10 Steps to Writing a Great Staff Nurse Resume

As a staff nurse (also known as a bedside nurse), you are highly valued within the nursing field due to your immediate assistance to the patients at the hospital. You may find yourself responsible for: 

• Assessing patient conditions and needs.
• Providing direct patient care depending on the patients’ needs.
• Preparing patients for surgical procedures.
• Checking up on patients routinely to ensure their comfort and safety.

With many tasks to keep up with, you will want to show the healthcare employer that you can handle all these responsibilities and more. 

With a professional staff nurse resume (or a staff nurse CV), the employer will be able to learn more about your qualifications and how you are a fit for the nursing position.

Generally, a resume for a staff nurse job should be one page long with one-inch margins on all sides. 

For the text font, you will want to go with a classic and easy-to-read style, such as Times New Roman or Calibri. 

Make sure the font is legible with a 10 to 12 pt size-wise and between 1.2 and 1.5 for the line spacing. 

Lastly, to guarantee the features and formatting will not be lost, save your staff nurse resume format as a PDF file. 

Now, you are ready to move on to the next step of writing a resume for a staff nurse job.

From the chronological format to the functional format to the combinational format, you can use the best-fitting resume format for your staff nurse resume.

• Chronological resume format:
  • Most preferred style as it shows your experience in an orderly manner
  • Not effective for those with career gaps

• Functional resume format:
  • Beneficial for those with career gaps or limited work history
  • Not suitable for those with strong work experience

• Combinational resume format:
  • Beneficial for those changing careers who have both broad skills and experience
  • Might make your staff nurse resume look repetitive

As a staff nurse, you want to be fully prepared and ready to assist the patients when necessary. Prove to the employer that you are attentive by having the essential contact information in your staff nurse resume. 

A headline title for your staff nurse resume is a description of you for the employer to gain a glimpse of your abilities. 

• Capitalizing your staff nurse resume headline helps it stand out for the employer to notice. 
• Brainstorm ideas for your resume headline based on the job description of a specific staff nurse role.
• Write the headline for your staff nurse resume in ten words or fewer.

The summary for your staff nurse resume is straightforward: you will want to describe what is included in the rest of your staff nurse resume. 

• Captivate the employer by starting your staff nurse resume with an appealing adjective. 
• Begin a successful staff nurse resume summary with your professional title and nursing-relevant experience. 
• Wrap up your staff nurse resume summary with past achievements or strengths fit for a staff nurse.  

If you happen to be developing a resume for a staff nurse as a fresher, you might lack the experience to showcase your suitability for the nursing role. In this case, it is recommended for an entry-level job applicant to write a staff nurse resume objective rather than a summary. A career objective for a staff nurse will allow you to elaborate on your career goals.

The staff nurse skills resume will present to the employer details of the knowledge or attributes you possess that are related to the staff nurse position. You will want to begin writing the skill section of your staff nurse resume by deciding on one of the styles below: 

• Bullet list:
  • Clear overview of all your nursing relevant skills.
  • Unable to provide further details for each skill.

• Expanded bullet list:
  • Detailed overview of each of your nursing skills.
  • Takes up much space.

• Integrating skills with work experience: 
  • Provides context for how your nursing skills are used.
  • Not recommended for freshers.

• A categorized skill section:
  • Presents your skills in an orderly manner.
  • Not recommended for freshers.

Staff Nurse Skills Resume Examples:

Demonstrate that you can manage the staff nurse responsibilities in your resume experience section. With each work experience entry, you include in your staff nurse resume, you will want to have the five elements below:  

✅ Better the experience section of your staff nurse resume with these three additional tips: 

• Adjust the work experience examples you include in your staff nurse resume to the staff nurse position.  
• Improve examples of work achievements mentioned in the staff nurse resume by including quantifiable results.  
• Start examples in the work experience section of your staff nurse resume with action verbs.  

Writing a resume for a staff nurse as a fresher, you will find the education section more useful in presenting your talents and achievements. For any degree, you will want to make sure to include the five elements below: 

Where you place your education achievements will also affect how your staff nurse resume will turn out. If you are experienced within the nursing field, you will want to insert your education after the work experience section of your staff nurse resume.

If you are a recent graduate, you will want to position your education right after your staff nurse resume objective or summary. 

Even a resume for a staff nurse as a fresher can be strengthened with these five additions below: 

• Hobbies and interests:
  • Enter suitable hobbies and interests in the “areas of interest” section on your staff nurse resume.
  • Example: gardening, traveling, etc. 
• Volunteer work:
  • Enter volunteer experience in the “work experience” section or the “additional information” section. 
  • Example: Nursing home volunteer at Brook Union Homes
• Certification & Awards:
  • Example: Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
• Projects:
  • Example: Mental Health Care Project
• References:
  • Example: Mrs. Cona Van | Head of Nursing Department, former direct supervisor 

The five sections to keep in mind when you write an application letter for a staff nurse position: 

• Contact Details - include your full name, email address, mobile number, and home address.
• Introduction - provide a sincere greeting and a short introduction of who you are.
  
• Motivation -  present the employer information as to what interested you in the role or hospital/facility.  
• Qualification - display your strengths and achievements through a few examples from the past. 
• Closing - finish your staff nurse cover letter with a sweet thank you to the employer. 
  

With these tips and pieces of advice in mind and possibly a staff nurse resume example, you will be able to create an exceptional staff nurse resume on your own.