Nursing
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Build my resume Although the demand for nurses is growing, securing a job in the nursing sector isn’t easy, especially if you’re just starting out or submitting a letter of resignation at your current position.
How are you supposed to know how to write a stunning resume so employers will immediately want to hire you and create a cover letter detailing your achievements?
Entering the nursing profession is challenging, so we analysed dozens of nursing CVs to understand what works and what doesn’t to help you secure an excellent nursing position.
No matter your speciality or where you are in your nursing career, we’ve got 35 nursing CV samples to help you make a resume online from scratch or update your current CV to secure your next nursing job in 2025!
Why this CV works
- Your nursing CV is the first contact between you and your employer, so you must ensure your CV makes a solid first impression.
- One of the quickest ways to do so is by including your licences in your title. This clearly signals to the employer that you’re qualified for the position.
- Including an optional licences section is another way to showcase your abilities, so if you have the space, be sure to add that section.
- Once you’ve captured the employer’s attention, they need to keep reading, which won’t happen if your nursing CV is generic.
- Instead, tailor your CV to the nursing job description. What keywords did they list? What responsibilities do they expect you to fulfil? Use this as your guide to include what employers most want to see.
Why this CV works
- As a nursing student, you’ve gained plenty of clinical experience during your placements, but knowing how to include it on a CV can be difficult.
- The key is to be specific about what you contributed or learnt during your time at school.
- How did you assist your colleagues or supervisors? Did you witness anything particularly noteworthy? What did you learn? Including details like these helps employers assess your abilities.
- When writing your nursing student CV, you may encounter too much white space, which is an invitation to add a resume objective. While a personal statement is entirely optional, it’s a great way to convey your enthusiasm for the position and highlight some of your relevant skills.
View more nursing student resumes >
Why this CV works
- Your biggest selling point should be your licences, starting with your RN accreditation. If you have any other licences, such as ALS and BLs, it’s high time you brought them forth and let recruiters know you have the validation to get the job done.
- Next, discuss your past relevant roles, showcasing your skills, achievements, and fitness to learn, help, and collaborate with the rest of the team. By now, the hiring team should be paying attention to your application.
See more RN resumes >
Why this CV works
- Writing an ICU nurse resume can feel overwhelming: what are you supposed to include, and how are you supposed to format your information? There’s a solution to avoid this kind of writer’s block!
- To avoid the fear of the blank page, start by using a resume outline to give you a basic structure to follow and show you what your finished CV should look like.
- Even if you lack specific ICU experience, you can include any nursing experience. Many nursing skills are transferable across sectors.
- So, when you’re writing the work experience bullet points, use general responsibilities like “provided effective care”, but be specific about how you helped your patients (and what resulted from your ministrations).
View more ICU nurse resumes >
Why this CV works
- As you’re a recent graduate, your experience during your clinical placements can (and should) be included on your newly qualified nurse CV. It’s also important to list any other healthcare experience you have, whether it’s paid work or voluntary work.
- If you lack experience, that’s fine! Just include more details about your clinical placements. You can also mention any non-healthcare-specific work experience if you have it.
- Your resume skills section should match keywords mentioned in the job description as honestly as is your reality.
- For example, does the job description mention compassionate care frequently? Then you should include the word “compassion” in your skills section.
Why this CV works
- As a nurse, you know that first impressions count, whether with you and your patients or your employer. Because of that, you need to format your resume to make it aesthetically pleasing and easy to read.
- The best format for nurses in 2025 is the reverse-chronological format as it demonstrates how you’ve developed your skills over the years. However, if you have a gap in your work experience, there are other formats you can use to conceal that.
- Formatting is more than just the structure; it also includes the overall look of your CV.
- Adding a few splashes of colour to your nurse practitioner’s CV makes it look more attractive and aids readability. Just be sure to choose a colour that is easy on the eye (no neons, please).
View more nurse practitioner resumes >
Why this CV works
- Travel nurses are more in demand than ever, but that doesn’t mean you can be lazy when writing your travel nurse resume. You need to stand out and demonstrate that you deserve an interview.
- To help stand out from the competition, clarify your work experience sections so employers know whether you’ve had travel nurse contracts or not.
- As you gain more work experience, be selective about what you include on your CV. Your goal should be to keep your CV to one page, so space is valuable!
