.” Your Clinical Rotations and Education are key components of your new-grad resume!

That takes care of the 4 required headings. The 6 optional headings can be ranked as you see fit. Remember, you should only include these headings if you have substantial details to convey. And you may want to rank them in order of strength as they relate to the job in question. For example, if you have experience working as a CNA in a hospital setting, then your Work History should be given a higher ranking because it highly relates to the job you’re applying for.

Specific Details to Include on Your New-grad Nursing Resume

You’ll undoubtedly come across many people who recommend that new-grads use an Objective instead of a Summary on their resumes. The argument is that you really have nothing to summarize as a new-grad. However, we think that Objectives are an outdated resume heading that do nothing to advance your main objective of conveying why you’re the right person for the job. Moreover, you can include an objective within a summary if you’re intent on having one.

Here are three articles from major publications that support summaries over objectives:

• Forbes on Summaries
• themuse on Summaries
• Careerealism on Summaries

Now, you may have heard that recruiters spend 6 seconds reviewing your resume. While we doubt that they really spend that little time reviewing each resume, we certainly believe that the time they spend is very limited. Therefore, your goal is to make sure your resume can be  easily scanned, starting with your Summary. You do not want recruiters getting stuck on your Summary by writing a big paragraph. Instead, use bullet points and try to keep each point at 1 to 2 lines .

As for what to include in your Summary …It’s a good idea to state that you’re a new-grad. You might summarize your clinical rotations. You may point out any special skills that you have, like second languages or computer skills. And, as mentioned previously, you may include an objective.

We recommend listing each license and certification with the following information:

• Full name of the license or certification.
• Full name of the issuing body of the license or certification.
• Expiration date of the license or certification if applicable.
• License or certification number if applicable.
• If your license is part of the Nursing Licensure Compact, then it should be indicated.

Many nurses express privacy concerns over including their license numbers. Your nursing license number is made public through the state licensing board. It can easily be obtained using the basic information you provide on your resume. Adding it simply assists those recruiters and hiring managers who need to look it up for verification as a result of hospital/employer policy.

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Education for Your New-Grad Nursing Resume

You should display all of your relevant college education. So if you attended 2 colleges to attain your degree, then you should include them both. Please do not include your high school education. We recommend including the following information for each pertinent education institution you attended:

• Full official name of the education institution.
• City and State
• Dates attended.
• Degree achieved.
• GPA if it was good.

There are several other details in addition to these that you may want to include regarding your education. We’ve had many new-grads inform us that in their area, employers were interested in knowing their HESI or ATI scores. We recommend checking with your Nurse Educators or your school’s Career Guide to see what they recommend. You may also wish to include relevant coursework and corresponding grades if you got an A. However, keep this brief and relevant to the job you’re applying for.  Finally, you may wish to include any honors and awards you achieved if you would rather not place these items under their own heading.

Clinical Rotations on Your New-Grad Nursing Resume

Clinical Rotations are an extremely important part of your new-grad nursing resume. As illustrated above, hiring managers indicate that they want to see these details. Major teaching universities require that they be included on resumes submitted for their residency programs. We consider them the crux of your new-grad resume. At a minimum, you should include the following:

Details to include about your clinical rotations

• Type of experience (Clinical Rotation, Senior Preceptorship, other).
• Start and end dates.
• Total number of hours worked.
• Name of the hospital or institution.
• City and State.
• Name of the unit/department (examples: Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Medical Surgical Unit (MS), Labor and Delivery Unit (L&D)).

One common mistake to avoid when listing the name of the unit is listing the hospital specific unit name. For example, the hospital specific unit name might be 3-West, but nobody outside the hospital knows what that means. Instead, list the type of unit it was as designated by the type of patients the unit took.

In addition to the details above, we also recommend including the following information:

Optional details to include about your clinical rotations

• Facility type: Every facility has a technical designation. For example, most hospitals are “Acute Care Hospitals”. Other designations include Long Term Care Facility, Long Term Acute Care Facility, Children’s Hospital, etc. Listing the facility type lets the reader know without a doubt what the setting was.
• Number of beds in the facility.
• List the facility’s trauma designation if applicable.
• If the facility was a teaching hospital, then include that information.
• Number of beds on the unit you were assigned to.
• Trauma designation of the unit you were assigned to if applicable.
• Age range of the patients the unit cared for if applicable.
• Nurse to patient ratio on the unit.
• Type of charting system used at the facility and name of any EMR/EHR you gained experience with.
• The grade you received if it was an A.

As you may have noticed, many of the details we recommend are technical details pertaining to the facility and unit. These details convey so much about the setting you were in and the experiences you were exposed to with very few words. So including them provides the reader with a ton of useful information. Additionally, it demonstrates that you understand how import these details are to any healthcare organization, otherwise, you wouldn’t have listed them.

Additional options for highlighting your clinical rotations

Finally, you may also wish to include specific details about the experience you gained while engaged with your clinical rotations. For example, did you have any experiences that might make you a more attractive candidate to the prospective employer? Did you learn anything specific about compassion for patients, team work, the importance of learning and growth as a new-grad RN? If you did, then try to offer the specifics to illustrate exactly what happened.

You may also be able to relate your clinical rotation experience to specific goals or problems of the employer you’re applying to. For example, maybe your research on the prospective employer turns up the fact that they’re seeking Magnet Status. If one of the facilities that you worked at during your rotations was seeking to achieve the same goal, then you may be able to find some way to relate your experience to it. Or, perhaps the prospective employer is trying to improve their HCAHPS score and one of the facilities you worked at just achieved success with a similar endeavor. There are limitless possibilities with this option. The main idea is to try and relate your experience during clinical rotations to a real problem or goal faced by the prospective employer.

At this point, we’ve covered each of our recommended required headings. As you may have noticed, we’ve offered tons of options. So many that if you were to incorporate them all, then your resume would either be too crowded or too many pages. However, many of the details we offer are simply for your consideration. It’s not required to include them all. So pick and choose the ones that work best for you by researching the job in question and determining which details will be of most value to the prospective employer.

Optional Details for Your New-grad Nursing Resume

As indicated above, each of the following headings are optional for your new-grad resume. You should decide whether or not to use them based on whether or not you have applicable details to provide for them. Let’s take a brief look at each of them

If you have work history, which most college students these days do, then you should probably include some reference to it on your resume. Try your best to convey how the experience relates to nursing. This will be a lot easier to do if the experience was healthcare related. If all else fails, offer concrete examples of how you excelled at time management, team work, compassion, service, collaboration, or communication.

One important issue to consider regarding work history is stability. Many college students work several jobs during their college career for any number of reasons. Too many short term stints may exhibit instability to prospective employers who are about to devote a large amount of resources to you. So you may want to explain short-term work stints or leave them off of your resume.

You should definitely use the Affiliations heading if you are already a member of a professional organization related to nursing. For example, if you’re a member of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, then prospective employers will want to know. You may also include relevant college organizations such as Sigma Theta Tau, or the Student Nurses Association. Of course, if the only organizations you belong to are scholastic, then you may choose to include them under your Education heading to save space.

When listing your affiliations, consider including the following details:

• Full name of the organization.
• Date joined.
• Your designation within the organization.
• Any special duties.
• Organization conferences attended.

Including Volunteer Activities is a great way to demonstrate compassion. You may have volunteered for charity or at a healthcare facility. Consider including the following details:

• Dates of engagement.
• Quantify the number of hours volunteered.
• Description of duties and results you achieved if applicable.
• Any awards or recognition you received.

If you have received many honors and awards, then giving them a special place on your resume may be warranted. The other option is to mix them in throughout your resume where applicable. Consider including the following details:

• Name or title of the award.
• Date received.
• Organization received from.
• Significance of the award, or reason it was received.

For most new-grads, a Skills Summary heading may not be warranted. Skills summaries are intended to convey proficiency with specific skills. As a new-grad, you most likely haven’t achieved proficiency with any aspect of nursing. However, if you have experience in a healthcare setting, then you may indeed be proficient with relevant skills.

For example, you may be certified in phlebotomy or Crisis Prevention. In any case, if you haven’t achieved proficiency, then you may be better served by listing skills as details under the heading that pertains to where the skills were practiced.

