Registered Nurse Resume Samples [+Job Description & Tips]

RN resume
Created by CakeResume

Caring for patients is a tough job, it’s nearly impossible for doctors to be caring for their patients around the clock. Registered nurses, or RN for short, are employed by hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities to assist in the process of caring for and supporting patients.

🔎 A registered nurse can specialize in a specific department, but they will generally be also in charge of:

  • Collaborate with doctors, physicians, and nurses to assess patients’ needs and respond with a treatment plan accordingly
  • Administer medications as needed
  • Provide immediate medical cares to patients in emergencies

A professional registered nurse resume should not only highlight your education and skillset; other factors that can be included to help improve your resume’s overall impression to recruiters.

Step 1: Pick the best layout for your registered nurse CV

How long should a registered nurse resume be?

Starting with the basics, an ideal registered nurse resume should be within one to two pages long. With the number of applications recruiters may receive, you’re doing them (and yourself) a big favor by keeping your RN resume short.

What is the best font to use in a registered nurse resume?

📗 Reminder: Avoid using fancy and hard-to-read fonts, this makes your RN resume look unprofessional. However, you should also avoid overused fonts like Times New Roman or Arial.

You can use professional yet classic fonts such as Calibri, Cambria, Helvetica, Garamond, and Palatino.

What is the standard margin for a registered nurse resume?

Use a one-inch margin for your registered nurse CV, they balance out the contents and the white spacing.

What spacing should a registered nurse CV be in?

For your registered nurse CV to look neat and professional, we recommend that you choose a 1.15 spacing, this ensures that your CV is not too cramped or too spaced out.

What file format should a registered nurse CV be in, Word or PDF?

In most instances, you should submit your registered nurse CV in PDF format as it is more robust (i.e., the content and template will not shift around no matter the devices it’s opened in) than in Word format.

Thus, unless specifically asked, always submit your registered nurse CV in PDF.

Step 2: Choose the right format for your registered nurse CV

The format you choose for your RN resume can make or break your resume. You want to choose a suitable format for your background that can highlight your strengths and make you look more attractive.

There are four formats you can adopt for your registered nurse CV:

📝 Chronological resume format

The main focus of this format will be your past working experiences. Start by listing out your most recent employment history first and then making your way backward, ending with your earliest working history. As the most commonly used resume format, this is a safe bet for you to use if you’re unsure on which to choose.

However, because of how generic it is, it might not make your RN resume extremely memorable.


📝 Functional resume format

The spotlight will be on the registered nurse skills and abilities in your resume. A very skill-focused format, this can be beneficial for a new graduate registered nurse resume or a registered nurse resume with employment gaps in between jobs. 


📝 Combinational resume format

As its name suggests, it combines the functional format with the chronological format. Start by listing out your relevant skills, followed by your past employment history placed in a reverse-chronological way. Your past working experiences will serve as proof of your skills.


📝 Targeted resume format

The targeted format will require extensive and frequent tailoring to your RN resume to ensure that it matches the specific job listing. It can be time-consuming, but you might expect better results because your registered nurse CV will be more relevant to the position.

Step 3: Start with contact information and basic personal details

Your RN resume should contain basic contact information and personal details for recruiters to know who you are and how to contact you.

Here, you…

Must include basic personal and contact details such as:

  • Full name
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Address (optional)
  • LinkedIn URL (optional)
  • Personal website (optional)

Should try to avoid including unnecessary personal details such as:

  • Date of birth
  • Sexual orientation
  • Religion or belief
  • Marital status and dependency
  • Expected/Current salary: Putting out a number too early is unprofessional and may lessen your bargaining power when discussing your salary.

Step 4: Create an intriguing registered nurse resume title

As with a good book, your registered nurse CV will require an attention-grabber to coax recruiters to continue reading through your resume. For this, you can include an intriguing registered nurse resume title. Your resume title needs to showcase your relevant achievements, strengths, and your skills.

💡Tip: Include strong and catchy words and keywords from the job ad to increase its effectiveness.

Registered nurse resume title examples:

  • Dedicated Registered Nurse with 8+ Years of Experience in the ER.
  • Patient and Calm Emergency Room Registered Nurse Proficient in Providing Urgent Care to Patients.
  • Licensed Registered Nurse with 7+ Years of Experience and Proven Ability of Remaining Calm Under Pressure.

Step 5: Craft a professional registered nurse resume statement

Your one-line registered nurse resume title is not enough to fully convey your potential to recruiters. You can continue on this in your registered nurse resume summary (or statement) section.

Your resume statement should connect with your resume title, and should describe who you are, your (relevant) previous experience, and should also include your skills. Ideally, this should be within a sentence or two.

👍 Note: A registered nurse resume summary will differ from a registered nurse resume objective, the latter being more focused on conveying your career aspirations, thus, making it more suitable for a new graduate registered nurse resume.

Registered nurse resume summary examples:

  • Responsible and dedicated registered nurse with 9+ years of experience in the ER. Proven record to remain calm under stressful situations and able to effectively triaged patients.
  • Licensed RN with 6+ years of experience in private hospitals. Maintained a score of 97% in patient satisfaction and compassion.
  • Registered nurse committed to providing quality and compassionate care. Experienced in pediatrics, ICU, and OR.

CakeResume provides the right registered nurse resume templates & formats for you to showcase your skills and experiences. Sign up to create and download the best registered nurse resume now for FREE!

Step 6: Include skills and abilities relevant to the job

Your ability to fulfill your job duties can be predicted by recruiters through your registered nurse skills and abilities in your resume.

