New RN resume help! No medical work experience

Nurses Job Hunt

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Hi everyone, I have recently passed the NCLEX exam and received my RN license (and everything seemed to be going great for a little while). However, now that I have started looking for employment has found that transitioning from student to nurse is not what I thought it was going to be. My issue is that I do not have any past medical experience or student internships that I can add to my resume. So, I can't help but question how I should go about listing non-medical work history with clinical rotation experience. I'm going to post one of my resumes in hopes of advice I can use to make it better. After all, this is the may be the only piece of paper that can potentially land me a job interview. Any suggestions are welcome! Maybe some input on adding,removing, or changing the way I mentioned clinicals or about a objective statement.

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Name Here

Address• Phone• E-mail

EDUCATION

College Of Name Here, City, State
Associate of Science in Nursing • 12/14/12

CERTIFICATIONS

Florida State Registered Nurse License • 3/15/13 - 7/31/14

Certified Nursing Assistant

BLS (CPR/AED)

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

Precetorship • Name of Hospital • Neuro and Woman’s Surgical • 11/12 - 12/12

  • Worked under the supervision of an RN providing bedside care, treatments and clinical documentation for patients on the Neuro and Woman’s Surgical units
  • Coordinated medication administration, dressing changes, IVs and other aspects of nursing care for patient load (4 - 5) with minimal assistance
  • Facilitated admissions, discharges and transfers; prepared chart notes, documented care plans, assessments, interventions, and responses; participated on interdisciplinary team

Clinical Rotations • Name of Medical Center Units: Medical Surgical, Renal, Cardio, Med-Telemetry• Helping Hands: Home Health Care • Palm Garden: Assisted Living • 1/11 - 11/12

  • Adapted skills, assessments, interventions appropriate for age, status, and environment
  • Performed PICC line dressing changes, started peripheral IVs, inserted Foley catheters, removed sutures/staples, removed surgical drains, suctioned oral airways, inserted NG tubes, provided wound care, dressing changes, family/patient education
  • Assembled infusion pumps, prepped tubing/medications, programmed infusion rates
  • Administered PO, SQ, IM, IV, IVPB, topical, Sub-lingual, and inhalation medications
  • Analyzed clients ABGs, CBC/metabolic profiles, radiology results, EKG readings
  • Assisted with patient controlled analgesia pumps, blood products, TPN

OTHER WORK EXPERIENCE

Manager • Name of Company Here• 3/08 - 12/11

Supervised staff, delegated tasks, ordered materials, recruited/trained staff, monitored job sites/progress

Electrician’s Technician • Name company Here • 8/05 - 12/06

Maintained OSHA regulations, utilized tools/ equipment, followed state code/protocol

Server • Name of company Here • 10/00 - 2/04

Multitasked in fast-paced environment, collaborated as team, delegated tasks, transcribed orders

SKILLS

Proficient in Word, Excel, McKesson, Horizon Admin-Rx, & handheld device

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

President of Student Nurse Committee • 2010 - 2012

Student Nurses Association • 2010 - 2012

Evidence Based Practice Presentation –Preventing Deep Vein Thrombosis • 10/11

Evidence Based PowerPoint Presentation – Central Venous Access Device Management • 6/12

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Some ideas to think about. Use the Profile statement under the "Registered Nurse" title to add a few things from your resume that'll answer the job description - phrased in a way to say what you're offering if hired. Professional Profile is a bit generic but you get the idea to tailor it to reflect you.

Go over the "skill highlights" and identify your top skills you're offering to the job. I tried, but it's not perfect. Had to use periods to align the bullets but you get the drift.

Had to admit, figuring out what subcatagories to include other than "Medical Surgical" got me stump, based on the descriptions. There's a good discussion on this in another thread with my opinion on how to organize this section. If you had a lot of rotations you can use a columar format with that.

You just need to list the work you did in the "work experience" since none are medical related and you need the space. There's no decent way to indent the second presentation, but you get the drift.

Name Here

123 SE 11 AVE,
City, St 0000
123-345-678
Email

Residency-ready Registered Nurse

Providing exceptional patient care utilizing proven management skills.