- More likely than not, you don’t need a CV objective or summary, nor do you need to list individual projects. Remember that you can go into more detail about achievements and skills in your nursing cover letter.
View more travel nurse resumes >
Why this CV works
- Your job is extremely hectic and challenging as it is, so let your A&E nurse CV do all the talking for you. Include any medical qualifications you’ve completed so your next employer will immediately know what you’ve been trained in.
- Certifications such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) registration and the Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) demonstrate that you’ve completed the necessary work and undergone the rigorous training required to be an A&E nurse.
View more ER nurse resumes >
Why this CV works
- When you’re applying for a new job as a charge nurse, you must demonstrate an increasing level of responsibility throughout your nursing career. Any project or experience you’ve had in a leadership role should be included.
- For example, have you had the opportunity to manage or lead colleagues? Have you ever trained a nurse and overseen scheduling? Be specific about how you’ve managed projects and people and what resulted from your leadership.
- Looking for a quick and easy way to write a charge nurse CV? Start by using a resume template to format your information, then fill in the blanks with specific details about your past experience and skills.
View more charge nurse resumes >
Why this CV works
- A school nurse is responsible for a broad and varied patient population: pupils. To succeed, you’ll need to implement processes that can support their many diverse needs.
- Are you skilled in using platforms specific to educational institutions, such as SchoolMessenger? Include them on your school nurse CV to demonstrate that you’re prepared to manage the workload.
View more school nurse resumes >
Why this CV works
- Much like caring for newborns, your NICU Nurse CV requires extra attention if you want to secure a position in this highly sought-after unit. Take the time to craft a career objective that demonstrates your passion for working with this special patient group.
- Use the career objective to present your clinical experience from the perspective of the neonatal intensive care unit by emphasising your ability to communicate with families or work in high-pressure environments.
View more NICU nurse resumes >
Why this CV works
- Don’t underestimate how valuable an addition your personal projects or activities can be to your labour and delivery nurse CV.
- If you’ve spent your time outside work organising events to promote women’s health and reproductive rights, it’s a powerful statement that shows your passion and commitment and deserves to be mentioned in your CV.
View more labor and delivery nurse resumes >
Why this CV works
- Did you start your career in a modest way and have worked your way up the professional ladder to be where you are today? It doesn’t matter that you started as a babysitter. Use that to demonstrate determination in your CV for an LVN role, and recruiters will take notice.
- As you progress, highlight measurable achievements in your previous roles, emphasising how you assisted patients and improved outcomes (hint: reducing medication errors by 28% and enhancing patient safety).
Why this CV works
- For a nursing assistant CV that can demonstrate you’re up to scratch and enhance your chances of securing an interview, highlight your industry-relevant licences.
- For instance, a Minnesota Nursing Assistant Certification and a Certified Home Health Aide (CHHA) licence catch the recruiter’s attention and demonstrate that you’ve met the required professional standards. They present a favourable image of a candidate who, at the very least, deserves an interview.
Why this CV works
- Even if you’re entering healthcare for the first time, don’t hesitate to fill your new nurse CV with as many armamentarium skills as possible.
- Including devices and software such as Hill-Rom smart beds, Omnicell, PeraHealth’s Rothman, and Vocera Badge shows employers that you’re all set to hit the ground running and assist senior nurses in treating patients with the latest gadgets at your disposal.
Why this CV works
- By highlighting specialised skills or knowledge in medical tools and software in your nurse manager CV, you can significantly enhance your chances of impressing your next recruiter.
- If you’re well versed with a particular HR management tool or medical management software, it’s one less thing a hospital or healthcare centre will have to train you on.
View more nurse manager resumes >
Why this CV works
- Surgeons are always seeking state-of-the-art technology that can unlock new medical capabilities. Showcase your expertise in working with these innovative systems—like robotic arms—to enhance your operating theatre nurse CV.
View more operating room nurse resumes >
Why this CV works
- Training to be a nurse requires years of dedication, effort, and practice, so you may want to include relevant courses. An extensive programme, such as a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from a prestigious institution like Johns Hopkins University, for example, is a valuable addition to your paediatric nurse CV, demonstrating that you’ve learned from the best.
View more pediatric nurse resumes >
Why this CV works
- Depending on your years of nursing experience, you may wonder if you need to submit a CV or a resume.
