Resume help

eleectrosaurus · Aug 16, 2012

the objective is the same as mine, word-for-word, therefore inherently awesome.

BellasMommyOBRN · Aug 16, 2012

This is strictly from my experience and in no way reflects what I actually think :)....

A few hospitals didn't like when I added my clinical sites/dates. One nurse recruiter put it bluntly: "You obviously did clinical rotations that were required by NYS education dept. I don't really care about that information!"

She basically had me revise my resume before passing it on to a NM. This was at a pretty large level one trauma center hospital in Rochester.

but hey, maybe your experience will be different :)

Everything else looks great!

Good luck!!

StillsmilingRN · Aug 18, 2012

thanx, I was thinking the same thing with the clinical experience, however the employment assistant office guy told me that i shouldn't add any of my jobs that don't apply to nursing....so then I wouldn't have any experience at all. Not sure what to do.

What are some words that recruiters hunt for on the resume?

SugarSugar15 · Aug 18, 2012

So we shouldn't include clinical rotation experience? And shouldn't include previous non nursing experience? Then my resume will be blank. :confused:

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Aug 18, 2012

You can use former employment and yes it CAN apply to nursing. Were you a customer service agent? Those skills are difficult to learn. Did you work in a high paced retail environment? Teach others? Did you work for the same company for 4, 5, 10 years? This shows commitment, reliability and loyalty. Did your responsibilities increase? Did you precept others? You can also offer relevant details regarding your volunteer experience as applicable.

Clinial experience is not relevant as it is required for all graduates, unless you had a unique rotation, capstone, or something specific to the facility where you are applying.

Objectives are obsolete, they know the reason you are applying is because you want a job. References are not listed on resumes, that is a separate form filled out when the pre-hiring process begins. You need to sign releases for your references. If you have letters of reference or recommendation (generic or specific) then include them in your application packet. Does the employment assistance 'guy' work with a general population (anyone looking for work)? Do you have a career services office at school?

Your cover letter will relate your non-nursing work experience to your new career as a nurse (as stated above)

In my opinion it looks odd with your clinical experiences listed then a bullet list of statements. My experience with such statements is listed in parentheses:

Provided direct patient care (I would hope so)
Accurately dispensed medications (again this is a given and thus redundant. Would you admit to making 10 dosing errors)
Correctly administered IV fluids (again this is a given and thus redundant. Would you admit to incorrectly administering IV fluids? Perhaps if you administered medication as per physician orders orally, topically, inhalation, intravenously, via GT, nebulized, etc.)
Facilitated pain management (Really? This doesn't make sense..perhaps used standard assessment tools to ensure patients received adequate relief from acute and chronic pain)
Performed sterile procedures (which ones? Utilized sterile technique to perform invasive and non-invasive nursing procedures including insertion of foley catheter, wound care, surgical dressing changes, initiation of intravenous therapy, etc.)
Analyzed laboratory results (Usually the medical technologist analyze lab results, MD's & advance practice professionals analyze and develop patient treatment regimes)
Collaborated with professional team (be specific. Collaborated with multidisciplinary team including physicians, residents, staff nurses, occupational, speech, and physical therapy, case management and pharmacist to ensure patient needs are met and successful discharge plan development)
Documented patient care notes (again, expected. Did you use a specific charting method or EMR such as EPIC?)
Maintained sensitive records (How? This is expected of all healthcare workers. Were you responsible for HIV or STD results?)
Acted with empathy (How?)

Then again I had classmates who had trouble getting jobs when their resumes listed their clinical nursing skills and included "people person, empathetic, good listener, desire to help others" rather than being specific in their experiences (participated in mufti-disciplinary discharge planning team that facilitated successful discharge home in collaboration with patient and family to reduce readmission for same condition), etc.

Did you have any unique clinical experiences (such as shadowed the wound care team and assisted in treatments over a 4 week period including wound vacuums, complex wound care, specialized dressing use, etc.)? Were you involved in any other school organizations? Were you a member your whole nursing school career (i.e. Member School Student Nurse Organization, 2010-2012 served as vice president 2011-2012)

Do you belong to any social or professional organizations? Such as local service organizations? state nursing association? student nurse association? national nursing organization? Since you emphasized holistic nursing, have you joined the American holistic nursing association?

BellasMommyOBRN · Aug 19, 2012

Wow....all hospitals/states must be different. Why would a recruiter advise someone not to include previous employment history? Just because those jobs are not nursing related doesn't mean that the information is useless..........wouldn't a potential employer want to verify your work ethic?? I think "leaving it off" was poor advice.But whatever! Who knows anymore :)

StillsmilingRN · Aug 19, 2012

thank you all so much! TY JustBeachyNurse for all the info!