Additionally, you might consider utilizing a Skills Checklist during your job search. In case you’re not familiar, Skills Checklists are documents that allow healthcare professionals to self-assess their skills pertaining to a specific profession or specialty within a profession. They are commonly used by healthcare employers of all types to gauge their employees’ skill sets.

BluePipes has over 100 comprehensive skills checklists that you can complete, save and download at your convenience. You can print them out and take them to job interviews in order to easily convey your level of expertise with hundreds of skills.

Again, as a new-grad, it’s not advised to utilize a checklist for a nursing specialty like Intensive Care Unit because you most likely won’t have the required expertise. However, if you have experience as a CNA, Phlebotomist, or LPN, then you could use one of those checklists as a way to stand out from the crowd.

These checklists are free to use on BluePipes. So, join today to take advantage!

A recent study by Wanted Analytics found that “bilingual” was the second most common skill listed on nursing job postings in the United States. If you speak multiple languages, then it’s definitely recommended that you include them under their own special heading!

What Hiring Managers and Job Postings are Looking for in New-Grad RNs

It’s important to remember that experience, temperament, talents, and convictions vary from person to person. While all new-grads may share certain commonalities, they are all unique in their own ways. Similarly, it’s fine for new-grad resumes to share certain commonalities, but each should be unique in it’s own way.

As you’ve seen, we have strong opinions on the structure of your resume and we provide many recommendations on various details to include. However, we’re not writing the resume for you. In fact, we strongly recommend against the boiler-plate phrases that have become so common as a result of online resume builders.

So, when it comes to the meat of your resume, let the words of hiring managers and job postings guide your efforts. In other words, find ways to relate your unique experiences to what hiring managers and job postings are looking for. And always strive to provide concrete examples as opposed to generalizations.

Assuming that you’re applying for a job through a job posting (as opposed to networking for a job), you should do your best to optimize your resume for the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). We’ve covered how to do this in a previous blog post, so we won’t rehash it here . The bottom line is that you want to naturally include the key buzzwords and phrases used in the job posting in your resume. This way, you’re ranked higher by the ATS.

Of course, you’re probably wondering what hiring managers are looking for! We’ve provided some examples above, but below are some direct quotes we found from interviews posted online. These quotes validate what our own experience as recruiters taught us.

“Knowing that new nurses are very green in regards to their technical skills, we look to whether a nurse is really ready to step into the profession. We are looking for those who are really interested in making life better for people who are suffering.”  Kimberly Horton, MSN, RN, FNP, DHA, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Mercy Hospital and Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, California “We expect our new nurse graduates to have the basic fundamental nursing knowledge and we are also looking for compassion, a sense of teamwork, accountability and communication. We look for an attitude of collaboration and communication.”  Maria-Jean Caterinicchio, RN, MS, Director of Workforce Development for Orange County Memorial Care University and Board Member of the Association of California Nurse Leaders (ACNL) Always side on patient safety first. Be open to feedback. Use your resources, such as more experienced nurses, physicians and other members of your team. This will also help you build a support system. Always ask questions when you are unsure or don’t know something.  Discuss your feelings and/or concerns with your unit leadership. From the first day on the job, be a team player.   Greg Kingsley, RN, New Grad Nurse Recruiter, Emory Healthcare 

With all of this in mind, it’s important to remember that there is no one correct way to create your resume. We certainly hope this guide provides an idea of best practices as well as an idea of what you shouldn’t do.

Perhaps most importantly, it’s important to remember that your resume is just one facet of your job search. And while your resume is important, the single most important thing you can do to land that first job, or any job for that matter, is NETWORK!

Estimates indicate 70% to 80% of all jobs are filled through networking. And it’s always best to operate with the “80-20 rule” in mind. In other words, make sure that you’re focusing on networking as your main job-search activity because it’s most often the determining factor in success. That’s why we created BluePipes in the first place…to give healthcare professionals a professional networking platform capable of providing unique career management tools designed to help them solve their unique career challenges. Join today, it’s free and easy!

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So my situation is a little different. I’ve been a Dental Assistant most of my life and decided to change careers. I have now achieved my RN. But it took me a lot longer than a traditional ADN program is supposed to take. I had an “issue” at the first school I started the nursing program at and ended up needing to find another school to complete the program. Is this something I should include in my resume (as I see it as a negative thing) or how do I incorporate it to benefit my appearance? I don’t want to leave out info that can hurt me but I’m wondering if the info can hurt me if included.

I agree with Kyle.

List out your clinicals. Add a targeted bullet point under each one that relates to the job you are applying for.

Learn about ATS. Read the job posting. What words are on there most? What qualifications MUST you have? What qualifications do they PREFER? All the ones you have – write them down. Yes, use their words.

Also read their mission and values. Look through their website. Encorporate their values with yours. A great place to do this is in your cover letter.

– Melissa

Thanks! It did 🙂

What do you recommend to someone like me whose 19 years old. Has no work experience, this is my first career.. my resume would be completely blank pretty much. I know you said don’t include high school education.. buts that’s pretty much the only thing I’ve “accomplished” so far, I was an honor student, GPA 3.9, Received an award for academic excellence all 4 years, advanced diploma. And currently my GPA is 3.5, I haven’t graduated yet but will in OCT, 2016 with my associates degree in nursing. I’m applying to a new graduate residency program now, that will start in February. Please HELP! 🙁 how can I make my resume better?

Thanks for the inquiry Glenda. Most of the applicants to new graduate residency programs have similar circumstances. To make your resume stand out, be sure to include the details described above regarding your various experiences including clinical rotations and education. You’re welcome to include your high school education. However, chances are it will not be considered. Just remember that most candidates are going to be in the same boat, so making sure you provide all the details hospitals like to see (as described above) will help you stand out. I hope this helps!

Great article! Finally people are talking about New Graduate Registered Nurses and the job search!! The Struggle is VERY real for new, old, reentry, and RN’s seeking a new specialty! Especially in oversaturated markets like California.

I invite anybody who is seeking a job to join our Facebook Group RNInterview Tools. https://www.facebook.com/groups/PlayingTheGame/ All are invited to share what worked for them, post questions, and seek support from others who understand.

Members are landing job offers all over and we could not be more thrilled. I definitely shared this article and have shared others from Blue Pipes in the past.

Thank you for assisting all of us Nurses in our quest.

Glad to hear the article is useful and thanks for sharing, Melissa!

Help! I just graduated in May 2016 and got hired as an RN in a hospital. Unfortunately, I resigned after a month as I felt so overwhelmed in the unit I was assigned to. Should I include that one month experience in my resume?

Thanks for sharing, Aleli and sorry to hear about the difficulties. This is a tough situation. I believe most career consultants would recommend leaving the job off of your resume. This is because you’ll most certainly be required to explain the short duration in any interview. Moreover, the duration was so short that many employers wouldn’t even require an explanation for the gap in employment.

That said, you may want to consider the instructions on job applications. Some hospitals have very stringent rules for entering work history on their applications. For example, they might require every employer for the past 7 years to be entered on the application regardless of duration and also require applicants to provide an explanation of any gaps in employment of greater than 1 month. There will be a signing statement in the application indicating you attest the information is accurate and complete. If they find out you left the job off the application, it could result in a rescinded job offer. Although the chances of this happening are slim.

I hope this information helps!

Nursing is my second career. I taught elementary school before this. Should I include my education for that? Also, should I include teaching school in my work history? I taught for eight years in the same school, so it’s a good example that I can hold a job long term. Thanks!

Congratulations on your new career, Priscilla. Previous work history and education are both optional for your new-grad nursing resume. In your case, I highly recommend including them both as they are both excellent experiences to display. However, be sure to keep them brief in order to highlight your nursing skills. I hope this helps!

Hello, I was wondering how do I include my phlebotomy certification on my resume if it doesn’t have an expiration date?

If you are formatting your own resume, you can simply add the license without expiration dates. However, I’m wondering if you’re using BluePipes to format your resume? Please let me know if so. Thanks!

Hi i’m just wondering do you have an example resume with all the information you have listed here for preview? thank you!

