Should I Include my Clinical Rotations in my Resume

symphie · Sep 27, 2011

I definitely appreciate the input of all the nurse managers/hiring managers on this thread. It helped me format my resume into something more concise. I'm still listing my nursing school clinical rotations on my resume because most (if not all) will be/have been at a nationally recognized hospital and I plan on using that as a talking point in interviews (magnet status, teaching hospitals, etc.)

I feel like it's one tiny thing that makes them stand out since I have no hospital work experience. Just my :twocents:

Jolie, BSN · Sep 28, 2011

I definitely appreciate the input of all the nurse managers/hiring managers on this thread. It helped me format my resume into something more concise. I'm still listing my nursing school clinical rotations on my resume because most (if not all) will be/have been at a nationally recognized hospital and I plan on using that as a talking point in interviews (magnet status, teaching hospitals, etc.)
I feel like it's one tiny thing that makes them stand out since I have no hospital work experience. Just my

May I respectfully suggest that you tread very lightly with the idea that your clinical experiences are particularly noteworthy because of where they took place?

As the "interview-ee", you will not be the one to set the "talking points" of an interview. An attempt to do so will likely be viewed as overly forward and unwelcome.

Students and professionals alike can gain incredible experience at small, little known facilities and can have horrible experiences at prestigous ones. People tend to bristle if they believe that someone else looks down on their facility due to small size, lack of magnet or teaching status, or any other reason.

As I stated earlier, most hiring managers are far more interested in your unique attributes than the location of your clinicals, whic are probably not all that different than the other 40 candidates applying for the same job.

I strongly encourage you to gain work experience (doesn't have to be in health care), volunteer experience, involve yourself in a service project of some type, or distinguish yourself academically. This is what will set you apart.

poopprincess · Sep 29, 2011

I think that you SHOULD put it on your resume. **Sorry if I repeat anything, I didn't read all the comments.**It is the only experience that you have and everyone has different clinical experiences. I put it on my resume, our instructors suggested that we do it. A student who did clinicals on a cardiac floor for med-surg is going to have a completely different experience than someone on a neuro or oncology floor. Why not highlight that? It gives you a step up, especially on the floors you did clinicals on. I did my resume-I named the Hospital, my title was student nurse and I bulleted the things I did. I got a lot of hits off of my resume (interviews didn't all go as well as planned [thank you nerves]) but it got my foot in the door. I also got a compliment on my resume by one of the managers at a job fair I attended and I landed a job 2 weeks after my license. Bottom line: It is your ONLY experience in healthcare so utilize it. Don't sell yourself short.Personally, I don't think that it's pushy at all to put it on there- a resume is meant to highlight your experiences. It is your brag sheet. It makes you stand out from the rest. If you are able to do foleys, IV's, NG tubes and other skills-put it on there because of a lot of people graduate without doing all of those. Again, everyone's clinical experiences are drastically different so highlight what you did. You worked hard to get through the program-if you leave it off then you have nothing on your resume to make you stand out from the rest. You can even google student nursing resumes and get ideas on how to do it.

Carrig RN · Sep 30, 2011

I would put it on your resume. I didn't originally and a recruiter from the hospital I wanted to work at called me and asked me to add it on. I ended up getting an awesome job with that hospital. I would highlight the kind of units you did your experiences on and anything special you did or worked with. Like the hospital I did some of my clinicals at did total artificial hearts and VADs as well as heart transplants and I worked with all three populations. The fact that I had done a clinical in an ICU landed me this interview and ultimately the job and they never would have known if I didn't update my resume. I think it helps when HR people/nurse managers know the unique experiences you have had.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Sep 30, 2011

Llg
Just to clarify, are you saying some schools are providing inadequate clinical experiences for their students and as a result, employers are screening new graduate's resumes to weed out grads with subopitmal education?
If employers and educators are awareof this problem, they have a responsibility to make the information public, students need to make informed decisions and schools need to be held accountable for the education they provide.
dishes

I've seen this as a staff nurse, and as a patient. It's horrifying what counts as clinical with some classes. And whatever they were called after 4 pm, they did nothing. They walked in behind my nurse, and stood there. If I hadn't started the conversation, they would not have opened their mouths.

I see the decline in clinical education a huge reason new grads are having trouble getting jobs. Hospitals don't want to be the "last semester" and have to finish what school didn't give them. They got ripped off..... there's a thread on this forum re: this topic, and nearly all of the replies talk about the inadequate clinical exposure in school. It's sad- and makes a lot of sense why it's so hard for these new grads to have an even harder time than just economy situation alone.....

That said, I don't think clinical experience is appropriate on a resume/application. If you graduated you got clinicals- albeit shoddy. If you did something extra- then add it. :) If I had to weed through a bunch of extraneous information on a resume, it would go to the bottom of the pile. If I had someone highlight "beyond the norm" info- I'd be glad to read it. Going through applications is a PITA to begin with...don't make it worse :)

NurseinNY, LPN, LVN · Oct 1, 2011

I know there are a lot of comments here, and I didn't read all of them very closely, so I'm sorry if this is redundant. I had two nursing recruiters tell me to definitely put clinical rotations on my resume -- not classes or lectures - but clinical rotations, and the hospital they were at, and if its not too much the floor. like Medical-Surgical: Name of Hospital, Cardiac-Telemetry Unit.

It does take up a lot of room, and I struggled with this on my resume, but if you keep it need and organized looking it is a good idea, from what I am told.

Mitts78 · Oct 5, 2011

Hello everybody. I just got my nursing license and I'm ready to start working on my resume. Unfortunately, I have no nursing experience since I am a new grad. However I do have six years of military experience in a different field. I'm not sure whether or not I should highlight my clinical rotations on my resume to give my resume some substance. Can someone please offer me some advice?

My nurse residency program thought very highly that it was in there...school, how many clinical semester (or hours of clinicals). Also during the interview thought very highly that I had up to 4 pts during clinicals.