Clinical experience, how to make it look good?

[Idaho Murse]

Hey guys,

Thanks in advance for the help. I am having trouble making my clinical experience really POP out if you know what I mean. I will list what I currently have and please help me spice it up I would appreciate it very much. I am going to edit out some identifying information but for the most part it is word for word

Preceptorship in ####

In the critical care unit (CCU) I provided care for a wide variety of patients.

These patients ranged from mechanically ventilated, to organ donors and

had multiple vasoactive drips running, and/or insulin drips. My focus at this

facility was assessing, intervening, critically thinking and medicating these

patients as appropriate. Also, contacting the physicians when applicable and

communicating as a team member, and delegating proper cares to be done

by supportive staff.

Medical Surgical ####

Provided care to all manner of patients while working on my speed,

organization, communication and safety skills. At the end of my clinical I

was able to effectively and in a timely manner care for 5 patients.

Medical Surgical, NICU, Peds, ER, L and D at #####

Relevant Course Projects

Worked within the #### Healthcare System to evaluate the need for a palliative care program at #### using a tool developed by the our team based on current evidence. This tool aided our team in being able to perform a retrospective chart review to examine the effectiveness of care delivered to patients who had passed away while stay at these facilities.

Worked in conjunction with #### to develop a useable manual for emergency rooms around the #### for discharge planning of patients with mental health needs. This manual details housing costs and locations and requirements for types housing as well as reimbursements used and overall housing requirements. In addition to providing information on all healthcare providers in the Treasure Valley to meet the patient's needs.

Assessed the pharmacies around the #### with a mixed methodology qualitative/quantitative survey to examine how hypertension can be better managed in the community. This project was done in conjunction with the ####### Department of Health & Welfare because of the rampant incidences of uncontrolled and undiagnosed cases of hypertension in #####.

So to me this all sounds very bland and boring. So in competitive market, I need to make myself as attractive as possible. How can I word these experiences in a resume to make it stand out?

Thanks so much again

[freemirini]

I would fix the grammar errors and streamline your sentences. Several of them are overly wordy. On my resume, I omit the term "I" and use phrases consistently. You might also consider that.

Example:

ORIGINAL TEXT:

...n the critical care unit (CCU) I provided care for a wide variety of patients.

These patients ranged from mechanically ventilated, to organ donors and

had multiple vasoactive drips running, and/or insulin drips.

EDITED VERSION using phrases:

CCU Experience

*Provided care to diverse population of CCU patients including organ donors.

*Managed mechanical ventilators, multiple vasoactive drips, and insulin drips.

EDITED VERSION using sentences:

In the critical care unit (CCU), I cared for a diverse population of patients, including some on mechanical ventilation and others who were organ donors. I was also responsible for titrating multiple vasoactive drips and insulin drips. (Less wordy: I also titrated multiple vasoactive drips and insulin drips.)

I dislike the term "range" in your original as the examples provided don't really seem to fit a spectrum (to me, anyway). Watch your sentence structure.

[freemirini]

Describe the tool you created...was it software? A decision tree? ...? Did you collaborate with multiple departments?

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

Is this something you'd send to potential employers? give to them at an interview? have ready in case it's asked-for? Your reason for having it can make a difference in what would be appropriate.

It's important to keep it as short and simple as possible. In these days where many are applying, someone who hires doesn't have time to read long, detailed resumes.

Keep it to the facts, just the facts, and phrases are as ok as complete sentences. Make sure tense matches in the entire document.

List the things that you did that were different from others, that would be impressive to the reader. Employers assume students do lots of things. The generics don't need to be listed.

Make your document memorable through paper-use, if you're giving a hard copy to someone--actually, if you're emailing, you can do some nice things with that too. For instance, what's your school color(s)? You could run a thin border line around the margins of your document in that color. Don't go overboard on it though. Use good paper, not just plain old tying paper. There are some very nice papers with subtle threads and colors in them.

All the above is for the first contact. You can make a more detailed resume that you can hand to an interviewer or send later, after you've had some sort of contact-back from the person you contacted. In the more-detailed document, you can list everything you want the person to know, as long as you don't get too wordy.

[Idaho Murse]

Thanks for the reply guys, that was very helpful

[LuvScrubs2, BSN, RN]

Great advice... I am rearranging my resume format as well.....

[VanessaRn89]

Thank you for the tips, I did not have anything on my resume as far as decoration/any color so I am editing it right now!