New Grad RN Resume Advice Needed!

T.TNurse · Oct 10, 2019

Thank you for your question, everyone's reply is very insight in making my own resume.

_Cecilia_, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2019

On 10/10/2019 at 7:19 PM, T.TNurse said:
Thank you for your question, everyone's reply is very insight in making my own resume.

Hi T.T.Nurse,

I'm glad that this thread is helping you develop and edit your resume! Feel free to also let me know if you need some help. I'd love to give the tips I have learned along the way ?

Good luck!

Nurse.Kelsey, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2019

@_Cecilia_ Hey sorry I didnt see your reply from before you tagged a nurse kelly by accident lol ?.

Now for resumes usually it is recommended to just keep it to 1 page. A couple of my classmates who got great jobs had a 2 pager resume..

_Cecilia_, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2019

1 hour ago, Nurse.Kelsey said:
@_Cecilia_ Hey sorry I didnt see your reply from before you tagged a nurse kelly by accident lol ?.
Now for resumes usually it is recommended to just keep it to 1 page. A couple of my classmates who got great jobs had a 2 pager resume..

@Nurse.Kelsey No worries! LOL

Yeah, I know resumes are supposed to be one page resumes, but I feel like for Nursing it's really different. Especially if the content is quality (leadership experiences, internships, volunteer work, etc.) it's difficult to remove them, so I feel it's best to keep them on, and remove all the really outdated and unrelated work (like if you worked as an Office Assistant at some non-medical office).

I appreciate the input, though!

CodeTrauma12, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Oct 26, 2019

I would recommend leaving your hours of clinical with each class/semester due to the fact many colleges vary on required hours at each clinical rotation. I included all clinical hours after each course in my CV following nursing school and I was contacted for an interview by all 4 new grad Nursing Jobs I applied for. My employer later on printed the CV (with permission) and used it as an example to any CNA/PCT's asking for advice once graduating from nursing school.

A few things I would recommend changing:

- "Bachelors of Science with a major in Nursing" to "Bachelors of Science in Nursing"

- "EHAC (Early Heart Attack Care) Certified" to "Early Heart Attack Care (EHAC) Certified." Always spell out the name of a license, certificate, or certification followed by the acronym the first time you are using it or when listing on a professional document.

- "Nursing home" to "Skilled Nursing Facility"

- "Improving patient care by aiding my preceptor. . . . " to "Improved patient care by aiding clinical staff using the nursing process and (name of skin assessment tool used) on assigned patient load during respective shifts." This will show that you are proficient in Assessing, Diagnosing (stating problems/strengths), Planning/Outcomes, Implementing, and Evaluating.

- I would delete anything to do with a percentage. These facts can not be checked by the recruiters quickly or accurately.

Your format is great and easy to read/follow. Good Luck!

_Cecilia_, BSN, RN · Oct 28, 2019

On 10/26/2019 at 8:31 AM, CodeTrauma12 said:
I would recommend leaving your hours of clinical with each class/semester due to the fact many colleges vary on required hours at each clinical rotation. I included all clinical hours after each course in my CV following nursing school and I was contacted for an interview by all 4 new grad Nursing Jobs I applied for. My employer later on printed the CV (with permission) and used it as an example to any CNA/PCT's asking for advice once graduating from nursing school.
A few things I would recommend changing:
- "Bachelors of Science with a major in Nursing" to "Bachelors of Science in Nursing"
- "EHAC (Early Heart Attack Care) Certified" to "Early Heart Attack Care (EHAC) Certified." Always spell out the name of a license, certificate, or certification followed by the acronym the first time you are using it or when listing on a professional document.
- "Nursing home" to "Skilled Nursing Facility"
- "Improving patient care by aiding my preceptor. . . . " to "Improved patient care by aiding clinical staff using the nursing process and (name of skin assessment tool used) on assigned patient load during respective shifts." This will show that you are proficient in Assessing, Diagnosing (stating problems/strengths), Planning/Outcomes, Implementing, and Evaluating.
- I would delete anything to do with a percentage. These facts can not be checked by the recruiters quickly or accurately.
Your format is great and easy to read/follow. Good Luck!

Hello!

Thank you so much for your input! I have updated my resume already and have included the previous suggestions ?

Have a great day!

NurseJamillah, MSN, NP · Oct 29, 2019

You've gotten a lot of great advice, already, but I wanted to add a few things that just aid in concision. You might want to start your sentences by using the action verbs that directly contributed to patient care. Begin the sentence with what you actually did, not the outcome of your action. For example, the line, "Coached new RAs..." is perfect. However, "Assisted the Rapid Response team by delivering..." could be rearranged to "Documented EKGs, delivered crash cart (etc.), to the Rapid Response team." It gets to the point earlier on in the sentence. Another example is your statement, "Improved patient care by aiding my preceptor in assessing over 20...." That could be rearranged to read, "Assessed over 20 orthopedic patients for pressure ulcers with preceptor, improving patient care."

At the end, "Profession-Related Skills" could be "Nursing Skills", and you might want to move that section up higher. Lastly, you have awards listed under the your RA experience, but not in the Awards section. I'd either keep all of your awards together, without repeating them, in the awards section, or leave them embedded in the experience, but then remove "awards" from that "License" section.