Your studies may have gone smooth but the road ahead will be a bit more difficult for sure. What you can do is to land in a place where you can get the most out of the situation, whether it is stressful or full of pressure.
You can land such a job if you have a really good resume that would be impressing for a student nurse meaning you should reflect your deep knowledge and skills in your resume.
The real like experience may not be as dreamy as Grey's Anatomy, however it can be the kind of experience where you learn a lot and build a strong resume for your future jobs as a nurse.
You might find it a bit daunting to write a resume that makes you stand out because to qualify, all your fellow applicants have gone through the same training and education.
So how do you make sure you stand out and don't get lost in the pool of other average applicants? Well, we are here for you.
All you need is some tips to enhance your resume and make it stand out. Let's go over how to write a student nurse resume along with some extra tips! You can also check out our resume templates.
What to write in a Student Nurse Resume?
As a nursing student, you have learned all the relevant coursework during your studies, you have also learned some practical skills. You might've managed to acquire some practical experience before completing your job.
Now, you just need to note it all down carefully in a manner that'll highlight your potential of becoming an excellent nurse. Your nursing student resume is an opportunity to lay out your profile for the healthcare facilities who are looking for best nurses.
Although, there is a significant shortage of nurses as well as doctors all across the globe, standing out is important because not everyone can start providing medical services because there is always human lives at stake.
You need to be exceptionally good and skilled to qualify in the medical field. So let's see how to write a perfect and exceptionally qualifying resume.
Contact Information
Like any resume, you begin your nursing student resume with the contact information. Mention your name, your contact number where you are easily reachable, then comes your email address.
Make sure your email address looks professional. At last you can mention your home address if you want, however it is not mandatory.
Experience
Where you are, it is likely that your experience is similar to your fellow applicants. So how do you make your experience section look better?
Well, it all comes down to how you present. You can note down your unique perspective on all that you learned from your experience. The skills that you learned that weren't part of the experience but all due to your initiative and approach.
Your experience should have details of the facilities that you worked at along with your responsibilities there. Describe how you handled all your responsibilities, any challenges you overcame and enhanced your skills.
You should try to include as many numbers as possible. Everywhere you should try to quantify your experience and achievements.
List your most relevant experience first followed by the details of how you contributed and overcame the challenges.
The common challenge in healthcare facilities is usually the workload and stress caused by the same. You may want to reflect your capability to handle the more than average workload and resilience to deal with the overwhelming stress.
When you mention any extra experience, you should focus on how that experience has improved you and made you more suitable for the role of a nurse. Your nursing student resume should have only one aim- make you look suitable for the role of a nurse.
Education
Your education section is the most important one. It is likely that at this stage you don't have much of professional experience an your education is your foundation for now. Your nursing school is the first step towards your nursing jobs.
Invest enough time and energy in this section and describe carefully the relevant coursework and how you excelled it. You can note down what was your approach towards learning and developing the skills.
When you mention your degree, mention the institution name from where you completed your studies. You can also mention the expected graduation month and year.
It is the section where you should provide more in-depth details. You should mention your academic performance metrics and any exceptional achievements such as participation in any programs or awards won that are relevant.
For appropriate chronology, refer to the nursing student resume template and example of your state and country.
Skills
You know which skills does a nursing student is supposed to have. But your resume cannot have only those skills. You need to stand out.
Meaning you need to mention the skills that a professional nurse has and probably a nursing student won't have. Having extra skills and knowledge is always helpful because it shows you can do more, you are dedicated and passionate.
You should mention all the relevant skills such as maintaining patient' medical records, assisting the physician in charge with everything that he needs, taking vital signs of patients, providing medication as approved and directed by the physician, providing nursing care with warmth and patience, familiarity and capability to handle the technology and having deep knowledge of medication doses, treatment, diseases and everything related to the same.
License/ Certifications
As mentioned before, medical field is a high stake one with the real human lives at stake. Not everyone can just come up and start serving medical treatments.
Every country and states has their own set of rules and regulations that are to be followed by the medical professionals whether it is a surgeon or a nurse, every medical field professional needs certain education, training and certifications/licenses to be able to practice.
