Resume - what to leave in and out?

Trauma Columnist · Apr 1, 2008

Hi - good morning. On my resume, I list what facility I worked at, where in the facility I worked ie., ER, ICU, med/surg and the dates I worked there. I also include my educational background, my volunteer/community activities and that's pretty much it. Don't include school clinicals because (unfortunately) that doesn't count for experience. The caveat to this would be if you did something really different than regular school clinicals like did you volunteer on a medical mission, were you in the military and deployed, that kind of stuff.

BTW are you considering leaving your first job after only 7 months?

NurseLumpia · Apr 1, 2008

Good Morning!

Thanks for replying... :)

I was actually asking about the bullet points that one would list, for instance...

XYZ hospital ....... 11/07 - present

Medical Surgical Orthopeadic floor - Staff Nurse

- duties/responsibilities

The duties/responsibilities section is what I am having a hard time writing about.

Oh, to answer your question about leaving my floor. I actually like my floor everyone is suportive and a great place to work. The pace is steady enough that I have time to think and gather my thoughts about the nursing process.

Unfortunately, my wife might get a job offer in another state and therefore we have to move. So, I am starting to write a nursing resume just in case this scenario happens.

llg, PhD, RN · Apr 1, 2008

There should be minimal bullet points. Anyone reading your resume knows what a beginner-level staff nurse does, so there is no need to embellish your resume with a lot of details. That only makes it look as if you are trying to "puff yourself up."

Simply say that you were a staff nurse, give the dates, and a very brief description of the types of patients you cared for. After listing the place, your job title, and dates of employment ... the description section should be no more than 3 or 4 lines long (at most.) As you get more experience, that section should include a basic statement of the type of patient cared for along with any special responsibilities such as Charge Nurse or Preceptor. In addition, you would list any committes you participated in regularly or special projects that you worked on.

If the hiring manager wants details -- that's what an interview is for. You might want to take a detailed skills list and/or copies of your performance evaluation with you to any interviews.

Routine school activities should not be included in a professional resume. Only include those things that are "special" in some way -- things that are not done by most students. For example, scholarships, awards, special programs, etc. You might include a senior preceptorship or special project early in your career and/or it is relevant to the job for which you are applying.