- Some professions require CVs for senior-level officials, while other industries are fine with a CV regardless of seniority level. Check the job description to see what kind of information the employer requires, so you know what to write.
- As you need to include more work experience, you might be wondering how to condense everything on your experienced nurse CV.
- Try to demonstrate the various specific responsibilities you’ve had throughout your career. What kinds of clinical techniques have you undertaken? For example, have you assisted with ADLs, administered particular tests, or diagnosed specific types of illnesses?
Why this CV works
- As a telemetry nurse, you’re quite literally the heartbeat of the operation. It’s your responsibility to monitor and protect the patient from a cardiac event during surgery.
- You can enhance your telemetry nurse CV by listing any special certifications that further qualify you for the role, such as Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS).
View more telemetry nurse resumes >
Why this CV works
- Yes, you enjoy saving lives every day, but if your nursing manager CV is ineffective due to a poorly done education section, you risk missing out on the next exciting opportunity to transform lives.
- How far back should you go? You wonder. If you have a master’s degree in nursing or healthcare management, make that the centrepiece of your education section. Otherwise, a bachelor’s degree fits the bill! Of course, don’t forget to add the institution’s name and the year you graduated.
Why this CV works
- You know you’re playing in the top tier when you’re creating a director of nursing CV. Accordingly, mention what recruiters love — complying with GDPR regulations.
- List all the different software you’re proficient in and describe how you’ve used each one from the start of your career. Finally, don’t forget to include your nursing registration!
Why this CV works
- There’s a lot riding on your shoulders for this position, so ensure you mention your management qualities in your RN BSN CV.
- Go beyond assisting patients and list all the times you’ve helped doctors treat a condition more swiftly or improved post-surgery recovery rates. Include how you’ve strived to support patients remotely during challenging periods (if applicable), such as offering remote sessions during COVID-19.
Why this CV works
- To work as a critical care nurse lead, you don’t have to be an expert from the start. Here, even small contributions from previous roles may make a big difference. Take a cue from Sarah’s critical care nursing CV and start by adding your first job.
- Gain a promotion and take on a new role with greater responsibility after that. Use this to demonstrate your dedication by supporting your achievements with figures.
Why this CV works
- How can you prove you’re the best nursing data manager in town? Well, consider highlighting your job-relevant technical skills in your nursing informatics CV to show you’re in your element and deserving of a chance.
- But don’t forget that demonstrating relevant technical proficiency is not just about listing the tools (think Epic Systems, Quippe, Meditech, etc.) you know inside out—anyone can do that. Our suggestion? Show the potential employer how you applied the software, too, so they can distinguish you from the crowd that bluffs.
Why this CV works
- Throwing out the same old generic care home manager CV is like sabotaging your own job search – it’s the kind of hassle you don’t need. How about we change tack and finely tune your CV to perfection?
- Start with a thorough analysis of the job advert and understand the qualifications, skills, and requirements that align with your own experiences. Found them? Brilliant! Now, strategically weave those key points into your CV. Additionally, imagine how Amanda showcases her nursing licence—if you have similar credentials or those impressive certifications, mention them somewhere in the side column.
Why this CV works
- There’s one thing that’s always going to give you an advantage over other applicants in healthcare—a credible licence.
- Take a good look at Allianah’s staff nurse CV and notice how she utilises a Registered Nurse (RN) licence. This isn’t just another document that’s nice to have but proof of the determination and effort it takes to be a professional nurse, which further adds to her existing value.
Why this CV works
- Your CNO resume should be written in reverse-chronological order, with your most recent experience listed at the top of your resume.
- This formatting showcases your career progression and leadership development by highlighting your most recent (and likely most relevant) role.
- Chief Nursing Officers must have management and finance experience, so focus on including hard skills in your resume skills section.
- We recommend you include six to ten skills, with at least 70 per cent hard skills such as BLS, QA/QC, government compliance, and financial health analysis.
View more CNO resumes >
Why this CV works
- Your telehealth nurse resume needs to make a positive first impression as quickly as possible, but how are you supposed to do that?
- Luckily, there are multiple resume tips you can incorporate to make your CV stand out from the rest, including choosing specific hard skills in your skills section and formatting your CV in reverse-chronological order.
- If you have a few years of experience under your belt, your education section will look different from an entry-level telehealth nurse CV.
