Resume advice?

[Nienna Celebrindal]

Still trying to get my first RN job, how can I tweak my resume so its better? I was an LVN previously. I feel like I have listed a lot about what I've done but I have found a lot of RNs don't really seem to know what LVNs can do. Should I include being a preceptor for new staff? Is that better saved for my cover letter? Should I include skills list? I did not include my capstone clinical rotation in the MICU being shadowed by a preceptor? Should I? Where should I include that? Or should I save it for my cover letter? I'm working on rewriting my cover letter now.

Name

address contact information

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Licensed Vocational Nurse, dates

unit(if applicable), employer

Â- Home and Facility Nursing Visits and Assessments

Â- Medication administration and teaching

Â- Patient and Family teaching

Â- Wound Care

Â- Performed lab draws, initiated and maintained Intravenous Therapy

Â- Preformed all flu shot and TB testing for Sonoma site staff and volunteers

Â- Preceptor

Licensed Vocational Nurse, dates

unit(if applicable), employer

Â- Vaccination and Medication Administration

Â- Patient and Family teaching

Â- Wound Care

Â- Performed lab draws

Military Rank, dates

unit(if applicable), brank

Â- Maintained Medical Readiness for Bravo and Charlie Company

Â- Maintained Medical and Dental Records

Â- Training and In-service Instructor for Bravo and Charlie Companies

Â- Administer vaccinations and performed all lab work

Licensed Vocational Nurse, dates

unit(if applicable), employer

Â- Triage

Â- Medication Administration

Â- Performed lab draws, initiated and maintained Intravenous Therapy and Medications

Â- Patient Admissions and Discharges

Â- Supervising Paramedics and Patient Care Technicians

Licensed Vocational Nurse, dates

unit(if applicable), employer

Â- Wound Care

Â- Cast and Splint Administration and Removal, Brace Application

Â- Patient and Family Teaching

Â- Coordinating care with Residential and Rehab facilities, Radiology facilities, Hospitals, and Worker's Compensation Groups

Â- Ordering all back office supplies

Licensed Vocational Nurse, dates

unit(if applicable), employer

Â- Direct nursing care to housing unit of 200 inmates

Â- Working on the 45 bed infirmary unit caring for med/surg patients

Â- Medication Administration, initiated and maintained Intravenous Therapy and Medications

Â- Triage, Wound, Diabetic and Sick Call

Â- Organized and managed regular clinics involving internal and external physicians

Â- Preceptor

Licensed Vocational Nurse, dates

unit(if applicable), employer

Â- Medication Administration

Â- Patient and Family Teaching

Â- Coordinating care with Physicians and facilities

Â- Diabetic and Wound Care

Â- Supervising Nursing Assistants

Â- Preceptor

Nurse Tech/Licensed Vocational Nurse, dates

unit(if applicable), employer

Â- Wound Care

Â- Working with orthopedic, trauma, plastic, and general surgery patients.

Â- Patient and Family Teaching

Â- Assisting Physical Therapists

Â- Diabetic Care

Â- Phlebotomy

LICENSES:

Registered Nurse, state, number

Licensed Vocational Nurse, state, number

EDUCATION:

schools and graduation dates

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS:

Â- Basic Life Support (BLS) Certified

Â- Advanced Cardiac Life Support

Â- IV certified

Â- Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Certified

Â- Management of Assaultive Behavior

(all have expiration dates, I just edited them all out)

[Flatlander]

Your current resume is basically a list of job duties, not a dynamic sales pitch for the job you want. Look carefully at the job announcements for jobs you think you might want. Make a list of the skills that appear most often or in top priority for that announcement and several other announcements for similar jobs. Go through your resume and pick out your experience that matches the top skills from the job announcements. Reword your Skills and Qualifications to clearly emphasize your abilities in those areas and place those statements at the top of your resume. Use every other part of your resume to reinforce your qualifications and a few things that make you stand out from the crowd.

If you've held many jobs, summarize your top skills with bullet points. You might want to group them under general areas with headings such as Medical-surgical, Long term care, customer service, leadership, etc.

You have to grab the recruiter's attention in the first few seconds of rapid scanning of your resume. The top one-third of the resume is where this happens. Leave out anything that doesn't carry impact related to the job you are seeking. Put the stuff that everybody has, but that are still required at the bottom...Education, credentials, certification...unless they are unique or special and proclaim your skills for the job, in which case they should go to the top of the resume in a bullet point.

Your cover letter is the place to quickly describe your qualifications and your desire for the position. Keep it brief, focused, and professional, but allow yourself to shine with something uniquely yours.

Network, seek contacts, try to speak to recruiters, get feedback on your resume and cover letters. Keep coming back to allnurses for support. Good luck!

[BeachsideRN, ASN]

I highly encourage spending some money and hiring a professional resume service. It is worth it's weight in gold. Especially nowadays since resumes have to be filtered by a computer before even getting to a desk. You need to have the appropriate keywords which change over time.

[Flatlander]

How much can you expect to pay a professional resume service?