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

  • Personable with a positive attitude; interface effectively with patients, families, and nursing staff.
  • Specialty area in Medical Surgical Nursing
  • Efficient with Electronic Medical Documentation, trained in McKesson

LICENSES AND CERTIFICAITONS

  • Registered Nurse in State of Florida, license number
  • Certified Nursing Assistant in State of
  • BLS (CPR/AED) certified by

SKILL HIGHLIGHTS

  • Wound care
  • Med/Surg
  • IV Administration
  • Pharmacy
  • Patient assessment
  • Medication Administration
  • Microsoft office suite
  • Medical documentation
  • OSHA Standards

EDUCATION

College Of , City, ST, Associate of Science in Nursing, December 2012

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

Medical Surgical

NAME OF MEDICAL CENTER, , November 2012 to December 2012

Precetorship program at Neuro and Woman’s Surgical units

• Handled up to 5 patients daily with medication administration, dressing changes, IVs and general nursing care with minimal assistance.

• Provided bedside care, treatment and clinical documentation for patients under supervision.

• Facilitated admissions, discharges and transfers, chart/care plan note preparation and other documentation, and interdisciplinary team participation.

NAME OF MEDICAL CENTER, , May 2011 to November 2012

Student Nurse/Clinical Rotations at Medical Surgical, Renal, Cardio, Med-Telemetry, Maternity, Pediatric units.

• Performed PICC line dressing changes, peripheral IVs, Foley catheter/suture/staple/surgical drain removals, oral airways suction, NG tubes insertion, wound dressing changes.

• Worked with infusion pumps assembly, tubing/medications preparation, and infusion rate programming.

• Analyzed client ABGs, CBC/metabolic profiles, radiological results, and EKG readings.

• Assisted with patient controlled analgesia pumps, blood products, and TPN.

• Collaborated with nurse and rapid response team for patient transfers to ICU.

WORK EXPERIENCE

<NAME OF COMPANY>, <location>, Manager 2008 - 2011
<NAME OF COMPANY>, <location>, Electrician’s Technician 2005 - 2006
<NAME OF COMPANY>, <location>, Server 2000 - 2004

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Student Nurse Committee, 2010 - 2012

  • President

Student Nurses Association, 2010 - 2012

  • Presentations: Central Venous Access Device Management, June 2012

Preventing Deep Vein Thrombosis, October 2011

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Bayat,

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me with my resume. After reviewing your input, I agree that this is a much better format, which will give me the confidence I'll need when presenting my resume.

Thanks again, I can't wait to edit my resume once and for all (well at least until i get RN experience, that is!)

CON1

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Trust me, it won't be an "once and for all." It's kinda like a head game: wondering if the format or the cover letter will get you in that door for the interview; worrying what went wrong when no calls come after weeks of mailing; and then there's the ATS technology you must tailer your resume so the right combination of buzzwords will get you into the "right" bucket without going overboard. It's a game of patience and you will have trough periods.

This format seems to be getting my nurse friend greater success in getting into the interview. She just had her second interview for a RN MDS Coordinator and, overall, a one in ten response rate by employers. I'm trying to improve those odds.

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MUCH Happier with my resume now though! However, I feel my biggest mistake was getting my CNA certification in 2010 and never using it to gain medical work experience before starting nursing school. Also, I never worked as a nurse intern while in school either, which unfortunately has seriously decreased my chances of getting into my local hospitals Nurse Residency Program this June, as they choose their student nurse-interns first. Errrrr

I wonder if anyone has some advice, or knows ofthe best way to get into a entry level RN position with no experience otherthan clinical rotations. Or how they got there first position and foot in thedoor at a hospital after graduation. I know I can't go back and start workingas a CNA now that I'm a RN, just to put this on my resume, as it looks better thanno medical work experience, so until I get called back on the resumes I havesent out I think of these things all day.

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An article, realitiesofthecurrentjobmarket.pdf, gives some advice, some are:

As a nursing student, work as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) this will get your "foot in the door" and you will gain valuable experience. Be sure to make a good impression and get to know your coworkers and managers.