- If you have qualifications higher than A-levels, omit your secondary school information as employers don’t require it. If you have multiple nursing qualifications, include all of them.
View more telehealth nurse resumes >
Why this CV works
- With an excellent history in the field, putting together an impressive psychiatric nursing CV should be a total breeze for you, right? But remember, you’ve got to ensure your achievements get the spotlight they deserve.
- Take Sarah, for example. She didn’t just casually mention achievements like “reducing 30-day readmission rates by 14%” and “raising awareness of mental health services among over 1,280 community members.” Not at all. She made those successes stand out in her CV with bolding and underlining to impress the recruiter right from the start.
Why this CV works
- As a nurse consultant, you should demonstrate how you’ve built relationships and enhanced team collaboration and communication.
- Use business-related figures such as sales growth or revenue/profit increases to demonstrate your value as an employee.
- Making a nurse consultant resume is challenging, but it helps to keep focused on presenting your story as concisely as you can.
- Don’t forget to add other sections to highlight your training and qualifications.
- If you decide to include these sections, keep them concise and include only what’s relevant to the job you’re applying for.
View more nurse consultant resumes >
Why this CV works
- Your office nurse resume is the very first impression a hiring manager will get of you. Consider how you want to come across. By the book? Compassionate? Happy to work long hours and see a lot of patients, or would you prefer to see a few patients and develop strong relationships?
- Research the environment you’re applying to work in, and make sure you demonstrate why you’re a good fit for that specific role. After all, an A&E department with high patient turnover may be much more interested in your high-efficiency standards than a home clinic that consistently deals with a much smaller patient load.
- Of course, your CV may look impressive once you’ve finished writing it, but have you put it through a resume checker yet? You might not realise you’ve been using passive voice or inconsistent punctuation, and even though you’re not applying for a job as an English teacher, a hiring manager won’t be thrilled if you overlook small details when they’re going to literally put lives in your hands.
Why this CV works
- Much like applying for an RN role, you should include your licence directly in your CV title (right after or below your surname). This effectively alerts the employer that you’re qualified for the role (and thus, deserve an interview).
- Alongside your job title, if you have any certifications or additional licences, include them on your CV in a designated section.
- If you’re finding it difficult to decide what to include on your nursing assistant CV, it can be useful to look at local nursing assistant job descriptions to understand what employers are looking for and which metrics to include.
View more CNA nurse resumes >
Why this CV works
- Imagine this, after a hard day’s work updating your home dialysis nurse CV, you’re left with a beautifully detailed record of the past 30 years of your work experience. Sounds like a fun, light read!
- Unfortunately, as much as it may be interesting for you to reflect on your life history, most hiring managers won’t be quite as thrilled about the prospect. Adding a career summary to your CV can give recruiters the highlights, without overwhelming them with too much information.
- Woohoo, once you finish writing your resume the hard part is done, right? We hate to break it to you, but your resume formatting is just as important as the actual content of your resume.
- Trust us on this, nothing bothers a hiring manager more than a CV that is 1.01 pages long.
Why this CV works
- No LPN has the same responsibilities within every industry. Connect your strengths by highlighting your technical abilities according to the nursing job description on your LPN resume.
- If your current specialisation differs from the job description, don’t worry! You should still be specific about your experience, but concentrate on transferable skills that complement other fields.
- For example, do you specialise in long-term care, nephrology, or developmental disabilities? Include how you applied those abilities throughout your LPN CV.
- A strong educational background, both in terms of your knowledge and what you’ve taught, is a clear indicator of expertise as an LPN. Naturally, you should include where you obtained your nursing degree, but don’t stop there! Adding a section for certifications or licences can showcase your training and quickly grab a hiring manager’s attention.
View more LPN resumes >
Related CV guides
How to Write a Nursing CV
Hiring managers typically receive a flood of CVs whenever there’s a vacancy, so if you prepare your nursing CV carelessly, you are more likely to be shown the door than land the job. To avoid that unfortunate situation, you need to make your nursing CV clear, logical, and visually appealing. It should highlight your skills and experience while being ATS-compliant, and it should also reflect a bit of your personality.
First, let’s address this important question before we delve into the details of writing your CV.
What is a nursing CV?
