Without registered nurses (RNs), healthcare as we know it would cease to exist. They’re the glue that keeps hospitals together, and nurses serve on the front lines in the service of their patients.
RNs are more in demand now than ever, but the road to becoming a nurse is still challenging. Whether you’re working toward your BSN or becoming a nurse practitioner, hard work is required.
You shouldn’t have to be an expert at making a resume or writing a nursing student cover letter.
After analyzing numerous resumes from nursing students, we’re sharing the best resume-writing practices along with seven excellent nursing student resume samples that are succeeding in 2023.
Why this resume works
- Nurses must undergo clinical rotations in school, so you should include this relevant experience on your nursing student resume.
- If you’ve held multiple full or part-time nursing roles, you can omit your rotations, but otherwise, leave them in. They’re great experience!
- You’ll hear many arguments for and against having a career objective, but we only recommend adding one if 1) you’re undergoing a career change or 2) you just finished nursing school, and this is your first full-time nursing job.
- If those circumstances fit, add an objective! Just remember you have to tailor it to each job you apply for. If you don’t have time to do that, then skip this part.
Why this resume works
- The absence of paid work experience shouldn’t create a hole in your beginner nursing student resume. Seize the opportunity to show skills acquired in practical classes, volunteer opportunities, and research projects.
- Narrow down your focus on critical thinking, data gathering and analysis, and other skills that shore up your competency.
Why this resume works
- If you’re looking to land your first full-time nursing position out of nursing school, then play the part. That means putting down your title as “registered nurse,” not “nursing student.”
- This is especially true if you already have an RN certification. If you do have certification, make sure to list it in a separate section, along with the year you got certified!
- Your nursing student (no experience) resume works best if you include only a handful of relevant skills in your resume’s skills section.
- List any specialties you might have (like pediatrics or geriatrics), plus technical skills like clinical documentation.
Why this resume works
- If you have any experience in the healthcare space or leadership expertise outside of healthcare, include them in a hobbies and interests section on your resume (also titled “activities”).
- Volunteer experience is a good idea, especially if it relates to healthcare.
- Most people understand the importance of nursing, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to demonstrate the direct impact of your work. So how can you quantify your impact on your nursing student for externship resume?
- If you can, include numbers. For example, how many people did you work with? How many rotations did you serve? Did you increase efficiency or productivity by a quantifiable amount? There are numbers there if you know where to look!
Why this resume works
- Due to your shortage of real-life nursing experience, emphasize your soft skills and how you have used them in your class work and practicals.
- Show your research, communication, and problem-solving skills and crown them with adding your experience gained from clinicals on your nursing student clinical experience resume.
Why this resume works
- You likely have plenty of experience as a registered nurse (RN), but remember that you should try to keep your nurse practitioner student resume to a single page.
- If you’re on the border between one page and two, try some handy resume formatting tricks, like reducing the font size and page margins to fit more content (while keeping an eye on overall readability). Don’t make your text too small, or it’ll be hard to read.
- Choose a professional resume template where you can include certs on your resume if you’re a licensed registered nurse (RN) and have passed the exam.
- Also, include the state(s) where you’re certified since, sometimes, certification doesn’t carry over.
Why this resume works
- When creating a great graduate nursing student resume, the little things matter, so make sure you build your resume right by being consistent in punctuation.
- When it comes to checking your resume, consistency is key. For example, your work experience bullet points should end the same, either with or without periods.
- Some nursing jobs require additional certifications (beyond an RN) but don’t assume a hiring manager knows your certifications.
- Instead, add a certifications section to prove you have an ALS, CPR, or EMT certification.
- Do you need a nursing cover letter? Keep reading for a cover letter template you can edit and adjust as needed!
Need Help with Your Nursing Student Cover Letter?
It’s satisfying to finish writing your resume, but don’t forget about your nursing student cover letter, too! We’ve got you covered (get it?) with a cover letter template you can edit in Google Docs and Word.
Why this cover letter works
- When writing your graduate nursing student cover letter, emphasize how your background will benefit the new company. For example, spotlighting technical specialization and adaptability in high-key work environments is great!
- Always tie your skills to the organization’s values by pulling phrasing like “shape the future of healthcare” from their website’s mission statement.
- If you have stand-out experience, like exemplary bedside manner or familiarity with a specialized area like pediatrics, showcase these.
- Always make sure you list your certifications in your graduate nursing student resume, of course—but it doesn’t hurt to mention them in your cover letter, too!
- It’s also ideal to establish how much experience you have alongside your qualifying certifications at the intro to your cover letter.
- An extra resume tip: your resume should be concise, but your cover letter should tell a story about your qualifying background.