My apologies, but we don’t have a sample. We’ll work on creating though. Thanks!

How about information on building a new-grad RN Cover letter?

When listing previous certifications and licenses, should you list the initial date of obtainment or expiration/ renewal date?

Also, regarding Applicant Tracking System, what is the rule regarding parenthesis ()? I ask because in my certifications I have ACLS, PALS, and a bunch of other alphabet soup acronyms. Should I use (ACLS) after Advanced Cardiac Life Support?

Good questions! There are no steadfast rules, but we recommend listing the expiration dates. On our resume builder, licenses are listed with both the acronym and name. For example: ACLS – Advanced Cardiac Life Support

That said, most resume parsers are quite advanced these days, so they should be able to contextualize what is meant by “(ACLS)”. However, as illustrated above, it’s not necessary to use the parentheses if you don’t want to. I hope this helps!

Help! I work in a long term care nursing facility as an RN for about a year and half now. This is my first nursing job and nursing is my second career. What can you suggest in writing my resume? Are my clinical rotations still relevant? Thanks.

There isn’t a steadfast rule that applies to your question. I think it’s fair to say that most recruiters and nursing career advisers would say that your clinical rotations shouldn’t be added to your resume after a year and a half of working in an LYC facility. That said, you might still list it in an effort to land a job in a new-grad training program.

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7 Registered Nurse (RN) Resume Examples for 2024

Registered Nurse (RN)

Best for senior and mid-level candidates

There’s plenty of room in our elegant resume template to add your professional experience while impressing recruiters with a sleek design.

Resume Builder

Like this template? Customize this resume and make it your own with the help of our Al-powered suggestions, accent colors, and modern fonts.

• RN Resume by Education
• RN Resumes by Experience
• RN Resumes by Type

Registered nurses (RN) are a profession in very high demand. In addition to a hiring rush during COVID-19, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts a 12 percent growth in demand for RNs through 2028.

Nursing is a tough enough profession in its own right. So, don’t be discouraged if you’re struggling to draft your  nurse cover letter  or  write a resume  that puts your best foot forward.

We’re here to help with seven great RN resume samples that guarantee success in the challenging world in 2024. It doesn’t matter if this is your first job out of nursing school or if you’re a seasoned vet; these resumes are a great starting place when writing or updating your own.

Registered Nurse (RN) Resume

or download as PDF

Why this resume works

• You’re undergoing a career change,
• You just finished nursing school and this is your first RN job, or
• You’re going to customize it to the  nursing job description .
• If none of those are relevant to you, skip the objective!
• Two other relatively common requirements for RN positions (though certainly not all positions) are Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and Basic Life Support (BLS). Explicitly mention those in your resume if you have them.

RN BSN Resume

• Next, delve into outstanding performances like streamlining shifts and reducing scheduling conflicts. Also, adding measurable impact further elevates your suitability.

New Grad RN Resume

• If the activities are related to healthcare or show you in a professional, positive light and you need some help filling out your new grad RN resume , then include one or two.
• Color is one way to show some personality on your resume while still portraying professionalism. Try a strong accent color while keeping the color basic everywhere else, as seen in many of our  resume examples .
• P.S. You can catch this mistake easily when you take advantage of our  resume builder  and its AI-powered tips. 

Experienced RN Resume

• As you gain more and more experience as an RN, try your best to show a progression in responsibility and ownership on your experienced RN resume. 
• Here’s the trick: Keep a master copy of every job and a working list of job description bullet points for each. Then, pull from this master list and customize it according to the specific role for which you’re applying now.
• Two other quick things you can do to fit more content are to reduce vertical spacing and reduce page margins, which is a simple click of a button in our  resume maker .
• Hit the highlights in your resume, but you can delve further into these details when creating a cover letter .

Travel RN Resume

• Mentioning and quantifying outcomes possible through your keen eye and observation (hint: cut documentation errors by 28%) is a great way to make this attribute count.

Med Surg RN Resume

• Pay attention to the skills, qualifications, and responsibilities listed in the job description to gain ideas on what you should include in your skills section.
• RNs can work in a ton of different areas in medicine. If you’re applying to a specific job (like Med/Surg Nurse) and you have experience in that area, be sure to match your job title to that of the job description.
• White space is a commonly overlooked factor in resume design, and if it’s a concern for you, try simplifying the process by picking one of our  free resume templates .

ICU RN Resume

• Check your resume  to ensure you’re using action verbs that propel your bullet points forward and keep hiring personnel engaged.
• Another way to demonstrate impact is by quantifying it, that is, tying the outcome of your work to a number. By linking a number to your claims, proof of impact becomes clear.
• Ultimately, nursing is a profession involving people. So if you can show that you’re comfortable with the human aspects of the job (patient care, plans of care, family interactions, etc.), speak as much as possible concerning that experience in your ICU RN resume .

Related resume guides

• Physician Assistant
• Medical Assistant

Resume Worded   |  Proven Resume Examples

• Resume Examples
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• Nursing Resume Guide & Examples

New Grad Nurse Resume Examples: Proven To Get You Hired In 2024

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• New Grad Nurse
• Nursing Graduate
• Junior Registered Nurse
• Entry-Level RN
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• New Grad Nurse Resume Tips

New Grad Nurse Resume Template

Download in google doc, word or pdf for free. designed to pass resume screening software in 2022., new grad nurse resume sample.

As a new grad nurse, you're entering an ever-evolving healthcare field with unique challenges. Your resume should not only showcase your nursing skills but also emphasize your adaptability and eagerness to learn. Employers are looking for candidates who can adapt to changes in the industry and effectively communicate with patients and colleagues alike. Healthcare organizations are increasingly focusing on patient satisfaction and outcomes, so highlighting your clinical experience and ability to work in various settings will position you as a strong candidate for such roles. When writing your resume, it’s vital to be specific about your nursing education, clinical rotations, and any relevant certifications.

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Recruiter Insight: Why this resume works in 2022

Tips to help you write your new grad nurse resume in 2024,    highlight clinical rotations and experiences.

Detail the clinical rotations you completed during your nursing program, describing the type of units you worked on and the skills you gained. Showcase any experiences in diverse or high-acuity settings to demonstrate your adaptability and competence.

   Emphasize soft skills and teamwork

Since new grad nurses often work in interdisciplinary teams, emphasize your soft skills, such as communication, empathy, and collaboration. Use specific examples from clinical rotations or team projects to showcase your ability to work effectively with others.

As a new graduate nurse, you're entering a highly competitive job market where employers are seeking the best candidates to fill their open positions. In recent years, the nursing industry has seen an increasing demand for skilled nurses, but also a higher number of job applicants. To stand out, it's crucial that your resume effectively showcases your education, clinical experience, and key strengths. Crafting a tailored resume will not only help you land interviews, but also demonstrate your professionalism and commitment to a career in nursing. Resumes are particularly important in the nursing field, as hiring managers need to assess your clinical competencies, ability to work under pressure, and adaptability. Both tactical and strategic recommendations can help you create a resume that highlights your skills and makes you an attractive candidate for potential employers.

As a new grad nurse, you might lack extensive work experience, so it's important to emphasize your clinical rotations and any hands-on experiences you've had during your education. Include the facility's name, department, and a brief description of the patient population and any specialized skills you practiced.

   Focus on soft skills and certifications

While technical skills are essential, nursing is also about communication, empathy, and teamwork. Highlight your soft skills, such as active listening, problem-solving, and time management, throughout your resume. Additionally, mention any relevant certifications (e.g., BLS, ACLS) that showcase your commitment to continuous learning and professional development.

As a new graduate nurse, you’ll face a steep learning curve, so be prepared to learn and adapt on the go. Without much professional work history on your resume, you should highlight any nursing experience you’ve gained during your studies, including student nursing placements, clinical practicums, and any experience as a technician or extern.

   Includes student nursing and practicum experience

As a new grad, hiring managers aren’t expecting you to have extensive work experience. Any experience you’ve gained as a nursing student or early in your career can go on your resume in place of paid work experience. Simply list your practicums and student nursing experience the same way you would any job, using action verbs to highlight your accomplishments.

