Should I put every RN job on my resume? Or just the main ones?

[SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS]

Long story short, I got contacted by a recruiter, and want to put myself out there. I have resumes- got it down to a page, highlighted the main things from my nearly two decades in health care- because I've needed them for things like grad school applications and to be a capstone preceptor, things like that.

So my question is, do I have to put on there my six months at a yucky nursing home that no longer exists, or my four months at a home care agency that no longer exists? I don't even remember the exact years I worked for those companies. However, I do feel that having those nursing experiences definitely made me a better and more well-rounded nurse; at the same time, do those brief jobs make me look like a flight risk?

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Modern thinking is that you list the last 10years of your career on the resume. Might want to add line: Prior positions available upon request.

[SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS]

Thank you, NRSKarenRN.

Is it ever acceptable to simply summarize? Literally, something like, "Varied nursing experience over nursing career, including four months in home care case management and skilled visits and six months as team RN in busy long-term care facility."

[llg, PhD, RN]

The summary idea is a good one. A lot of people do that.

I maintain a "complete" resume/vita with every job listed, significant committee work,etc. It's now something like 8 pages long. I keep that for my records. When I need to submit something, I take that information and summarize it to best fit the situation, stating that additional details are available upon request.

[SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS]

Thanks, llg. I did use the summary similar to my example above. I like your "complete" resume idea- will make things easier for me when I need one in the future.