What are they looking for?

[DayDreamin ER CRNP]

I'm precepting in a private hospital's ER and almost done. My preceptor introduced me to the unit manager and told her that I was doing great here and was going to be looking for a job. The manager told me to bring in my resume next week.

I am an older student with a lot of business experience and no real medical experience aside from my current PRN tech job at the other hospital in town.

What are ER managers looking for on a resume? Aside from my business experience I do have a lot of volunteer experience and I am the chairperson of our school's upcoming community event and I was selected as one of 12 "class leaders/mentors" this semester. Do managers really look at that stuff or do they look at that and think, "over-achiever" or what? I am also studying for my ACLS test in April if that matters.

I never worried so much about putting my resume together nor have I stressed this much about finding a job! I just know how tough the market is right now and how important it is to really stand out in the sea of applicants.

Any suggestions?

m

[jammin246RN]

Anything to show you are a critical thinker, go getter, and can function independently. Many times the doctor will expect you to have put in and seen to the standard orders before he sees the patient. Such as cbc, bmp, possible chest xray, and others based on the patient's ailment. So anything that shows you can take charge in a situation would be helpful.

Good Luck

[dthfytr, ADN, LPN, RN, EMT-B, EMT-I]

Great answer Jammin! I almost hate to put my 2 cents worth in after your answer. ER nursing is unique, to say the least. Either you can do it and love it, or you can't and the stress eats you up. Your desire to do the job after your current experience, and your preceptor's words say you can do the job. It would be hard to have a resume bad enough to ruin your chance at the job after those positives. IMHO, of course. Good luck.

[jammin246RN]

After studying trends, I have found that the burnout/jadism(is that even a word?) rate of nurses can be linked to the number of BS pt's they have to work with. Be it drug addicts jumping from er to er, or pure stupidity (I sneezed 3 times tonight... so I figured I would call an ambulance, come to the er and make sure I am ok...True story). The burnout rate for ER nurses is on average 2 years. The burnout rate for Medsurg nurses is 10 years, the burnout rate for Long term care is 15, and the burnout rate for flight nurses is 20 years. My theory is that the more the patient needs the nurse, the more satisfaction the nurse gets from their job. Also most of the small stuff is weeded out in the ER before it hits the medsurg floor, or hits the chopper. Thoughts?

[remoteareanurse, LPN, RN]

As a former Director of Nursing I can tell you that if you've demonstrated your skills in this unit your resume is almost irrelevant at this point. I will ALWAYS take the nurse whose skills I know over the one whose skills I read about on a resume. Your greatest advantage in this situation is your experience in this ER and the recommendation of your preceptor. Relax!