Check with the state board of nursing in your state to learn the rules and regulations for RNs to work in other roles (i.e. CNA). Note that if there are Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse positions available you may want to check with the state board of nursing to see if it is feasible for you to be licensed for this role (until RN positions open up). Remember that if you are licensed as an RN and working in a different role, you will be held to the higher standard (that of an RN)--so you must be careful to practice in the role and job description that you are hired for.

This is a great time to continue your education--if you have a diploma or associate degree, explore RN to BSN and RN to MSN programs; if you have a BSN, explore masters degree in nursing programs. Many programs are available online. Some of the RN completion programs require students to work while in the program and they receive credit for their clinical hours.

Be open and flexible--you may not get the position you want, but finding an entry-level position that will give you experience and professional-growth opportunities as well as health insurance benefits, is essential. (Note that NSNA's health insurance benefit can be extended for 9 months after graduation as long as you are enrolled in the insurance plan as a student.)

Look outside of the large acute-care setting for entry-level positions such as: rural community; hospitals; long-term care; rehabilitation settings; community health; camp and school nursing; veteran administration hospitals and facilities; local and state departments of health; agency work; wellness worksites or employee or college/university health centers.

NOTE: my nurse friend had a pretty good career doing agency, sometimes doing two part-time jobs at a time and at times working full-time in correctional institutions through the agencies. One not mentioned is home health - be sure you're covered on the mileage reimbursement.

Relocate: Some countries such as UK as well as some of the states such as California are facing a shortage of nurses. If you are willing to relocate, it will be easier to find entry level Nursing Jobs without experience. Some medical facilities with shortage of nurses are even willing to additional incentives to new nurses that join them, such as a sign on bonus and a relocation package if you are living in another state.

To rip-off Paine: "THESE are the times that try nurses' souls. The summer caregiver and the sunshine scrubs will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their calling; but she that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."

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Specializes in L&D.

How many pages is your resume? A new grad resume shouldn't really be too long!

I do like including clinical rotations, but I made mine shorter, and instead of saying what I did during clinicals, I just put something like

Medical-Surgical-Hospital Name/Floor. I can tell you that my resume looks great and I have not graduated yet and job offers are flowing in, so perhaps I'm doing something right. You definitely don't want to overload someone with the resume.

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The rework you see above fits one page. The general rule of thumb is new grads is about one page.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Highlight clinical experiences, starting with senior practicum including number of hours. Resume does not have to be one page. Should probably not be more than 2.5 pages. After each listing of clinical experiences, put a short paragraph highlighting responsibilities during clinical and any observation experiences. Include recent customer service type jobs on resume. If your GPA is high, put on the resume. Join the ANA, put that on resume under professional organizations. Student organizations work here too. Get ACLS certification. Start volunteering at local hospitals. Call nursing clinical instructors who are also staff nurses to see if their units are hiring and if they can put in a good word with their manager.

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Hello, I just graduated from ADN program in Dec 2013, passed my NCLEX about a week ago, and I am trying to brush up on my resume. I also don't have any medical experience since I wasn't allowed to work off campus for being an international student. I did some volunteering work, however, I really want to put my academic part (dean's list, honor's) and I don't want to take up too many lines that would possibly make the resume longer than 1 page.

Does anyone can show some sample resume for new grad with following conditions:

1. no medical experience

2. Pending result on Texas Board website for licensure (I did pass)

3. Dean's list spring 2012, Spring 2013, and Fall 2013. Honor's list Fall 2012 (How do i format this)

4. have separate section "Skills" and listed being a bilingual and speaking conversational Spanish.

Any tip will be appreciated. Thank you very much!

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Thank you so much for asking this question! I am in the EXACT same boat! I graduated this past Dec., passed NCLEX on Jan. 10th and have been on the job hunt. I have no background in anything medical. I have over 13 years of service industry experience, so I have to convince the hiring manager that my skills I have attained through serving, will transfer well in to nursing. It is very tough where I'm from and am now branching out of state. I really needed resume help!!! I just changed mine all around. I hope it is better than my last one! Thank you everyone for your input!!!

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