Need help with a resume - open heart

[mummer43]

I am currently trying to write a new resume, but I am having trouble putting it together. I work in an open heart unit and I would like to detail my job responsibilities. Can anyone offer some tips or help me brain storm so I can write this in an intelligent sounding manner?

Thank you!

[mummer43, BSN, RN]

I see Sharrie has already suggested going to your job description... What I do on my resume is state my position followed by "caring for patients with...(fill in the admission criteria for your unit if you have one... ours is all spelled out in the hospital unit descriptions)"... then I put... responsibilities include... and follow with the job description.

I am on an open heart unit as well... but we also take a wide array of patients so I am specific in adding "caring for patients with medical and surgical cardiac and vascular issues including acute myocardial infarction, post-cath lab procedures with complications, abdominal aneurysm repair, coronary artery bypass graft, cardiopulmonary arrest with primary CV diagnosis, cardiomyopathy with complications, carotid endarterectomy, congestive heart failure with complications, hypertensive crisis, pulmonary embolism, thoracic surgery, valvular heart repair, intra-aortic balloon pump management, ventilator management, cardioversion, CRRT, etc."

I'd also put in how many beds the unit is...

Best of luck, sounds like your headed somewhere new!

I got the job description, but it wasn't unit specific. My unit is very similar to your in that we take a lot of the same patients. I really like how you summarized everything. Does anyone else want to add theirs to this thread? This could be a good resource for us.

[NoviceToExpert]

Another way to find more specifics is to look at the job postings at your hospital and/or others... you can see how people word the critical care RN responsibilities on similar units and then piece together what suits your skill set and responsibilities where you are... that way you can customize your resume within a framework that is fairly universal in the medical hiring community... You may want to take it one step further and look at the job descriptions and requirements posted at a facility you are applying... this way your resume will more likely match what they are looking for...our job description on my unit is about 4 pages long... including preceptor expectations, etc... so I had to distill this section on my resume to the most pertinent and tightest description... but I would readjust it specifically for a job I wanted as long as it was accurate...just a thought...

[mummer43, BSN, RN]

Another way to find more specifics is to look at the job postings at your hospital and/or others... you can see how people word the critical care RN responsibilities on similar units and then piece together what suits your skill set and responsibilities where you are... that way you can customize your resume within a framework that is fairly universal in the medical hiring community... You may want to take it one step further and look at the job descriptions and requirements posted at a facility you are applying... this way your resume will more likely match what they are looking for...our job description on my unit is about 4 pages long... including preceptor expectations, etc... so I had to distill this section on my resume to the most pertinent and tightest description... but I would readjust it specifically for a job I wanted as long as it was accurate...just a thought...

The job postings at my hospital are very non-specific. The job description I got was for nurses in general and wasn't unit specific, so that didn't help. I am working full time on an open heart unit, but I want to pick up some per diem hours through an agency at another CVICU. They don't really say much in their ad other than the amount of experience required.

I really want to write a comprehensive and professional resume and since this is my first nursing job, I am a little unsure how to go about it.