   Lists specific skills relevant to nursing

Even graduate nurses need a firm grounding in essential skills. When it comes to your skills section, be explicit about the skills you’re proficient in, but don’t feel the need to list every skill you’ve ever learned — choose the top ten or so skills that fit the specific job you’re applying for and list those.

Nursing Graduate Resume Sample

Junior registered nurse resume sample, entry-level rn resume sample, registered nurse resume sample, entry level registered nurse resume sample.

As a hiring manager who has recruited nurses at top healthcare organizations like Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Cleveland Clinic, I've reviewed hundreds of resumes from new grad nurses. In this article, I'll share insider tips on what makes a strong new grad nurse resume stand out. These tips come from my firsthand experience and conversations with other hiring managers in the field.

   Highlight your clinical experience

As a new grad nurse, your clinical experience is one of the most important things to showcase on your resume. This includes any clinical rotations, internships, or externships you completed during your nursing program.

When describing your clinical experience, be specific about:

• The units you worked in (e.g. ICU, ER, pediatrics)
• The number of patients you cared for per shift
• Any specific skills or procedures you performed (e.g. wound care, medication administration)
• Any notable accomplishments or positive feedback you received

By providing concrete details and metrics, you give hiring managers a clear picture of your hands-on experience and capabilities as a new nurse.

   Emphasize your licensure and certifications

In addition to your nursing degree, be sure to prominently feature your RN license and any relevant certifications on your resume. This shows employers that you have met the necessary requirements to practice as a registered nurse.

Some examples of certifications to include:

• Basic Life Support (BLS)
• Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
• Trauma Nurse Core Course (TNCC)

If you have any specialty certifications, such as in critical care or emergency nursing, definitely highlight those as well. They demonstrate your expertise and commitment to professional development.

   Showcase your leadership and teamwork skills

As a nurse, strong leadership and teamwork abilities are essential. Employers want to see evidence of these soft skills on your resume.

Think about experiences where you:

• Collaborated with a multidisciplinary care team
• Took on a leadership role in a group project
• Mentored or precepted fellow nursing students
• Participated in quality improvement initiatives

Even if you don't have formal leadership titles, you can still showcase your leadership potential through your actions and accomplishments. Avoid simply listing soft skills without context, like this:

• Strong leadership skills
• Excellent communicator
• Team player

Instead, provide specific examples that illustrate those qualities in action.

   Include relevant volunteer and extracurricular experience

As a new grad, you may not have extensive paid work experience in nursing yet. However, any relevant volunteer work or extracurricular activities can still strengthen your resume.

Some examples to consider:

• Volunteering at a local clinic or health fair
• Participating in a medical mission trip
• Serving as a board member for a student nursing organization
• Organizing community health education events

These experiences showcase your passion for healthcare and your ability to make a positive impact outside of a formal work setting. They can also help you develop valuable skills that transfer to your nursing career.

   Tailor your resume to the specific job

One mistake I often see new grad nurses make is using the same generic resume for every job application. To really catch a hiring manager's attention, you need to customize your resume to the specific role and employer.

Before applying, carefully review the job description and research the organization. Then, look for ways to tailor your resume content accordingly:

• Mirror the language and keywords from the job posting
• Emphasize any skills or experience that directly match the job requirements
• Mention any connections or interest in the employer's mission and values

For example, if applying to a pediatric nursing position, you might include a tailored resume summary like: "Compassionate and dedicated new grad nurse with a strong foundation in pediatric care. Experienced in caring for children of all ages through clinical rotations at X Children's Hospital and volunteer work with Y Youth Organization. Committed to providing family-centered nursing care that promotes optimal child health and development."

By taking the time to customize your resume, you show employers that you are truly interested in and qualified for that particular opportunity.

   Highlight your nursing education and academic achievements

Your nursing education is the foundation of your qualifications as a new grad nurse. Make sure to feature your nursing degree prominently on your resume, including:

• The full name of your degree (e.g. Bachelor of Science in Nursing)
• The name and location of your nursing school
• Your graduation date (or expected graduation date)
• Any honors or distinctions (e.g. magna cum laude, Dean's List)

In addition to your degree, you can also showcase other academic achievements, such as:

• Relevant coursework or specialized tracks
• Research projects or publications
• Scholarships or awards
• Study abroad or international nursing experiences

These details paint a fuller picture of your nursing education and demonstrate your academic excellence. Just be sure to keep the focus on achievements that are directly relevant to your nursing career.

Writing Your New Grad Nurse Resume: Section By Section

  summary.

A resume summary for a new grad nurse is optional, but it can be a great way to provide context and highlight your most relevant skills and experiences. While an objective statement is outdated and should be avoided, a well-crafted summary can help you stand out from other candidates and showcase your unique value proposition.

When writing your summary, focus on the key qualifications and traits that make you an ideal fit for the nursing role you're targeting. Avoid repeating information that's already covered in other sections of your resume, and keep it concise – aim for no more than 3-4 sentences or bullet points.

To learn how to write an effective resume summary for your New Grad Nurse resume, or figure out if you need one, please read New Grad Nurse Resume Summary Examples , or New Grad Nurse Resume Objective Examples .

1. Tailor your summary to the nursing job

When crafting your new grad nurse resume summary, it's crucial to align it with the specific requirements and preferences of the healthcare facility you're applying to. Research the organization's mission, values, and the type of patients they serve, and incorporate relevant keywords and phrases into your summary.

For example, if you're applying to a pediatric nursing position, you might write:

Compassionate and detail-oriented new grad nurse with a passion for providing high-quality care to pediatric patients. Experienced in assessing vital signs, administering medications, and collaborating with healthcare teams to develop personalized treatment plans. Committed to creating a positive and nurturing environment for children and their families.

In contrast, a generic summary that fails to target the specific nursing role might read:

Hardworking and dedicated new grad nurse seeking an entry-level position in a healthcare facility. Skilled in patient care, communication, and teamwork. Eager to apply my knowledge and learn from experienced nurses.

2. Highlight your clinical experience and skills

As a new grad nurse, your clinical rotations and any relevant work experience are valuable assets to showcase in your summary. Emphasize the specific skills and knowledge you've gained that are most applicable to the nursing position you're seeking.

Strong examples might look like:

• Completed clinical rotations in med-surg, pediatrics, and emergency care, honing skills in patient assessment, wound care, and medication administration
• Collaborated with interdisciplinary teams to develop and implement patient care plans, ensuring optimal outcomes and patient satisfaction

On the other hand, weak examples that lack specificity and relevance might include:

• Gained experience in various healthcare settings through clinical rotations
• Worked well with others to provide patient care

  Experience

As a new grad nurse, your work experience section may feel light. But with the right approach, you can still showcase your skills and potential. Use these tips to write a compelling work experience section that will catch the eye of hiring managers.

1. Highlight your clinical rotations

Your clinical rotations are a goldmine of relevant experience. Treat each rotation as a separate 'job' entry.

Instead of just listing your responsibilities, highlight your achievements and the skills you developed:

• Completed 12-week rotation in pediatric ICU, caring for up to 5 patients per shift
• Collaborated with interdisciplinary team to develop and implement patient care plans
• Educated patients and families on post-operative care, improving patient satisfaction scores by 10%

Quantify your experience where possible. Metrics help hiring managers understand the scope of your responsibilities and achievements.

2. Showcase your non-clinical experience

Don't neglect your non-clinical experience. Jobs like server, tutor, or volunteer can be relevant if you frame them right.

Avoid a laundry list of duties like:

• Took customer orders
• Delivered food to tables
• Handled cash transactions

Instead, emphasize the transferable skills you gained:

• Provided excellent customer service in fast-paced restaurant, memorizing menu items and making personalized recommendations
• Resolved customer complaints tactfully, de-escalating tense situations
• Trained 5 new servers on POS system and service standards

Think about skills like communication, teamwork, and attention to detail which are valuable in nursing too.

3. Use strong nursing action verbs

Start each bullet point with a strong action verb that showcases your nursing skills. Avoid bland, overused verbs like 'assisted' or 'helped'.

