Nursing resume examples for registered nurses and new grads

What a nurse manager looks for first

Every registered nurse holds a state license, earned by finishing a BSN, an ADN or an approved diploma program and passing the NCLEX-RN. Many nursing jobs also require CPR, BLS or ACLS certification. So the first things a manager or recruiter checks are:

1. License and status: RN, the state, active or pending.
2. Certifications: BLS, plus ACLS, PALS or a specialty one if the unit needs it, and whether they are current.
3. Unit and patients: med-surg, ICU, ED, labor and delivery, pediatrics. Adults or children, post-op or telemetry.
4. How much you carry: your usual patient ratio, and whether you charge or precept.
5. The charting system: Epic, Cerner or Meditech. Knowing theirs shortens your orientation.

The rest of the page proves you are safe and steady with those patients.

The order of sections

Write your credentials after your name, degree first, then license: Andrea Mitchell, BSN, RN.

Nursing resume examples: bullet lines by unit

Start each job with one line of context (unit type, number of beds, patient population), then add results. Swap in your own numbers.

Where your numbers come from

Use only results your unit tracked and you helped change. Patient details never go on a resume.

Registered nurse resume skills

• Clinical: assessment, medication administration, IV therapy and starts, wound care, telemetry monitoring, post-op care, blood transfusion, sepsis screening, patient and family teaching.
• Specialty, if true: ventilator care and titrating drips (ICU), triage (ED), fetal monitoring (labor and delivery), pediatric dosing.
• Systems: the EHR you used (Epic, Cerner, Meditech), barcode medication administration, automated dispensing cabinets.
• Soft skills: clear handoffs, staying calm in a rapid response, teamwork with techs and providers, compassion, attention to detail.

Match the posting's wording where it is true for you. If it says "telemetry", write telemetry, not "cardiac monitoring".

Nursing resume summary examples

Experienced RN:

New grad RN:

How to write the license and certification lines

If you hold licenses in more than one state, list each one. Expiry dates matter: a manager wants to know you can work the first week without a renewal class.

Registered nurse resume for new grads

Your clinical rotations are your experience. List each with the hospital, unit and hours, and one line on what you did. Give your preceptorship or capstone its own entry, because it is the closest thing to a real assignment. A job as a CNA, patient care tech or unit secretary belongs on the page too: it shows you know how a unit runs.

Mistakes that cost nurses interviews

• No unit or ratio. "Provided patient care" could mean anything. Say where, to whom, and how many.
• An expired BLS or a missing expiry date. Many nursing jobs require current BLS, so a recruiter looks for the date.
• Duties copied from the job description. "Administered medications" is every nurse's job. Write what you were trusted with beyond it.
• Anything that could identify a patient. Leave out names, dates of care, rare diagnoses tied to a place.
• Three pages for a staff nurse job. Cut old non-nursing jobs to one line or remove them.
• One resume for ICU and clinic jobs. Move the lines that match the unit to the top for each application.

You can build this resume here and keep the license block exactly as shown.