It’s one of your most important documents when applying for a nursing position. It highlights your clinical skills and nursing work experience with quantified results, projects, placements, clinical rotations, education, qualifications, and a professional summary that explains to recruiters why you are suitable.
Now, let’s get into writing a CV that will land your dream nursing job.
It may sound like an impossible task, but before you get overwhelmed, start by taking it one step at a time. First, choose your formatting style: reverse-chronological, functional, or hybrid.
Choose the right nursing CV format
A well-structured CV is essential for your job search. Even if your CV has perfect content, if it isn’t easy to skim at a glance, it’s unlikely you’ll be called for an interview. Your content matters, but so does how you present that content. Therefore, proper resume formatting is a crucial aspect you don’t want to get wrong.
There are three popular formatting options for designing your CV in 2025: reverse-chronological, functional, and hybrid.
- Functional format
- Focuses more on your skills
- Ideal for a recent graduate or a candidate at the start of their career
- Reverse-chronological format
- The most common format
- Lists relevant experiences and skills in reverse chronological order
- The best for getting through the ATS
- Hybrid or combination format
- Combines functional and reverse-chronological features
- Showcases both your skills and experience
- Ideal if you have some experience or are returning to work
The best option for a nursing CV would be the reverse-chronological format. This helps the recruiter see your upward career progression. If you started as a trainee in a given health organisation, and then moved up the career ladder to become a fully qualified nurse, your potential employer will be able to track your progression and assess your qualifications more quickly.
Add Contact heading
It’s important to include the relevant contact header information in the correct order. If you’re a nurse, your contact header should include the following:
- Your name—Employers won’t automatically know you, so you need to include your first and surname.
- Phone number—Use your personal mobile number instead of a work phone in case a potential employer calls when you’re not at work.
- Email address—Include a professional email address, ideally combining your first and last name.
- City & county—This is optional but recommended so employers know if you’re local.
- LinkedIn—Some employers require your LinkedIn profile, but even if it’s not compulsory, it’s useful for employers to see your career progression.
The contact header should be, as you might expect, at the top of the page. Good font choices are Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri, all at 12 point size. When it comes to colour, keep it conservative with black and white. Some resume templates can format your CV to strikingly display your contact information, just like this header:
Will your nursing CV pass the ATS?
Optimising your CV for the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) increases your chances of being called for an interview. The ATS is a tool that many companies use to quickly scan resumes and filter out applicants without relying on someone to read through them first.
Most CVs aren’t designed to beat ATS, and end up being filtered out before they ever reach the recruiter. However, if you know how to properly format your resume, you’ll pass the ATS scan and make your way to a person. Here’s what you should know about the role of fonts, font size, margins, header names, logical order, skills, and page length, as far as ATS-friendly CVs are concerned:
- ATS-friendly fonts make it easy for a computer to read your CV. Some of the most commonly used ATS-friendly fonts include: Times New Roman, Calibri, and Arial. Preferably, they should have a font size of 10-12 points.
- Beyond just font type, font size also matters. Ideally, your body font size should be 10-12 points, while your headings can be larger.
- Margins are also important, as the ATS automatically assumes your margins are the standard size of one inch all around. Any larger or smaller, and the ATS might misread your CV.
- Keywords are the main focus of the ATS, so ensure your skill keywords and header names match those in the job description.
- The ATS is not sensitive to the number of pages, but one page is the standard across professions.
How to create a stunning CV for a nursing career
Creating an effective nursing CV may seem daunting and not worth your effort. However, putting in the extra effort now will pay off when you secure an interview. And remember, you’re not doing this alone. We’re committed to helping you write an amazing resume by providing advice on common frustrating decisions like this:
- When an objective is most useful on your nursing CV
- When a summary might be the preferred option
- How to list your most relevant nursing work experience
- Adding volunteer work and academic pursuits when work history is limited
Do you need an objective or summary on your nursing CV?
When crafting your nursing CV, you have the option to use career objectives and summaries.
When to include a career objective in your CV:
- You can use an objective when changing or modifying your career path.
- For instance, if you plan to change from a surgical assistant registered nurse to an accident and emergency registered nurse, you’d use an objective to highlight that you’re pursuing a new subfield within nursing.
- Use a career objective if you’re looking for a graduate position and lack experience.
When a summary is right for your CV:
- Use a summary to highlight your most valuable experience and skills. These are ideal when you have extensive experience in nursing.
