What qualifies as skills under 'skills highlights' on a resume as a new graD?

icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN · Jul 24, 2014

Kudos to you for being honest! Integrity is everything in this business

"Proficient with assessment and care of adult medical and surgical patients, venipunctures for drawing blood and insertion of peripheral IVs, administration of IV fluids, IVPB, oral, IM medications and insulin administration protocols, basic arrhythmia interpretation, Fall prevention protocols, pressure ulcer prevention protocols, monitoring of wounds and drainage devices, insertion of nasogastric tubes, enteral feedings...etc.

Able to educate on procedures and medications utilizing hospital resources according to meaningful use guidelines.

EMR experience should definitely be listed. "Familiarity with Allscripts, Epic, Meditech, McKesson Careview."

You want to paint a picture of your abilities.

The key word is proficient. The list of skills is endless. Focus on the skills that the position requires. Conclude with your ability to provide prompt courteous and professional nursing care and and a calm and caring environment.

bella14k · Jul 24, 2014

Kudos to you for being honest! Integrity is everything in this business
"Proficient with assessment and care of adult medical and surgical patients, venipunctures for drawing blood and insertion of peripheral IVs, administration of IV fluids, IVPB, oral, IM medications and insulin administration protocols, basic arrhythmia interpretation, Fall prevention protocols, pressure ulcer prevention protocols, monitoring of wounds and drainage devices, insertion of nasogastric tubes, enteral feedings...etc.
Able to educate on procedures and medications utilizing hospital resources according to meaningful use guidelines.
EMR experience should definitely be listed. "Familiarity with Allscripts, Epic, Meditech, McKesson Careview."
You want to paint a picture of your abilities.
The key word is proficient. The list of skills is endless. Focus on the skills that the position requires. Conclude with your ability to provide prompt courteous and professional nursing care and and a calm and caring environment.

Thank you for your response- I just don't want to list things that most students out of school will be listing. You know what I mean? It's not like they haven't seen it before. Can I ask you this: Are you an RN, experienced or not, or at least a new grad nurse who has actually received a job using this (what you have listed) on your resume? Please let me know, i am nervous, i have a 2 year degree, and am not competitive compared to other new grads (no new grads are competitive to begin with anyway)...starting to feel pessimistic.

Here is what I wrote:

Skills Highlights

Establishing rapport with client and family
IV initiation and management
Client and family education
Able to identify client’s needs and effectively utilize the nursing process
Foley catheter insertion
Leadership skills
Excellent oral and written communication skills

....I don't want to write too many. ALSO: How can I make the bulllets go across? that way i'll have more room to list more skills...I suppose i can find that out elsewhere.

I was going to put objective, but I figured I would put that in my cover letter.

Thank you again, and thanks to anyone else who wants to contribute :)

Oh'Ello, BSN, RN · Jul 24, 2014

If you highlight the bullets and do Format>columns, you can give yourself 2 columns of skill sets to conserve length space on your resume. It is easiest to do this at the end after you've typed everything out, so you don't get weird formatting you can't easily control.

As for the rest of it, I'm a new grad so sorry I can't comment on the appropriateness of your skills, other than to say "Wow that's a lot more than mine" :rolleyes:

dawncagle · Jul 26, 2014

Check out the syllabus from your last classes. The course objectives can be helpful with the skills wording!

MissM.RN, BSN, RN · Jul 26, 2014

I never had a "skill highlight" section as a new grad, or an experienced nurse. For reference, I had a job lined up for icu step-down a month before I even graduated. I don't think a "skill" section is appropriate as you don't have enough skills to make having a section worth while. Any nurse can manage an IV. if you have successfully placed multiple foleys in a urology/gyn surg setting where some of these folks are just impossible to catheterize, then sure, have a skills section.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Jul 26, 2014

I never had a "skill highlight" section as a new grad, or an experienced nurse. For reference, I had a job lined up for icu step-down a month before I even graduated. I don't think a "skill" section is appropriate as you don't have enough skills to make having a section worth while. Any nurse can manage an IV. if you have successfully placed multiple foleys in a urology/gyn surg setting where some of these folks are just impossible to catheterize, then sure, have a skills section.

Agreed skill highlights are irrelevant for a new grad unless you were a LPN prior. Skill highlights would be chemo certified, PICC insertion trained. Etc.

RunBabyRN · Aug 1, 2014

I agree as well. List those things under your clinical experience with dates and hospital location. Even within that, I wouldn't include anything that's typically included in the clinical experience. For my med/surg rotations, I simply have, "Adult med/surg unit- cared for up to 4 adult patients per shift while performing the role of a registered nurse under the supervision of a RN. Provided care for adult patients experiencing a variety of medical and surgical health alterations." Maybe I'll add that I had a few patients with wound vacs and that I did several caths, but I also have some of this under other experiences, as I do have prior healthcare experience. If there was something you did that maybe your classmates didn't get to do, or you were able to do stuff they weren't comfortable with, list it out. Otherwise, keep it super simple.