Updating my resume... what to and what not to include?

[ecf1972]

Ok.. so I graduated with my ASN last May. I have been working on getting my year of experience under my belt and I'm getting there. I'm trying to update my resume in an effort to secure ONE job where I can hopefully get some decent hours. Anyway, nursing is my second career and so I'm not sure what I should and should NOT be including on my resume at this point. Do I keep my clinical rotation experience? And how much of my former jobs do I keep? I was in finance/banking in my past life so that gave me customer service experience, but it's not like I have previous experience in the medical field.

Any input would be greatly appreciated :)

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

The usual recommendation is to put only real nursing experience in the resume per se, but to make mention of your other adult working experience in the cover letter and in the interview.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Clinical rotations are fine to include in your new grad resume but, IMO, should be removed once you've had paid nursing experience.

[ecf1972]

I am quickly approaching having a full year of nursing experience (thank GOD). I am rebuilding my resume and need some advice. I have looked at different resume formats and I like the "Skill Highlights" section, so I added it. I included "head to toe assessments" to the list. Two questions regarding that. #1, should I list that, because every single nurse has to know how to do head to toe assessments and #2, I am listing it when I describe the jobs that I have done?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated :)

[maine28]

Not to sound negative, but I don't think you should list that. Like you said, every RN has to know how to do that. I would instead list skills such as IVs or EKGs, maybe wound care...

[ecf1972]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. It seemed like a good idea at first but not so much now. Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it :)

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Don't list things that it's assumed you know how to do. I hate it when I get a nursing resume that says thinks like "monitored vital signs, I & O, administered meds, performed assessments, documented patient findings." Um, duh? You're working as a nurse, aren't you? So I assume you can do these things. Tell me that you can do something that not EVERY nurse in the world knows how to do. Are you IV certified? Chemotherapy? ACLS? Those things are appropriate to list on a resume because they set you apart from every nurse.

[ecf1972]

Yeah, I totally get that and I appreciate your honesty. I don't want whoever looks at my resume to think, no duh, every nurse can do what you have listed here. But, I don't have other certifications like ACLS or IVs to list. I am struggling to come up with what sets me apart. I worked in an ED for a few months, so although I'm not IV certified, I did start IVs and then hung drips and pushed meds as needed. So I was going to list that? I have also been working in travel medicine where I administer vaccines via IM and SQ injections. I was going to list that? Now I'm thinking those are both basic skills that should not be included because every nurse can do that.

I have listed: Wound care, 12 lead EKG interpretation (nurses did their own EKGs in the ER), IV starts, pushes and drips, SQ/IM injections, safety precautions, patient and family education, computerized charting and supervisory experience (my supervisory experience comes from a past life, but I have it titled Skill Highlights, not Nursing Skills so I thought I could throw that in there).

I truly appreciate your feedback. I welcome any other thoughts you may have.