- For example, if you’ve worked in a healthcare setting for 10 or more years, you can include a summary.
- A summary is effective for linking diverse work experiences.
When not to use objectives or summaries:
- Omit the objective or summary if you don’t intend to tailor it to each position you apply for. Otherwise, it’s generic filler that takes up too much space.
- Unclear objective example: “Looking for a nursing job to apply my skills and knowledge.”
- This lacks specificity and reads “I just need a job to pay the bills.” While that may be true, employers want to know you’re passionate about your work and will enhance your workplace.
- Vague summary example: “I am a highly-experienced registered nurse looking for a position in this hospital.”
- This lacks depth and details of work history that should characterise a summary. It’s devoid of substantial expertise, specialisations, and specific skills.
When objectives or summaries are worth including:
- Excellent objective example: “As a registered nurse with a passion for senior citizens, I aim to leverage my 8 years of client-facing geriatric experience to improve the health of every patient in a compassionate way at Kaiser Permanente.”
- This objective emphasises the years of experience and the candidate’s area of expertise while also naming the potential employer.
- Excellent summary example: “Self-driven registered nurse with a myriad of emergency and general experience totaling 10+ years in the specialized care fields of gynecology, renal, direct-patient, and primary care. Proven 7-year record of consistently diffusing high-stress, sensitive situations with niched expertise and compassion.”
- This summary highlights their years of experience, the key areas they’ve worked in, and their specialisms within those fields.
Quantify and qualify your nursing work experience
Don’t forget to indicate relevant experience in your CV. While we wouldn’t recommend including every job you’ve had since you were 16, you can get away with adding work experience from different fields if you’re a graduate or entry-level candidate.
However, if you’re applying for a senior position, you’ll need to include at least three nursing positions on your CV, especially if you’re applying for a managerial or specialist role. For instance, a director of care management requires nine years of experience, four of which must be managerial.
Conversely, a registered nurse position may require one year of direct patient care. The responsibilities, in this case, are not very demanding. If you lack experience overall, you can include any academic projects and voluntary work that is relevant to the nursing job description.
Writing your job experience bullet points for your nursing CV
Three examples of poor job experience bullet points for nurses:
- I have eight years of experience in nursing
- Generally, you should avoid using “I,” and you should include specifics, not just general statements of experience.
- I joined the hospital in May.
- This bullet point includes “I” and lacks specific job details and measurable metrics.
- I have provided compassionate care for all my patients.
- While it may sound appealing at first glance, it doesn’t precisely explain what the patient did or the outcomes of their work.
Three examples of good job experience bullet points for nurses:
- Provided a wide range of services to a caseload of over 50 patients
- This uses an action verb combined with measurable metrics.
- Led four new primary care training initiatives for over 60 nurse recruits
- Again, this uses an action verb but furthermore, it describes exactly what the candidate provided (primary care training).
- Supervised patient safety in the healthcare facility by developing risk reduction measures in the unit
- Specific, relevant job duties demonstrate your skills to employers and can also help you get through the ATS; top marks for this one!
Measure your impact as a nurse
When preparing your CV, remember that no employer wants to waste time reading vague statements about your performance. Instead, they want to see supporting details. So, whenever you can, you should quantify your impact and achievements.
For example, if you say you “attended to numerous patients daily,” a potential employer might question the exact number because ‘numerous’ is a relative term.
Examples of how to quantify measurements:
Suppose the nursing job description asks for a training specialist who can train other nurses. In that case, you can indicate the number of training sessions you conducted per day in your previous employment.
- Number of clinical training sessions per day
- Trained 75% of new starters on pre- and postoperative care for over 20 days per month
Some of the health facilities labour under tremendous pressure. The number of patients you attend to per day can help potential employers gauge whether you will cope well under pressure. So, it’s beneficial to include the number of patients you attended to over a specific period of time.
- Number of patients seen in a day
- Worked in an environment with a 6:1 patient-nurse ratio, receiving over 400 visitors per day
Highlight top skills for your nursing CV
It’s helpful to understand the differences between hard and soft skills to list in your resume skills section. Keep the number of skills you list between six and ten to avoid overwhelming the reader.
Hard skills are the tools you use to perform the job, also known as technical abilities that require training.
