Help please- New Grad Resume for surg/trauma ICU

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Specializes in Emergency.

i graduate in may and would like to start applying for jobs. i want to work in an area that generally doesn't hire new grads though (surgical/trauma icu), so i need a resume that puts me above the majority that will apply. could y'all please review my resume and make any comments that you think would help me? i would greatly appreciate any and all advice you have. i've added some questions at the bottom of my resume also that i'm not sure about. thank you all in advance! have a good day.

anything in red are the questions/areas i am unsure about. thanks again!!

disregard the format, this isnt exactly how it looks on paper.

stephanie xxxxx

address

address

email address

telephone number

objective

- dedicated, service-focused professional seeking a registered nurse position in an acute care setting pending graduation.

qualities and skills does the order matter for these?

- very highly motivated to learn and perform nurse duties.

- efficient in organization and prioritization.

- current certification in bls.

- open-minded and readily interested in how to apply myself to the nursing process.

- interested in incorporating evidence-based-practice into the workplace.

- experience in research of evidence-based-practice in the hospital setting.

- reliable worker with the ability to quickly learn new concepts and skills.

- backed by a solid work history, reputation as a team player and passion for helping others.

- background includes experience in the emergency department as a pct and direct patient care in the home setting.

- highly functional in microsoft word, excel, and powerpoint.

work experience

nursing related can you think of any other duties that i may have that would better qualify me that i should add? do i put phone numbers with these jobs so they can contact the job if needed?

patient care technician, unit secretary

oct. 2008-present, job 1

- learned the importance of various areas of nursing including teamwork in a stress setting, basics of patient care and teamwork, providing cost-efficient care to patient, and proper phone etiquette.

- assist nurses and doctors as needed.

- duties include transporting patients, drawing blood work, collecting lab specimens, keeping rooms clean, performing ekg's, taking vital signs, and giving baths.

- helped to ensure patients were comfortable and needs were met in a timely manner.

- communicated effectively with other members of the healthcare team.

care giver

may 2008- present, job 2

- learned how to assess patient efficiently and document any changes from day to day, how to provide patient centered care, and how to communicate patient needs with other members of care.

- take care of patient in home.

- duties include assessing patient, and performing adl's such as daily bathing, brushing hair, performing range of motion exercises on arms and legs, cleaning room, doing laundry, and shaving legs.

- ensure patient and family had all needs met before leaving for the day.

other experience

cashier

june 2005- august 2006, job 3

- learned excellent customer service, time management, and communication skills.

- tended to customer needs in a timely satisfactory manner

- demonstrated adequate service to customers of different ethnicities and backgrounds.

- thought of by managers as a dedicated, hard worker.

assistant manager

september 2006- april 2008, job 4

- learned responsibility and leadership in the workplace, communicating with other employees, and customer service.

- assisted customers with purchases after educating them on the differences in products.

- duties included cleaning, organizing, ordering supplies, friendly customer service, and assisting with payroll and scheduling.

education do i put high school education?

university of xxx

june 2009- present, associate degree of nursing

- current nursing student with clinical experience in a variety of settings, including a keen interest in critical care.

- i have had clinical experience at xxxxxx and xxxxxxx

- expected graduation date is may 21 2011.

goals

- i plan to continue my education fall 2011 for my bachelor of science in nursing.

- registered to receive acls certification march 2011. (should i put this? i'm registered for the class, but march was the soonest i could take it)

additional information should i add anything to this area?

available for various shifts, extended hours and weekends as needed.

registered nurse, pending graduation may 2011.

suggestions and questions!

  • where would i add "school student nurses association vice president 2009-present"
  • can i put skills and qualifications in the same area?
  • where would i add "recognized on yearly evaluation as highly self motivated to help where needed, great team player, and will make an excellent nurse"
  • do i put this in past tense (i learned, i did, duties included) or present (i do, duties include) or does that even matter as long as it is consistent throughout?
  • should i add information pertinent to the job i'm applying for, or the hospital i'm applying for? like something that shows i have researched the hospital and that area?
  • should i put something about why they should hire me (a new grad) in the area- like it would be a benefit to them because they will have the ability to train and mold me to be the nurse they need? (i'm applying for a position in the surgical/trauma icu)

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Specializes in ER/ICU/STICU.

suggestions and questions!

