Resume Assistance

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Mar 5, 2014

NO - don't include your clinical practicums. The only exception would be an 'externship' that would have been an extra (elective) experience not included in the standard rotations.

As a new grad, you should focus on 'selling yourself' rather than trying to fluff up your nonexistent clinical skills. Your cover letter will set you apart. Take some time to learn about the organization - their mission, patient population, etc - and work this into your cover letter. Provide them information about you. Did you work as a waitress? Fast food? Point out your excellent communication and customer service skills. Let them know about your exemplary work ethic ... "always on time, meet all deadlines, etc" You want the reader of that cover letter (HR Recruiter, hiring manager or whoever) to see that you have what it takes; you are worth the investment; you're a keeper!!

You got this!

llg, PhD, RN · Mar 5, 2014

While you should not try to pad your resume with your school experiences, I do think you can include them in the following ways.

1. Include any senior year capstone experiences, preceptorships, etc.

2. Include any special things that you did that most other students don't do

3. You can VERY BRIEFLY summarize your clinical experiences in order to reassure the hiring manager that your clinicals were good ones. Don't fill up a lot of space listing details and very clearly state that these were student experiences, not employment.

I used to think that you should not list your school clinicals at all. However, in the last couple of years I have encounted some new grads whose clinicals were so weak that I now recommend that you provide a little of that information so that the employer knows you didn't go to one of the weak schools. You want to include enough information to reassure the employer that your school had strong clinicals and you have a solid foundtion of clinical skills -- but you don't want to appear to be embellishing anything beyond what it actually was.

Nonetheless · Mar 5, 2014

I briefly listed all my clinicals. There are, as someone here said, "weak schools" where people get limited time in a hospital. I want to show that I am from a "strong school".

wendy30 · Mar 6, 2014

I was always instructed by professors that as a new nurse you should always include your clinical experience. Your experiences should be broken down by semester starting with your most recent. As a new grad you should be using a CV or Curriculum Vitae and not a standard resume. A CV highlights your academic career and achievements and is used when applying for jobs in the sciences, which nursing is.

llg, PhD, RN · Mar 6, 2014

I was always instructed by professors that as a new nurse you should always include your clinical experience. Your experiences should be broken down by semester starting with your most recent. As a new grad you should be using a CV or Curriculum Vitae and not a standard resume. A CV highlights your academic career and achievements and is used when applying for jobs in the sciences, which nursing is.

You instructor raised a good point -- if you are applying for a job in academia. But most Nurse Recruiters and Hiring Managers outside of academia want to see a resume, not a vitae. Many don't even know the difference and may think a vitae is weird. And most new grads have had previous jobs, volunteer work, etc. to put on a resume. Blend the two a little.

d00d00butter · Mar 6, 2014

I dont think theres an absolute yes or no answer that people on here are making it seem so. it seems to depend on HR. I saw my friends resume who recently was hired...and she had each clinical listed with 1 to 2 sentences describe unique skills learned at that clinical. obviously you dont want to write something like "assessed patients, administer med, etc... " for each clinical. she did list like one volunteer and one internship at the very bottom of the resume, and no description for them