Examples of technical skills:
- ERM systems
- Medical documentation
- Baby and child care
- A&E care
- Outpatient care
- CPR certified
On the other hand, soft skills are abilities that are harder to quantify and are more personality-based.
Examples of soft skills:
- Communication
- Patience
- Empathy
- Professionalism
- Positive outlook
- Integrity
- Compassion
Get noticed! Look for keywords within a job advert:
- Many companies use ATS to scan CVs for keywords from the job description, so it’s in your best interest to include the right keywords.
- Include keywords in both your nursing cover letter and CV.
- Choosing keywords from the job description helps you tailor your CV and thus, makes you more appealing to the hiring manager.
- Using the right keywords makes your CV relevant and noticeable, giving you an advantage over the competition.
Include nursing education and qualifications
When preparing your nursing CV, include all the elements that will increase your chances of getting the job. You need to indicate the following:
- Your level of education
- Any certifications or licences
- Your experience in other nursing settings
- Your years of experience as a nurse
On the topic of licences, you need to share your area of specialisation. Specialists include registered nurses (RNs), certified registered nurse anaesthetists, and clinical nurse specialists. Including your area(s) of expertise helps potential employers determine whether you’re the right candidate for the role.
Moreover, including this information is straightforward and shouldn’t take up much space! Simply place certifications and licences in a short section towards the bottom of your CV:
Should you add projects, interests, or hobbies to your nursing CV?
Most of the time, you don’t need to include projects or interests/hobbies on your resume. However, you might be able to add them depending on your level of experience and the type of role you’re seeking.
If you’re an experienced nurse, you’ve likely gained practical experience that’s more important than undergraduate projects you’ve completed. Instead, you should highlight your key areas of experience and show your new employer how you’ll impact their organisation.
Similarly, you may not need to mention your hobbies or interests unless it’s recommended. However, you can gain an advantage over the competition if you have strong qualifications and hobbies that align with the company culture.
To help you decide whether to include hobbies, visit the company’s website and read the “About Us” section to assess if they have a unique cultural fit.
If you’re a candidate just starting out or a recent graduate, listing hobbies and projects can help you fill space and showcase your personality. However, it’s always good to review the job description to ensure these additions are relevant. Either way, keep the project and hobbies lists short and at the bottom of your CV.
Examples of hobbies/interests:
- Volunteering for community health services
- Exercise
- Learning new languages
Examples of projects:
- Organised and led breast cancer awareness campaign for two consecutive terms
- Researched mental health and psychiatric issues for term-long experiment
Tailor your nursing CV for each job application
Remember to customise your CV when applying for a new job. Even if you’re only applying for specific roles, like LPN jobs, that doesn’t mean every job description for that title requires the same qualifications. There’s usually something unique to each position. Thus, for every application, make sure you tailor the following sections:
- Objective
- Summary
- Skills
- Work experience bullet points
- (These can remain largely unchanged, but you should slightly modify responsibilities and keywords.)
To summarise, each job description comes with different skill requirements. Furthermore, remember to note keywords you can use within the body of your CV and covering letter.
Your nursing CV must be error-free
As a nurse, you need to show the hiring manager that you’re observant and have an eye for detail. Remember, you’ll be working with patients and should demonstrate accuracy and precision. To ensure a flawless CV, run your document through a resume checker and have your colleagues proofread it. Don’t let typos cost you a job!
Secure your next Nursing role with confidence
Many job seekers struggle in the job market, especially given the number of nursing graduates produced by universities each year and the intense competition. Therefore, you must be creative and savvy to navigate the market successfully. Fortunately, you’ve already taken the first steps by reading this guide, so well done!
We know you’ve worked hard to get this far, and we wish you all the best as you write a powerful nursing CV and get ready for interviews in 2025!
Nursing CV FAQs
A nursing CV should be achievement-oriented, quantifying your achievements through clinical skills. Other essential sections you must include are contact information, education, certifications, and a professional summary. Whatever you include should add value to your qualifications and give recruiters reasons to believe you’re the right candidate. It’s also imperative to tailor your CV to the specific nursing position you’re applying for.
Absolutely, yes, employers expect you to submit a CV as part of your application documents. A well-crafted nursing CV is your first impression on a hiring manager and can persuade them to employ you. As long as you demonstrate your experience through metrics and the use of nursing skills, you can be confident of securing interviews and ultimately getting the job.