Some powerful nursing verbs include:

• Collaborated

Monitored vital signs of post-operative patients, alerting physician to signs of complications.

These verbs paint a picture of you actively contributing to patient care.

  Education

The education section is a critical component of your new grad nurse resume. It's where you showcase your academic achievements and nursing-specific training. Here are some key tips to make your education section stand out to potential employers.

1. Put your education section at the top

As a new grad nurse, your education is likely your strongest selling point. Place your education section at the top of your resume, just below your contact information and resume summary (if you have one).

Here's an example of what your education section might look like:

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Graduation: May 2023 GPA: 3.8

2. Include relevant coursework and clinical rotations

As a new grad, you may not have a lot of professional nursing experience yet. That's okay! You can bolster your education section by including relevant coursework and clinical rotations.

Bad example:

• Completed coursework in various subjects

Instead, be specific and highlight courses and rotations that are directly applicable to the nursing role you're seeking:

• Relevant Coursework: Advanced Health Assessment, Pharmacology, Medical-Surgical Nursing, Pediatric Nursing, Psychiatric Nursing
• Clinical Rotations: Completed 800+ clinical hours in diverse settings, including acute care, long-term care, and community health

3. List your nursing license and certifications

If you've already obtained your nursing license, be sure to list it in your education section. You can also include any relevant certifications you've earned.

Registered Nurse (RN), California Board of Registered Nursing License Number: 123456 Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification, American Heart Association Expiration: May 2024

If you haven't taken your NCLEX yet, you can list your anticipated license:

Registered Nurse (RN), California Board of Registered Nursing NCLEX-RN scheduled for June 2023

4. Keep it concise if you're an experienced nurse

If you're a more seasoned nurse, your education section can be brief. Employers will be more interested in your professional experience at this stage in your career.

Poor example for a senior nurse:

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Specialization in Nurse Leadership Georgetown University Graduation: May 2012 GPA: 3.9 Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) University of Virginia Graduation: May 2008 GPA: 3.7 Relevant Coursework: ...

Instead, keep it concise:

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Georgetown University Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), University of Virginia

  Skills

When writing your skills section as a new grad nurse, focus on the hard skills and technical proficiencies that make you qualified for the role. Hiring managers and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) will scan this section to ensure you meet the basic requirements. Keep it concise and highlight your most relevant and impressive skills.

1. List your nursing credentials and certifications

As a new grad nurse, your skills section should prominently feature your nursing degree, licensure, and any specialty certifications you've earned. These are the core qualifications that demonstrate you meet the legal requirements to practice as a nurse.

Here's an example of how to list your credentials:

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Registered Nurse (RN), Florida, License #12345 Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) Certification

2. Highlight your clinical skills and specialties

Recruiters want to see the specific clinical skills you've developed through your nursing education and any internships or practicums. Focus on skills that match the job description and showcase your areas of expertise.

Avoid simply listing 'Clinical Skills' with no details, like this:

Clinical Skills

Instead, provide specific examples of your clinical proficiencies:

Patient assessment and triage Medication administration Wound care and dressing changes Inserting and monitoring IVs Telemetry and vital signs monitoring Assisting with diagnostic procedures

3. Include any healthcare technologies you're proficient in

Modern healthcare relies heavily on technology, from electronic health records (EHR) systems to patient monitoring devices. Showcase your comfort with these tools to stand out to employers.

Organize your technical skills into categories to make them easy to scan:

Electronic Health Records: Epic, Cerner, Meditech Medical Devices: Infusion pumps, Ventilators, Defibrillators Diagnostic Tools: 12-lead EKG, Bladder scanner, Doppler ultrasound

If you have experience with older or less common technologies, consider leaving those out. Focus on current, widely-used tools that demonstrate you're prepared to hit the ground running in a new role.

4. Optimize your skills section for Applicant Tracking Systems

Many healthcare employers use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to automatically screen resumes for relevant skills and keywords. To pass these filters, make sure your skills section includes terms from the job description.

For example, if a job posting mentions 'patient education,' don't just list 'patient care' as a skill. Match the language from the job ad as closely as possible, like this:

Patient and family education Discharge planning and instructions

However, avoid keyword stuffing or listing skills you don't actually have. Hiring managers can tell when a candidate is just trying to game the system.

Skills For New Grad Nurse Resumes

Here are examples of popular skills from New Grad Nurse job descriptions that you can include on your resume.

• Nursing Management
• Customer Service
• Patient Education
• Healthcare Information Technology (HIT)
• Clinical Research
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
• Healthcare Management
• Emergency Nursing

Skills Word Cloud For New Grad Nurse Resumes

This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on New Grad Nurse job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more likely you should include it in your resume.

How to use these skills?

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New Grad Nurse Resumes

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Nurse Resume Examples and Templates

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To drive your nursing career forward, you’ll want to craft a compelling, accomplishment-driven resume to differentiate yourself from the competition. You should provide tangible examples from your career to illustrate your unique background within the healthcare industry.

Nurse Resume Examples & Writing Guide

Crafting a resume as a nurse involves showcasing your clinical skills, patient care expertise, and dedication to the health profession. This guide will assist you in highlighting these key qualities and experiences. 

It is tailored to define the role of a nurse and provide guidance on creating a resume that effectively communicates your ability to excel in nursing roles, enhancing your prospects in this compassionate and challenging field.

What does a Nurse do?

Nurses are integral to the healthcare system, providing direct patient care, administering treatments, and supporting patients and their families. They must be adept at assessing patient needs, implementing care plans, and working collaboratively with other healthcare professionals. 

An effective nurse resume should emphasize clinical skills, empathy, and the ability to handle stressful and emotionally charged situations.

Skills to Highlight on a Nurse Resume

• Patient care and assessment
• Medication administration
• Empathy and compassion
• Strong communication skills
• Ability to work in high-pressure environments
• Knowledge of healthcare protocols
• Team collaboration and leadership
• Wound care expertise
• Patient education and advocacy
• Time management and organization

How to Write a Nurse Resume?

A nurse's resume should be clear, concise, and well-organized, fitting onto a single page. It must include sections for contact details, a professional summary, work experience, education, certifications, and additional skills.

Focus on those sections that best reflect your strengths. For instance, a new graduate might emphasize education and clinical rotations, while an experienced nurse would highlight specific areas of expertise and professional achievements.

Choose a Nurse Resume Format

The format of your resume is key in presenting your nursing career effectively. There are three primary formats: chronological, functional, and combination. 

For most nurses, the reverse chronological format is recommended as it clearly outlines your professional history. However, if you're new to the field or shifting specializations, other formats may be more appropriate. 

Rezi can help create a perfectly formatted resume, and you can choose a suitable template from the options provided.

Start with Your Contact Information and Name

Begin your resume with your name and contact details, including your phone number, email address, and possibly your LinkedIn profile URL and location. This ensures recruiters can easily identify and contact you. Clear presentation of this information at the top of your resume is vital.

Write a Strong Professional Summary

The summary section should concisely capture your nursing expertise and key strengths. It's important to highlight your experience in patient care, clinical skills, and any specialized areas of nursing.

Example Summary : "Compassionate Registered Nurse with 5 years of experience in pediatric care. Proficient in patient assessment, treatment administration, and providing emotional support to patients and families. Dedicated to delivering high-quality care and promoting patient well-being."

This summary effectively communicates the candidate's experience, specialty area, and core nursing values.

Consider Optimizing Your Resume for ATS Keywords

To ensure your resume is noticed by employers, include keywords relevant to nursing. Rezi can help identify important keywords from job descriptions, ensuring your resume aligns with what employers are seeking.

List Your Relevant Work Experience

The work experience section should detail your nursing roles and responsibilities, emphasizing patient care, treatments administered, and any specialized experience. For a nurse, standing out means highlighting specific achievements or initiatives in patient care or teamwork.

Example : “Registered Nurse at City Hospital, 2018-2023. Provided comprehensive pediatric care to an average of 15 patients daily. Implemented a new patient education program that improved patient satisfaction scores by 20%.”

This section shows specific duties and quantifiable achievements, making the candidate's experience and impact clear.

