Oncology cover letter help

[CANY12]

Hi All!!! I have an ultimate career goal of becoming an Oncology RN. I am hoping you will have some input on ways to improve my cover letter. Thank you for your help!!!

Here it is..........

Nurse Recruiter,

I am writing in reference to the Oncology Registered Nurse position currently posted on your website. I am vitally interested in becoming a member of Blank Hospital's team. Beyond a doubt, I have an endless passion and strong enthusiasm for Oncology nursing and would be devoted in becoming an asset to your team as a Registered Nurse. Cancer has personally touched my life, and the ability to use my skills and experience to care for this population is personally and professionally rewarding. Although I am at the beginning of my nursing career, I have been working in the medical field for over 9 years, with 7 of those years as a procedure medical assistant, which has given me the skills, tools, discipline and drive to go further in my career.

As you can see by my resume, I am currently coming to the end of a 6 month contract working as a Registered Nurse at AA/NA. I work alongside staff and physicians in the management and treatment of alcohol and/or substance withdrawal in an outpatient medically supervised withdrawal service. I also worked as a Medical Assistant for St. John's Hospital for over 7 years. During my career with St. John's Hospital I worked as a Procedure Medical Assistant in a busy Urgent Care clinic that usually consisted of 30 doctors seeing over 850 patients per day. Some of my duties included overseeing 4 Medical Assistants, a TST and a receptionist in coordinating clinic flow.

Through nursing school and working in a fast paced medical setting, I have learned to adapt quickly, problem solve, critically think, manage patient care and employees, do extensive patient and family teaching, all while preserving patient confidentiality. I am a quick learner, thoroughly enjoy learning new things, do not shy away from difficult assignments, and have an affinity for relating to patients and their families. I am driven by the needs of my patients, whether it physiological, emotional, spiritual, and being their advocate and exhausting all of my resources to respond and resolve those needs.

Throughout my many dedicated years of working in the medical field and schooling, I have comfortably polished my communication skills with patients, families, staff, and physicians, and feel confident in my ability to be a great nurse and asset to my patients as well as fellow peers.

I am sincerely interested in becoming a part of the Oncology nursing team at Blank's Hospital. I will bring a safe, effective, and efficient quality of nursing that will be of benefit to my patients and team. Dedicated, passionate and genuinely devoted to a future career in Oncology nursing, I am up to the task of a demanding and challenging career ahead where I believe I can thrive. I truly appreciate your time in reading my letter and resume. I look forward to meeting you in person.

Sincerely,

Future Oncology, RN

[OCNRN63, RN]

Don't take this harshly, because it's not meant to be: your cover letter is in serious need of significant editing.

You are basically rehashing your resume in your cover letter. Cover letters are meant to be brief introductions. I would also suggest that you tone down some of the enthusiasm in your letter. I am not saying you shouldn't show some eagerness, but your letter is a little excessive.

I would suggest you trim you opening paragraph. Delete the second altogether; HR/the NM will get that info from your resume. Delete the last two sentences in paragraph three. Consider rewording your last paragraph to read something like, "I feel my experience and enthusiasm for oncology would make me an asset to your staff/team. I would be pleased/happy to discuss this position further with you. Thank you for your attention to my resume."

However you decide to compose your resume, just bear in mind that it should be brief and sound like it's coming from a professional. Try reading it to yourself aloud and see if anything sounds out of place or wrong to you. One thing that may be useful is for you to join ONS. See if there's a local chapter you can join. Try taking some oncology CEUs from ONS or another provider. That way you can provide concrete evidence on your enthusiasm for oncology.

I hope my advice didn't offend you. I've had my cover letters dissected in the past, so I have gotten good advice from others as to what works and what doesn't. There's a moderator on AN named "rn/writer." See if you can get hold of her to give you suggestions. Good luck.

[CANY12]

You did not offend me me at all. I figured it needed help, that's why I posted it. I truly appreciate your feedback. I beleive I made most of the corrections you suggested. Here is the trimmed down version.

Nurse Recruiter,

I am writing in reference to the Oncology Registered Nurse position currently posted on your website. I am vitally interested in becoming a member of Blank Hospital’s team. Beyond a doubt, I have an endless passion and strong enthusiasm for Oncology nursing and would be devoted in becoming an asset to your team as a Registered Nurse. Cancer has personally touched my life, and the ability to use my skills and experience to care for this population is personally and professionally rewarding.

Through nursing school and working in a fast paced medical setting, I have learned to adapt quickly, problem solve, critically think, manage patient care and employees, do extensive patient and family teaching, all while preserving patient confidentiality. I am a quick learner, thoroughly enjoy learning new things, do not shy away from difficult assignments, and have an affinity for relating to patients and their families. I am driven by the needs of my patients, whether it physiological, emotional, spiritual, and being their advocate and exhausting all of my resources to respond and resolve those needs.

I feel my experience and enthusiasm for oncology would make me an asset to your team. I would be happy to discuss this position further with you. Thank you for your attention to my resume.

Sincerely,

Future Oncology, RN

[OCNRN63, RN]

You did not offend me me at all. I figured it needed help, that's why I posted it. I truly appreciate your feedback. I beleive I made most of the corrections you suggested. Here is the trimmed down version.

Nurse Recruiter,

I am writing in reference to the Oncology Registered Nurse position currently posted on your website. I am vitally interested in becoming a member of Blank Hospital’s team. Beyond a doubt, I have an endless passion and strong enthusiasm for Oncology nursing and would be devoted in becoming an asset to your team as a Registered Nurse. Cancer has personally touched my life, and the ability to use my skills and experience to care for this population is personally and professionally rewarding.

Through nursing school and working in a fast paced medical setting, I have learned to adapt quickly, problem solve, critically think, manage patient care and employees, do extensive patient and family teaching, all while preserving patient confidentiality. I am a quick learner, thoroughly enjoy learning new things, do not shy away from difficult assignments, and have an affinity for relating to patients and their families. I am driven by the needs of my patients, whether it physiological, emotional, spiritual, and being their advocate and exhausting all of my resources to respond and resolve those needs.

I feel my experience and enthusiasm for oncology would make me an asset to your team. I would be happy to discuss this position further with you. Thank you for your attention to my resume.

Sincerely,

Future Oncology, RN

That's great! You did a really good job of streamlining it. Once you get practice writing cover letters, you get to have a system for writing them.

Of course, you won't need to get practice writing these letters, because you are going to get this job and be happy in your position.