  • where would i add "school student nurses association vice president 2009-present"
  • can i put skills and qualifications in the same area?
  • where would i add "recognized on yearly evaluation as highly self motivated to help where needed, great team player, and will make an excellent nurse"
  • do i put this in past tense (i learned, i did, duties included) or present (i do, duties include) or does that even matter as long as it is consistent throughout?
  • should i add information pertinent to the job i'm applying for, or the hospital i'm applying for? like something that shows i have researched the hospital and that area?
  • should i put something about why they should hire me (a new grad) in the area- like it would be a benefit to them because they will have the ability to train and mold me to be the nurse they need? (i'm applying for a position in the surgical/trauma icu)

1. if you want to work in a sticu, your objective should reflect that.

2. don't put "job 1". just have your work history listed in chronological order.

3. do not put phone numbers next to your employment. there will be an area on the application for this. also have a separate "references" page you can provide if you get an interview.

4. delete the part that says "other experience"

5. you do not have to put your high school info on there because you obviously have a diploma or equivalent if you are graduating with an adn. i personally would not list high school.

6. you can list goals, but they should be professional and not courses you are going to take ie. acls. the bsn one is good, i would also add becoming ccrn certified and things like that.

7.ditch the "additional information" section

* where would i add "school student nurses association vice president 2009-present"

you could have an accomplishments section

* can i put skills and qualifications in the same area?

you could

* where would i add "recognized on yearly evaluation as highly self motivated to help where needed, great team player, and will make an excellent nurse"

i'm not sure i would add that to a resume, maybe save that for an interview

* do i put this in past tense (i learned, i did, duties included) or present (i do, duties include) or does that even matter as long as it is consistent throughout?

depends on if it's for a current job or something you did in the past

* should i add information pertinent to the job i'm applying for, or the hospital i'm applying for? like something that shows i have researched the hospital and that area?

that information is more useful in an interview when they ask "why do you want to work here?"

* should i put something about why they should hire me (a new grad) in the area- like it would be a benefit to them because they will have the ability to train and mold me to be the nurse they need? (i'm applying for a position in the surgical/trauma icu)

no, again save it for an interview

remember the resume is just a snapshot of you as a professional. i understand this can be tough as a new grad and you really want to present yourself as best as possible, but a resume should be short, sweet, and to the point. no one wants to read a resume that is pages long and disorganized.

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Specializes in Cardiothoracic ICU.

I would write less of the generic phrases such as " Reliable worker with the ability to quickly learn new concepts and skills." I think this just takes up space and it doesnt really tell the employer much because the average applicant writes stuff like this. Try to put some specific accomplishments down instead. I'm a senior nursing student so not very experienced myself but i think with so many applicants these days, the NM just wanna see the facts about you in short form.

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Nursing is not just about what you want. A new grad, even if smart, talented, and capable, is not a good candidate for an advanced nursing area. Our job is to give excellent nursing care. You cannot do that with your limited work experience. Pay your dues for your patients sake. You owe it to them. It takes a year to pull yourself together, bringing your knowledge base and work experience into the same realm. I am shocked by the lack of skills demonstrated by the nurses graduating in the last 5-8 years, perhaps even ten years ago now. This group has been caught in the "perfect paper trail" trap. It is document, document, document and be damned true patient care. My work experience: 1 1/2 years on a busy, complicated 40 bed medicine floor at a teaching facility (as staff and night charge), followed by a self-advancement ECG course (40 hours on my own time), ACLS (1986, on my own time, and damn it was tough), 6 week hemodynamic monitoring course (offered by the hospital), then I applied for and got accepted into ICU. Surgical, medical, heart, neuro ICU's followed and were interspersed throughout with balloon pump monitoring courses and many more advanced nursing courses. After 10 years or so of ICU's, I moved to the ED (Lord, it took me 8 months to settle into the ED. I kept doing full assessments, med/surg hx's, physicals even if the patient was there with a splinter in his finger.) and PACU. But with the extensive work I had put into my post grad education, I was now ready to do about anything, which I have done. I have taught in the clinical setting in a 2-year nursing program, worked in our hospital's marketing department, ran the Heart Failure Unit, worked home health (loved that- everyone is so glad to see you), and worked with one our local FP's as her research assistant. As you can see, paying my dues (and they were extensive) has given me a wonderful 30 year nursing career (and still going). Good luck to you and I hope you find nursing as rewarding as I have.