Tips for the Work Experience Section of Your Resume

Focus on experiences that demonstrate your nursing skills and achievements. Start with your most recent position and describe your roles using active verbs. Including specific achievements or improvements you contributed to can help your resume stand out.

List Your Projects

If applicable, include any projects or additional work that highlights your nursing skills, such as volunteer work, research, or involvement in health campaigns or initiatives.

Example Project : “Volunteer Nurse at Health Fair, 2022. Conducted health screenings and provided health education to over 100 community members.”

This example demonstrates the candidate’s commitment to healthcare beyond their formal role, showcasing additional skills and community involvement.

List Your Education

The education section of a resume provides critical information about your nursing training and qualifications.

• Nursing degree and any specializations
• University or nursing school name
• Graduation year
• Relevant coursework
• Academic honors or distinctions

Example Education Section : “BSc in Nursing, XYZ University, 2017. Specialized in Pediatric Nursing. Dean’s List 2016 and 2017.”

This section highlights the candidate's nursing education and any special achievements, adding credibility to their professional qualifications.

List Any Relevant Skills

The final section of your resume should highlight additional skills that enhance your nursing qualifications. This can include specific nursing techniques, languages spoken, technical skills, or soft skills like empathy and patient advocacy.

Final Tips for Writing a Nurse Resume

Ensure accuracy and clarity.

Your resume should be error-free and clearly formatted. This reflects your attention to detail, a crucial skill in nursing.

Tailor to the Position

Customize your resume for each job application, highlighting experiences and skills that align with the job's requirements. This shows your suitability for the specific nursing role.

Highlight Patient-Centric Achievements

Focus on achievements that demonstrate your patient care skills and contributions to patient outcomes. This approach showcases your dedication and impact as a nurse.

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Novant Health

Rn new grad residency program.

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Novant Health’s RN new grad residency program allows new graduate RNs the time to gradually assume the duties and responsibilities that accompany the nursing role here at Novant Health. We are proud the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Accreditation Program awarded our nurse residency program accreditation with distinction, the highest recognition awarded. With this recognition, Novant Health’s nurse residency program becomes the 133rd system in the world to receive this honor and the second in North Carolina.

Unlike many six-month programs, ours is a comprehensive, twelve-month program designed to fully prepare and transition you and your career into a professional practice through:

• Interactive learning sessions
• A guided preceptorship
• Compassionate mentors
• Socialization opportunities
• A personalized development plan

A unique aspect to our program includes a rotation component. During your first year, you have the option to rotate every 12 weeks up to 4 rotations within your specialty to different units in the hospital or market you are hired into. This time allows you to experience different patient populations/ settings and find your perfect fit as a Novant Health nurse.

Novant Health’s program allows you the opportunity to gain the confidence and experience you need to transition to practice successfully!

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The Road to Professional Advancement with RN to BSN Programs

In the healthcare field, the importance of continuing education cannot be overstated. For registered nurses (RNs) looking to enhance their expertise and career prospects, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) offers a clear pathway to professional growth. RN to BSN programs are designed to build on the skills and knowledge that nurses have acquired through their initial training and real-world experience. This then provides them with a deeper understanding of patient care, management, and advanced medical procedures.  

Below, we explore all things RN to BSN programs, including answering the questions, “What is RN to BSN?” and “What does RN to BSN mean?” We also examine their significance along with the career outlook for those with an RN to BSN degree.  

Discovering RN to BSN Programs: What is RN to BSN?  

What is an RN to BSN, anyway? RN to BSN programs offer a bridge for registered nurses aiming to elevate their educational qualifications and expand their clinical capabilities. These nursing programs are tailored to integrate seamlessly into the busy schedules of active healthcare professionals, providing flexible learning options that do not compromise on the depth and quality of the education offered.  

What Does RN to BSN Mean? Defining RN to BSN and Its Importance  

When defining what an RN to BSN is, it’s helpful to look at it as an education-to-career pathway. An RN to BSN program is an educational path specifically designed for registered nurses who already possess an associate degree in nursing (ADN) and wish to advance to a BSN. These programs enhance the nurse's ability to handle complex clinical and leadership roles by deepening their knowledge in areas such as nursing research, public health, management, and advanced clinical practices. A BSN is increasingly necessary in today's complex healthcare settings and is often a prerequisite for leadership roles or positions in specialized fields of nursing​.   

The importance of obtaining a BSN cannot be understated in the context of the modern healthcare environment, which demands a higher level of critical thinking and advanced nursing practice capabilities. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are increasingly requiring a BSN for nursing positions, particularly in urban centers or specialized departments. Studies have shown that BSN-prepared nurses are linked to better patient outcomes, including lower mortality and failure-to-rescue rates, and are preferred for their enhanced skills in critical thinking and leadership. This degree not only opens doors to new career opportunities and higher potential salaries but also positions nurses to pursue further educational advancements such as a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)​.  

The Journey from RN to BSN: A Step-by-Step Guide  

Embarking on the journey from RN to BSN involves a series of structured steps designed to elevate your professional credentials and expand your nursing competencies. Here are the steps to navigating this process:  

• Assess your current credentials – Ensure that you hold an active RN license and an ADN or a nursing diploma; these are prerequisites for most RN to BSN programs.  
• Choose the right nursing program – Decide whether an online, hybrid, or on-campus program suits your needs best. Consider the flexibility of online programs, which can be convenient for working professionals, and check if the program is accredited by recognized bodies such as the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) to ensure quality and eligibility for federal financial aid​.  
• Application process – Prepare to submit an application, which typically includes proof of your RN licensure, academic transcripts, and possibly a fee. Many programs have multiple start dates throughout the year, allowing for greater flexibility in when you can begin​.  
• Transfer credits – Look into the possibility of transferring previous nursing or related credits to reduce the number of courses you need to take. This can shorten the duration of the program significantly​.  
• Fulfill course requirements – Engage in coursework that builds on your existing knowledge and skills (discussed more in-depth below). The length of the program can vary based on whether you choose a full-time or part-time path.  
• Complete clinical hours – Depending on the nursing program structure, you may need to complete specific clinical hours or practical experiences. This often involves working under supervision in a healthcare setting to enhance your practical skills​.  
• Graduate and advance your career – Upon completion of the program, you'll be awarded a BSN degree, qualifying you for enhanced career opportunities, advanced nursing positions, or further education like a Master of Science in Nursing.  

Core Components of RN to BSN Programs  

The core components of RN to BSN programs are designed to deepen a nurse's expertise in both theoretical and practical aspects of healthcare. But more specifically, what is an RN to BSN program, and what does it entail? Dive into the essential coursework and experiences that shape these nursing programs and equip nurses with advanced skills in patient care, leadership, and healthcare management.  

Key Courses and Curriculum Structure  

In an RN to BSN program, the curriculum is comprehensive and designed to build upon the fundamental skills of nursing while introducing more complex concepts. Key types of courses might include any number of the following (but will vary depending on school and program):   

• Health assessment helps students refine their skills in conducting physical, psychological, and health history assessments to establish comprehensive care plans.   
• Pharmacology provides in-depth knowledge about various drug categories and their interactions, which is vital for safe medication administration​.   
• Pathophysiology is included to deepen understanding of disease processes and treatments by applying anatomy and physiology principles​​.   
• Microbiology courses teach about pathogens and how the body defends against them, essential for managing infections.   
• Anatomy and physiology courses offer detailed insights into the body systems, crucial for effective assessment and treatment​.   
• Courses in healthcare ethics and nursing theory and research are also integral, addressing ethical dilemmas in nursing and emphasizing the importance of evidence-based nursing practice and theoretical knowledge​.   
• Population health and human development courses explore the impact of societal factors on health and psychosocial development across a person's lifespan (respectively), preparing nurses to provide sensitive and informed care​.   
• Finally, clinical rotations are a core component, allowing students to apply their knowledge in real-world settings across a range of nursing specialties, which helps build practical skills and professional networks​.   

Clinical Requirements and Experiential Learning  

In RN to BSN programs, clinical experiences and experiential learning are integral components that enhance the theoretical knowledge gained through coursework. These practical experiences are designed to prepare students for advanced roles in nursing by applying their knowledge in real-world healthcare settings.  

