Resume help & Career advice please

[SamB12rn]

I need some resume advice please. I’m really stumped at how to present my work experience on my resume, while still making it accurate & reflective of my present abilities.

Much of my past nursing experience has been sporadic & has included several different jobs in different areas of nursing... while also raising my 3 kids. I graduated in ‘95, but I feel sort of like a relatively new or inexperienced nurse as far as “putting it all together” or having acquired enough experience or efficiency to feel confident.

I was out of the nursing field for almost 5 yrs d/t several difficult circumstances where I tried to coordinate a lot of overwhelming issues (loss, a bad divorce, illness, hospitalization, & so much stress that I almost quit altogether ). I worked as a substitute teacher for several yrs, but missed many aspects of nursing & I really enjoy helping & taking care of people :heartbeat. So after getting somewhat stabilized, I decided to take the Nurse Refresher Course. Last year, I completed the NRC (while still caring for kids #2 & #3, as a single mom with no family to help, & working as a sub-teacher). Then, I got a job in a LTC facility (which did not seem to provide adequate enough training & was very difficult, but I liked sone things about it too). I worked p/t & prn for 6 mon (while still caring for kid #3), until they finally stopped calling me (after an inspection, new admin staff had essentially regutted the place). I found another job at another LTC facility that lasted 3 wks. I did my best!!!... but it felt like I was starting all over again:banghead:. It was very hectic as well & I had trouble keeping up with the pace. I did not get fired, but I felt like it was not a safe place (for me, my license, or for the patients). The orientations in both places were difficult & being p/t, I’d often have a different preceptor on a different hall & little consistency, which made it extremely difficult for my brain to assimilate learning the routine .

Now I’m looking for another job & updating my resume :typing. I’m not sure if I should include the last LTC (or the one before that), even though I did gain some good experience & skills. I‘m concerned & confused as to what area of nursing to do next . I have to work! I can go back to substitute teaching once school starts up again if I absolutely have to, but I do not want to have too much of a lapse before my next nursing job. It feels like my nursing skills are waning again (although many of them did come back to me when I felt like that before).

I’d really appreciate any advice regarding resume help, as well as input or feedback regarding getting my career on track (I'm still raising one child too, by myself). Thank you.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

SamB12

There are some articles on resume writing on Donna Cardillo's website http://www.dcardillo.com/articles.html

She has answered questions similar to yours about how to make a resume look good when there are gaps in employment and short terms of employment in her column Dear Donna at http://www.nurse.com/

Hope you write a resume that helps you feel confident and lands you a job you enjoy.

regards

dishes

[justiceforjoy]

Work experience isn't nearly as important as the skills you have. You have a whole host of skills you've gained from being a mom. Organization, critical thinking, planning, budgeting, team leading, etc. Tack on the skills you learned at school, ones you've gained from previous work experiences, then add on any you may have gained from hobbies... Bam. You instantly have a fabulous base to start with!

http://www.alec.co.uk/resume-examples/skill-based-resume.htm