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Specializes in STICU; cross-trained in CCU, MICU, CVICU.

Would highly disagree that you have to "PAY YOUR DUES"....that is completey baseless and untrue.....more often than not i would prefer to train the novice nurse as they do not have "bad" habits to break yet....it is EXTREMELY hard to train a nurse who has had bad habits INGRAINED in their day to day practice..

Although i respect the amount of time that PATIN LA has dedicated to nursing...that type of thinking does not allow nursing as a profession to further itself....People are different just as one's nursing practice is different...You do NOT need to follow the path of one nurse JUST to become a capable and competent nurse...PATIN LA did give great examples of how she/he has excelled in the various areas of nursing and that in itself is an accomplishment. However please do not make the mistake assuming you have to work on the "floor" in order to be a good or even GREAT ICU nurse....All it takes is a little bit of attitude, strong work ethic, thirst for knowledge, and a quest to provide the best patient care YOU can provide...

With the current staffing levels that many hospitals have today, I would highly doubt that your capability and competency would be greatly increased by working on the floor...rather you may have the potential to end up disliking a GREAT profession without getting a chance to see other areas....Not everyone can be a floor nurse...and NOT everyone can be an ICU nurse....

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LOL, what's with the nurse who registered 7+ years ago coming out of the woodwork to insult a new grad?

Don't let people like that get you down. I was a new grad in the ICU and now I have the experienced nurses coming to me for advice. You'll do just fine.

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Specializes in Emergency.

Ckh23- thank you so much for the advice, I jave incorporated into my revised resume and am already much happier with it.

PatinLA- I do respect all of your hard work to get where you are today, and with nurse educators like yourself students probably graduate more skills inclined. however I graduate in may and with my last semester of nursing school and all of the demands of it alone I have taken ACLS (on my own time) and passed. I feel I can take many continuing education courses no matter what area I start in and they will benefit me.

Focker0014- thank you for that encouragement. I am willing to do whatever it takes to learn and go above and beyond to provide knowledge based patient care, which has to be learned from somewhere and what better place than an ICU- learn from the best, be the best!

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Specializes in ICU.
smk723, if you would like I can send you my resume to see what it looks like. I had a nurse recruiter take a look at mine and critique it when I was applying for jobs.
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Specializes in Emergency.

CarrigRN yes please that would be very helpful! Thanks so much!

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I too will graduate in June and would like to work in a high acuity area. I am also having trouble with my resume because this is my second career, I have no medical experience other than a short externship in an ICU. If anyone has a resume that I could look at, I would really appreciate it. Thanks bunches.

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I too will graduate in June and would like to work in a high acuity area. I am also having trouble with my resume because this is my second career, I have no medical experience other than a short externship in an ICU. If anyone has a resume that I could look at, I would really appreciate it. Thanks bunches.

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LOL, please. if you are smart enough and willing to work hard and basically give up your social life for the first year, you can do ICU right out of school. Ignore what the "seasoned" nurses say to you(and trust me, you will run into a few). you don't need to "pay your dues" on Tele before you can handle the unit. and as for "your patients deserve better": your patients deserve a hard working, intelligent RN who will strive to learn everything he/she can in order to provide safe patient care; a nurse who will go home after a shift and research the concepts they don't fully understand etc.

I can't tell you the amount of train wrecks i have received from Tele from "seasoned nurses" who didn't know what the f they were doing. Give me a smart, ambitious new grad any day over an average "seasoned" nurse with 15 years experience...

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