Clinical requirements typically involve a set number of hours that students must complete, which are crucial for developing hands-on skills in patient care. For example, some programs might include a capstone project where students work under the supervision of a preceptor to implement a project that positively impacts patient outcomes. This both allows students to apply their knowledge practically as well as helps them integrate into the professional nursing environment effectively​.  

Experiential learning in these nursing programs can vary considerably but often includes simulations, lab work, and other interactive forms of learning. These components are structured to help students build critical thinking and clinical decision-making skills that are essential to modern nursing roles​. The combination of structured coursework and dynamic clinical experiences helps ensure graduates are well-prepared to meet the demands of the healthcare industry.  

Who Should Consider an RN to BSN Program?  

RN to BSN programs are ideal for registered nurses looking to enhance their clinical skills, assume managerial roles, or prepare for more specialized fields within healthcare. These programs are particularly beneficial for those who envision a long-term career in nursing and recognize the importance of advanced education in meeting the evolving demands of the healthcare sector. Nurses motivated by the prospect of higher salaries, leadership positions, and a desire to provide high-quality patient care through evidence-based practices will find these programs especially advantageous.   

Personality Traits and Professional Aspirations  

Those considering an RN to BSN program should exhibit certain personality traits that align well with the nursing profession. The following key traits help nurses manage the day-to-day challenges and protect against burnout while maintaining high engagement levels in their careers​:   

• Compassion is crucial, as nurses should treat each patient with deep empathy and care as they would a family member.   
• Dedication and a strong commitment to patient advocacy reflect a nurse's drive to improve patient care quality and bridge communication gaps between patients and healthcare providers​.  
• Nurses must be adept at assessing situations and making quick, informed decisions.   
• Leadership skills are essential to help nurses guide patients toward better health outcomes and mentor fellow staff members.   
• The role demands physical endurance and excellent time management skills to handle the rigors of nursing duties effectively.   

Evaluating Your Career Goals and Educational Needs  

When planning your career trajectory in nursing, it is critical to set structured and clear goals. Adopting the SMART framework (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) can be extremely beneficial. This method helps in mapping out your educational needs—such as choosing to pursue an RN to BSN program—as well as aligning these needs with your long-term career aspirations, like advancing into leadership roles or specializing in specific areas of healthcare. This structured approach helps ensure your goals are both well-defined and aligned with the developing demands of the healthcare sector, ultimately facilitating a focused and effective progression in your nursing career.  

Benefits of Completing an RN to BSN Program  

Completing an RN to BSN program offers numerous benefits that extend beyond the immediate advancement of nursing skills. These programs are tailored to broaden the professional scope of nurses by enhancing their clinical competencies and leadership abilities. Graduates often find themselves better equipped to handle complex healthcare situations, lead teams, and contribute to policymaking within healthcare settings.   

Furthermore, a BSN degree can increase access to higher salary brackets, greater job stability, and eligibility for a wider range of nursing roles in diverse healthcare environments. This increased qualification empowers nurses with more autonomy in their practice and positions them as pivotal players in the evolution of patient care.  

Career Advancement Opportunities  

Completing an RN to BSN program can substantially elevate career prospects for nurses , opening the door to a variety of advancement opportunities. With a BSN, nurses are better positioned for leadership roles such as charge nurse, clinical nurse leader, patient care director, and clinical nurse manager. These positions offer increased responsibilities and typically come with higher pay plus a broader scope of influence within healthcare settings. Additionally, specialized roles become accessible, ranging from nurse anesthetist to family nurse practitioner , each requiring further certifications that a BSN can prepare a nurse to pursue​.  

Choosing the Right RN to BSN Program  

Choosing the right RN to BSN program involves careful consideration of several factors to ensure it aligns with your professional goals and personal circumstances. It is crucial to assess the program's accreditation, as this impacts the quality of education received and eligibility for certain job positions. Evaluating the flexibility of course schedules, availability of online or hybrid options, and support services the institution offers can play a significant role in your academic success and overall experience.  

Online vs. On-Campus Options  

Choosing between online and on-campus RN to BSN programs depends largely on individual learning preferences and lifestyle needs. Online programs offer flexibility, allowing nurses to balance their studies with work and personal commitments by accessing coursework at their convenience. This can be especially beneficial for those who need to continue working full-time.   

On the other hand, on-campus nursing programs provide structured learning environments, face-to-face interaction with faculty and peers, and immediate access to on-site resources—which can enhance the learning experience for those who thrive in a traditional classroom setting.  

Overcoming Challenges in RN to BSN Programs  

Students must manage and overcome some common hurdles in RN to BSN programs. Finding the right balance to manage coursework alongside professional responsibilities is crucial. Adapting to academic demands (especially if returning to education after a time gap) can be daunting. It involves acclimating to new learning technologies and academic writing standards. However, these challenges can be mitigated with support systems like tutoring, online resources, and time management workshops that many programs offer to help students succeed.  

Balancing Work, Life, and Study  

Balancing work, life, and study in an RN to BSN program is a common challenge that requires careful planning and prioritization. Effective time management strategies, such as creating a structured schedule and utilizing organizational tools, can help nurses allocate adequate time for coursework while maintaining full-time work and personal commitments.   

Financial Planning and Support Options  

When considering financial planning for an RN to BSN program, it's essential to explore the various financial aid and support options available to manage the costs effectively. Many nursing students take advantage of financial aid like scholarships, grants, student loans, and tuition reimbursement programs. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the go-to tool for assessing eligibility for these aids, helping students access federal, state, and private financial support based on their needs​.  

The Future of Nursing With a BSN Degree  

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), registered nurses with a BSN are better positioned for leadership and specialized roles that are expected to be in higher demand. This data highlights that a BSN prepares nurses with not only comprehensive clinical skills but also key management and decision-making capabilities necessary for higher-level positions.   

Trends and Predictions in Nursing Careers  

The nursing profession is expected to see substantial growth and change in the coming years, with an overall employment increase of 6% projected from 2022 to 2032. This growth is fueled by an aging population requiring more healthcare services and an anticipated high rate of retirement among current nurses, which is expected to result in numerous job openings annually. Advances in healthcare and increasing emphasis on preventive care also contribute to the demand for more highly skilled nurses, underscoring the importance of a BSN degree for those entering the field. These trends suggest ongoing opportunities for those who are well-equipped and educated​.  

The Evolving Role of BSN-Educated Nurses  

The role of BSN-educated nurses is evolving to meet the complexities of modern healthcare. These nurses are increasingly pivotal in managing patient care, implementing healthcare technologies, and leading initiatives to improve patient outcomes. With a stronger educational foundation, BSN-educated nurses are prepared to take on advanced roles in management, education, specialty care, and other growing demands and responsibilities within nursing practice.  

Explore High-Level Nursing Careers with an RN to BSN Degree  

As you consider the path to high-level nursing careers, enhancing your education with an RN to BSN degree can be a transformative step. University of the Cumberlands offers a comprehensive RN to BSN program designed to equip you with the advanced skills needed for leadership roles in nursing.   

Whether you're aiming for management, specialized care, or educational roles, this nursing program provides critical knowledge and credentials.  Explore how we can help elevate your nursing career by requesting more information about our RN to BSN degree program today.  

Do Registered Nurses Need a Bachelor's Degree to Secure Their Career?

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For aspiring nurses, choosing which degree to pursue often comes down to time and cost considerations. As a result, many nurses pursue an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), which offers the shortest educational path that can help nurses enter the field quickly.

In addition, the pressure of industry shortages has spurred the demand to train new nurses swiftly through an ADN program. However, do registered nurses (RNs) need a bachelor’s degree to strengthen their career prospects?

Healthcare leaders are increasingly weighing the benefits of establishing the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) as an entry-level requirement for registered nurses, instead of the ADN. This is because a BSN degree develops leadership and critical thinking skills to navigate modern healthcare as it becomes more complex, and research has shown that this degree improves patient outcomes .

Whether a BSN is required or not, taking the initiative to earn this qualification can help nurses stay ahead of industry trends and gain higher roles without roadblocks. Here’s an overview of the advantages of advancing your nursing education.

