New grad Resume and Cover letter HELP!!!!

[mandianicole]

I recently moved to Boynton Beach and am seeking employment whether it be a new grad program or and entry level rn position!! Please critique my resume and cover letter!! I am an ASN graduate and am currently enrolled in a BSN program!! I am applying for the novice nurse program at wellington regional and this is the cover letter and resume I have created so far for it. The cover letter is not addressed to a specific unit so I didn't know who to personally address it to!! (fyi i left out my personal info and posted the resume as plain text (no formatting) from word when I posted this thread) ANYTHING HELPS!!

August 5, 2014

Human Resources Professional

Wellington Regional Medical Center

10101 Forest Hill Blvd

Wellington, FL 33414

Dear Human Resources Professional:

Please consider me a strong candidate for the Novice Nurse position. Upon learning about the Novice Nurse position via direct contact from a human resources representative, I knew it was the perfect position for me. I recently graduated with honors with an ASN degree from Daytona State College. I am currently enrolled in a RN-BSN program at Palm Beach State College to be completed in August 2015.

I believe that my strong work ethic, excellent communication skills, exceptional role as a team player, and previous clinical experience will be a valuable asset to your facility. I am eager to learn, expand upon my clinical skills, and embrace the challenge of accurately assessing patients' and families' physical and emotional needs in order to provide accurate management, education, and support in relation to both short-term and long-term health issues.

I am very interested in beginning my nursing career at Wellington Regional Medical Center and am confident my skills and experience prepare me well. Please contact me at **********************to set up an interview for the Novice Nurse position to discuss how my qualifications/ experience will meet and exceed the needs of your hospital.

Sincerely,

XX

RESUME

Objective Graduate RN seeking a Novice Nurse position to use earned skills and knowledge to gain experience, deliver safe and cost effective high quality-care, and continue my professional development.

Licenses/ Certifications FL RN License #*******, 06/10/2014- present

ACLS, American Heart Association, 07/2014- present

BLS, American Heart Association, 03/2012- present

Skills

* Strong medical ethic

* Electronic Medical Record (EMR) software

* Time management/ organization

* Microsoft Office Suite * Team player

* Medical terminology

* Strong clinical judgment

* Excellent critical thinking

Clinical Experience Student RN Preceptorship, Halifax Medical Center, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Daytona Beach, FL

04/03/2014- 04/22/2014

* 96 hours direct patient care, nurse-patient ratio 1:5, daily medication administration, dressing changes, IVs, cardiac sheath removal, chest tube management

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

* Provided bedside care, treatment, and documentation

Student Nurse Clinical Rotations 01/2013- 04/2014

Halifax Medical Center, Daytona Beach, FL; Florida Hospital, Ormond Beach, FL; Bert Fish Medical Center, New Smyrna Beach, FL

* Med-surg/tele, Obstetrics. Labor & Delivery, Pediatrics, NICU, CICU, ICU, PCU

* PICC line dressing changes, peripheral IVs, Foley catheter insertion/ removal, suture/staple/surgical drains, oral airway suction, wound dressing changes, ventilators, chest tubes, and more

* Communicated effectively with Physicians and other interdisciplinary staff

* Document in Electronic Medical Record, trained in Meditech

Work History

Cashier Walmart, Gulf Breeze, FL 06/2013- 08/2013

Sales Associate Foot Locker, Pensacola, FL 07/2010- 12/2012

Crew Member Mcdonalds, Pensacola, FL 04/2009- 07/2010

Education

Bachelor of Science: Nursing 08/2014- present

Palm Beach State College

Associate of Science: Nursing 08/2012- 05/2014

Daytona State College, Daytona Beach, FL

3.25 GPA (honors)

Foundation Academic Achievement Award

Associate of Arts: Nursing 08/2009- 05/2011

Pensacola State College, Pensacola, FL

3.34 GPA (honors)

Pensacola State College Academic Achievement Award

Mcdonalds Hospitality Endowed Academic Achievement Award

[Guest575949]

I have not been receiving much help with my own resume post here, but from my own research, I've gathered that You might want to place your education at the top of your resume, and possibly do away with your "objective" statement. Apparently those are "outdated" now.

Hope I helped at least a little!

[Guest575949]

I also wanted to add that I think GPAs should be left off of resumes unless they are reeeaalllyy high (3.75 and above is what I read on the UPenn resume help site, I believe). I've been reading so many resume articles/pages lately, that I can't be sure of the source, but I am pretty sure they advised to just not have them on at all.

[RunBabyRN]

If you haven't already, check out this post: https://allnurses.com/nursing-resume-help/resume-tips-perfecting-717056.html

First, remove your email address, license number, phone number, all of it from your post. If you can't do it yourself, send a message to an admin and ask them to help you out.

Next, take out all of the subjective stuff. Things like, "strong clinical judgment," "excellent critical thinking," those belong in your cover letter. Now, if you have specific examples of these, put those in your resume. "Exhibit strong clinical judgment by..." Keep your resume as objective as possible. In these skills, don't put stuff that's in your job descriptions. Too repetitive. Think of it as respecting the time of the person reviewing your resume. As a new grad, most people don't really have enough stand-out skills to really do a skills list at the top. Just keep it under the clinicals and preceptorship.

All education stuff at the top. Omit your AA- no one in nursing cares, TBH.

Hope that all helps! :) Good luck!

Should you choose to keep your objective in, you need to be much more specific. "New grad RN looking to enter new grad program," but worded better and in your own words. Be as specific as possible. Fluffy, nonspecific objectives might as well not even be there.

Not sure if your BLS is expired, but it looks like it is. Be sure to put expiration dates on your certifications, in addition to issue dates.

Be more specific- which EMRs have you used? Those will be the keywords that the robots are searching for, not just, "EMR". Same goes for MS Office- word? Excel?

I like your description of your preceptorship. Cut out a lot of the stuff from your clinical rotations. That's stuff every student did. Don't waste space with that.

With your old jobs, what skills can you carry over into nursing? Any problem solving? Multi-tasking? Handling customer service issues?

GPA below 3.5 shouldn't be on your resume unless required by facility.

[mandianicole]

thanks so much for all the feedback! working on improvements! also posted a thread with the admin to edit my personal info out. oops missed that part!!

[Guest575949]

I almost did that the first time I posted too, the admin here seem to be really good about helping with this kind of stuff really fast, so no worries!