There are four ways you can showcase your registered nurse skills in your resume:

  • Simple bullet lists
  • Expanded bullet list:
    a simple bulleted list with further explanation of your listed skills.
  • Integrated with work experience:
    will require you to have prior extensive employment experience to complement the skills you possess, may not suitable for a new graduate registered nurse resume.
  • Categorized skills section:
    you need to possess a wide range of skills, again, may not suitable for a new graduate registered nurse resume. However, it can be adjusted if you have some related skills gained from your previous internships or part-time jobs.

✍🏻Reminder: Carefully evaluate your background before deciding on a format.

Registered nurse skills for resume examples:

  • Hard skills
    
    Urgent and emergency care, taking and monitoring vitals, catheterization, CPR, Medical Laws & Ethics, monitoring and administering medications, telemetry, diagnostic testing, wound care, suturing.
  • Soft skills
    
    Communication, time management, patience, critical thinking, teamwork, staying calm under pressure, adaptability, dedication, compassion, decision-making, flexibility.
  • Other skills
    
    Physical fitness, patient interaction, Microsoft Office, research, presenting, e-mail, spreadsheets, writing, e-ClinicalWorks software, EMR/EHR software.

Step 7: Highlight your best experience and accomplishments

Your employment history is an important section of your registered nurse resume; it is one of the definitive proofs of your fit for the position.

For this section, you should include:

  • (Previous) organizations or employers names
  • State of the organizations
  • Titles you’ve previously held
  • Employment period
  • Brief description of your responsibilities and achievements (if applicable)

If you’ve worked in positions that are not relevant to the job you’re applying for, it’s best to exclude them. Remember to quantify your past achievements and results as they can make them look more convincing and apparent. You would also want to use action verbs to provide more info about yourself to recruiters.

Registered nurse resume work experience and accomplishments examples:

  • Registered Head Nurse | XYZ Hospital | May 2016 – Present
    - Trained and led a team of 25 nurses on quality and compassion.
    - Key achievement: training plan I made increased the nurses’ effectiveness and professionalism, increasing hospital patients’ satisfaction score by 7%.
  • Registered Nurse | ABC Hospital | Jan. 2009 – April 2016
    - Handled the care and safety of 20+ patients.
    - Key achievement: maintained a patient satisfaction score of 97%.

Step 8: List educational qualifications and background

Aside from your experience and accomplishments, your educational qualifications and background will be another section that recruiters will pay close attention to, especially if you have a new graduate registered nurse resume.

For this section, you should include:

  • Educational institution
  • Degree(s)
  • Major(s)
  • Year of graduation
  • Honors, awards, and extracurricular activities (if applicable)

The placing of your education section is also important. For a new graduate registered nurse resume, place it after your resume objective or your registered nurse resume summary.

On the other hand, an experienced registered nurse resume should place this after your employment history section, as your skills and qualifications demonstrated from your working experience are more crucial.

Registered nurse educational qualifications examples:

  • High school (can be omitted if you have a higher education degree)
    - Carnegie Vanguard High School (TX, USA) 2013-2017
    - GPA: 3.85/4.3
    - Extracurricular activities: Class President (2015-2016)
  • In progress
    B.S. in Nursing (in progress) | University of California-Los Angeles
  • Incomplete
    University of California-Los Angeles
    2017-2019: Completed 65 credits towards B.S. in Nursing

Step 9: Add an extra section to highlight achievements

Your hobbies, interests, volunteer experiences, and the likes can tell recruiters more about you and your passion.

Here, you may choose to include your…

  • Hobbies and interests
  • Volunteer work experience:
    
    If you’ve had experience volunteering in hospitals, you may choose to include it in your RN resume to further highlight your passion for the job.
  • Certifications
  • Awards
  • Projects
  • References: 
    
    You may consider your previous employers (if you’ve had any work or internship experiences) to be your reference. A recommendation letter from them can strengthen your standing as a candidate and can be helpful if the recruiters would want to verify your qualifications in your registered nurse CV.

Step 10: Craft a convincing registered nurse cover letter 

You won’t have enough space to fully elaborate on your qualifications in your registered nurse CV, which is why a registered nurse cover letter can help you a lot.

In your cover letter, you should introduce yourself and further explain your relevant qualifications, background, why you are a perfect fit for the job, as well as your motivation for applying.

✅ Pro tips: 

  • Ensure that your registered nurse cover letter is within a page long and should include your contact details as well.
  • Make sure you end your cover letter in a polite tone, thanking the recruiters for their time.

Registered nurse resume sample

Sarah Newman 

Dedicated Registered Nurse with 6+ Years of Experience in the ER

California, USA
+1- 415-049-4857

[email protected]
linkedin.com/in/sarahnewman

Professional Summary

Licensed and dedicated registered with more than 6 years of experience in the ER. Proven track record to remain calm under stressful situations and able to effectively triaged patients.

Work Experience

Registered nurse

Caduceus Hospital

Jan. 2019 – Present     

  • Appointed as a charge nurse in the emergency department.
  • Performed diagnostic testing on ER patients, collected and analyzed patient data for doctor’s consultations.
  • Suggested changes in the training of new nurses and increased patient satisfaction and safety score by 10%.

Registered nurse

Cornerstone Hospital

Jun. 2016 – Dec. 2018

  • Assessed and monitored patients in the ER and performed diagnostic testing.
  • Treated an average of 15 critical patients per shift in the ER while remaining calm under stress.

Education

B.S. in Nursing | University of California, Los Angeles
2012-2016
GPA: 4.0/4.0

Skills

  • Urgent and Emergency Care
  • Taking and Monitoring Vitals
  • Wound Care
  • CPR
  • Diagnostic Testing
  • Communication
  • Stress Tolerance
  • Flexibility
  • Patience
  • Dedication

--- Originally written by Patricia Rosita ---

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