Download our guide to discover which nursing degree is right for you.

The Shift Toward Nursing Higher Education

Do RNs need a bachelor's degree? Addressing this question can be complex, as the matter goes beyond initial licensure. All U.S. states allow nurses to take licensing exams to become an RN after completing an ADN, but industry associations have been advocating to raise the educational entry requirements for decades.

However, the Pew Health Professions Commission recommended increasing the number of BSN-trained nurses in a report . In 2010, the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice (NACNEP) went a step further, setting a target goal to have two-thirds of the nursing workforce hold bachelor’s degrees.

Since then, the healthcare industry has exceeded that goal, with 71.7 percent of RNs holding a BSN degree or higher as of 2022 , according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

When considering your options, it’s critical to remain aware of trends at the regional, statewide, and organizational levels. Throughout the industry, many healthcare organizations have already enforced their own policies that restrict hiring to registered nurses with at least a BSN degree. With the enactment of the BSN in 10 law in 2019, New York was the first state to require all RNs to obtain a baccalaureate degree or higher within 10 years of licensure . Although other states haven’t followed suit yet, a nationwide shift is a growing possibility—especially in areas with larger talent pools.

Benefits of Earning a Bachelor’s Degree as an RN

While a BSN is entirely optional, earning this degree equips nurses with growth-oriented skills and qualifications. Here are the most beneficial ways a BSN can further your career.

Enhances Patient Care

Associate and baccalaureate programs provide the same clinical foundation, preparing nurses to handle the task-driven aspects of direct care.

“A lot of it is getting confident with your knowledge of the diseases and the patients that you're taking care of, your hospital policies, and procedures,” says Deborah Roy, Director of the RN-to-BS in Nursing degree program at Regis College.

An ADN gives nurses the technical insight and core scientific knowledge to understand patient needs, collect information about their health, and address health issues with patient safety and wellbeing in mind. The additional coursework in a bachelor’s degree nursing program is designed to enhance a nurse's ability to assess, plan, and implement patient care in a more informed manner.

“When you get your bachelor's, you're looking at the theories, the critical thinking, the evidence-based information as to why we are doing things,” says Sharon Higgins, Interim Dean of Regis’s Young School of Nursing.

BSN programs put more emphasis on the conditions surrounding healthcare processes, such as patient education, clinical decision-making, policy development, and community health. As a result, baccalaureate-trained nurses have more opportunities to evaluate ways to improve nursing operations and healthcare access.

“I think that BSN-trained nurses will ultimately be the change agent and real advocate for what's happening at the bedside,” Roy says.

Increases Employment Opportunities

A BSN opens the door to a wider range of nursing professions, such as positions in management, education, and research. Many of these specialized fields require hands-on clinical experience as well as in-depth knowledge of healthcare operations, policies, and ethics.

“You can move up into formal leadership positions, such as nurse managers, directors, care coordinators, and quality management,” Roy says. “Just about anything within the hospital environment.”

RNs with a bachelor’s degree are also in a better position to take advantage of nursing job market trends. Employers typically prefer BSN degree holders for nonentry-level and multidisciplinary roles. As new applications of nursing emerge, baccalaureate-trained RNs can often compete for these roles without the immediate need for more education.

“A lot of the telework jobs are going to want a bachelor's versus the associate, so if they're in a position in life where they want to have more balanced, hybrid work, they'll most likely need a bachelor's for most of those,” Roy adds.

Outpatient clinics and insurance companies are other environments where RNs with a bachelor’s degree are in demand. In these positions with more autonomy, nurses must have the expertise, confidence, and decision-making skills to oversee and improve the patient experience.

Higher Salary Potential

The ability to move up to higher salary ranges is a major benefit of earning a BSN degree. Healthcare organizations that employ associate-trained nurses often restrict their duties and enforce earnings caps. Even with years of nursing experience, you might be unable to earn more at the ADN level despite increases in the cost of living.

Having additional education can qualify nurses for raises and promotions with their current employer and increase their competitiveness in the wider job market. If you want to pursue higher-paying positions in a leadership capacity or in specialized fields, keeping up with industry education standards is crucial to stand out to employers.

Leadership Skill Development

The strong focus on leadership development is one reason healthcare policymakers are encouraging the shift to baccalaureate education. BSN degrees facilitate a more seamless shift to higher-level decision-making by preparing nurses to think about the stakeholders and organizational components of healthcare.

“You learn critical leadership behaviors on how to build teams, how to communicate, and how to deal with things like instability in the workplace,” Roy says.

Through coursework and practical experiences, BSN students gain insight into healthcare systems, quality management techniques, and ethical considerations. The advanced training primes nurses to ask more in-depth questions that aid in improving patient-centric care and driving positive change.

“When you look at our curriculum, we're talking about contemporary topics in nursing,” Roy explains. “What's happening in the news? What's going on with these strikes and with nurses and their patient safety and patient-ratio concerns? We talk about the application of diagnostic measures, but we go into more detail as to what we’re doing this for. How do we interpret this data? How do we apply that to how we're going to care for our patients?”

Three Factors to Consider Before Advancing Your Education

Although a BSN offers numerous benefits, managing the time and financial commitment of a degree program can be challenging. As you explore options, here are important factors to take into consideration when deciding if a BSN program is right for you.

1. Financial Considerations

Cost is a common hurdle for professionals who want to complete a degree, but resources like financial aid can help students reduce out-of-pocket expenses.

Financial aid is available in the form of scholarships, grants, and subsidized loans to people who meet federal standards for need-based support. Aid can come from various sources, including federal and state governments, colleges, private organizations, and employers. Prospective students can look for financial aid that’s specifically allocated for continuing education for RNs, academic achievement, or underrepresented populations.

When paying out of pocket, employment income and tuition reimbursement can also offset education costs. For instance, choosing an affordable part-time BSN program makes it easier to continue earning income while paying for courses at a slower pace. Working for employers who partially or fully cover the cost of related education also allows nurses to advance their skills and pursue higher roles within their current organization.

2. Work-Life Balance

Nursing programs have a reputation for being rigorous. If you’re serious about earning a degree, it’s helpful to have a plan for balancing your work, school, and personal life.

Academic advisors and fellow nurses are indispensable allies for figuring out how to get the most out of your education while staying engaged in other areas of life. Advisors can also offer guidance on managing the curriculum and extracurricular opportunities and tailoring the academic experience to your strengths and interests.

Make sure the program you’re interested in is known for providing strong educational support through career counselors and mentors. Counselors can help nursing students identify passions and career objectives, research specialty areas, and find professional development opportunities. If challenges arise during your education, advisors, and counselors can assist you in making informed decisions that take your long-term goals and personal circumstances into account.

3. Flexible Program Options

BSN degree programs are available in flexible formats to complement a variety of lifestyles. Employed RNs can benefit from part-time enrollment options and online or hybrid courses to accommodate busy schedules.

Remote learning, in particular, offers the convenience of accessing coursework from anywhere, making academic achievement more attainable for working professionals. Night and weekend classes allow even more flexibility, and students have the option to take fewer courses at a time to learn at a comfortable pace.

Regis College’s RN to BS program offers many of these options to support student success, including asynchronous or synchronous online classes. By consulting with former nursing students who have completed BSN programs, you can compare different formats to find out which path will be most advantageous for you.

Take the Next Step Toward Career Advancement

So, do nurses need a bachelor's degree to have a fulfilling career? The answer depends on your personal interests, career aspirations, and state regulations.

If you want more career flexibility, mobility, and income potential, completing a BSN degree is a crucial step in advancing your professional skills. The degree gives RNs more options for pivoting into new branches of nursing and healthcare, especially as the job market evolves.

“There’s never going to be a good time,” Roy says. “But the closer you do it to your ADN program, you're still in school mode and you’ll know how to best manage your time.”

The RN-to-BS in Nursing degree program at Regis College is designed for RNs who want to take their training to the next level. The program lasts 12 to 16 months and is available in online and part-time formats, giving working nurses the flexibility to complete their degrees at a manageable pace.

If you’re interested in applying or requesting more information, contact a Regis admissions counselor for details about the program.

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May 24, 2024

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