Not following these rules and regulation can be gross violations of laws and can land you in a prison. Make sure you learn and follow the rules and regulations extremely carefully.
There are various certifications and licenses that can make you a registered nurse or certified nursing assistant and so on.
Summary
Your nursing student resume summary is your opportunity to appeal the hiring managers as the most suitable candidate. Most nursing students don't take the summary as seriously because in medical field details are more important.
Your knowledge has to be reflected properly in detail in the education section, experience section and the skills section.
Although the summary is very important because when the hiring manager takes your resume in hand, first thing they will note is the summary and if it doesn't have the qualifying criteria, they might not look further.
You need to mention all the key points of your profile in the summary. You should start with the position title followed by bullet points of details.
After the position title, mention your experience, key achievements, education and skills. Only mention the key points and leave the details for the sections to follow later.
Keep your summary short, to the point, crisp and a proper highlight of your profile. Use bullet points no more than 3-5.
Extra
If you have any extra details that maybe relevant, you should mention them as well. Your hobbies, interests, extra curricular activities, participation in special programs and so on.
These may help you with making an impression of someone who goes an extra mile. This can be appreciated especially because it means you are truly dedicated hard worker who did the extra activities on top of the study load and stress.
Tips for Student Nurse Resume
You may find many nursing student resume examples online but they won't have the touch of 'extra' and if you copy them you might end up with a very average resume. So we are giving you all the extra tips that will make your resume truly stand out! 👍
Tailor your resume for each job
Writing a generic resume is okay but it will not impress the hiring managers. tailor your resume for each position at various facilities. Reflect how you want the opportunity to work with that particular facility.
This small effort can go a long way with the hiring managers, they will see you as a potential candidate who will be a perfect addition to the facility because of your interest.
Beat the ATS
We all know how technology is advancing. Now a days, rarely any recruiters check the resumes themselves because they receive thousands of applications and it can be a tiring task to check all of them manually before even shortlisting them.
Because of this, now the applicant tracking systems are utilized. It scans the resumes and filters out the resumes that do not have the relevant keywords. The rest get shortlisted and reach the hiring managers for manual scan and decision making for further process.
Meaning, you need to include all the important keywords throughout your nursing student resume. However, do not overcrowd the resume information with keywords. Maintain the readability of the resume.
Templates/ Examples
Refer to the number of nursing student resume templates and examples available online. And when you are choosing one for yourself, make sure to make the most relevant choice.
Always edit the template according to your own profile and do not use it as it is. Personalize the format and make sure to use your information everywhere.
Sometimes when we use a template we forget to edit certain details or parts of the template with our own information. Do not make that mistake.
Proofread your resume twice before saving it.
Reflect Warmth/ Kindness
As a nurse you will be interacting with ill patients who are in extreme need of compassion and warmth to feel comfortable, at ease and in a bit less pain.
Meaning, you need to be an extra compassionate, patient and kind person. Make sure these character traits of yours are reflected well in your resume's details and language.
Research
When you are writing a resume, do your research on the healthcare facility you are applying to, the position you are applying for, the job description mentioned by the hiring manager in the job posting and most importantly the legal aspect-rules and regulations for the position you are applying for.
This research will also help you with the keywords that need to be included in your resume; along with acquiring comprehensive understanding of your role.
If you don't have certifications/licensure
There are certain positions that do not require certifications or licenses even in medical field. For example, the receptionist at medical facilities or the sitters and so on.
If you don't have the certifications or licenses or are yet to receive one, you can still join the medical field in different roles.
Common Mistake to Avoid
- Not using third person & past tense
- Reflecting overconfidence
- Not mentioning certifications/licenses
- Not mentioning all relevant skills
- Not reflecting passion and dedication
These common mistakes are easy to avoid. Make a check list of all the details that needs to mentioned and check list of all the possible mistakes. Once you have written your resume, compare it with both of your check lists and you will easily avoid all possible mistakes.
Make sure you proofread and go over your resume twice to make sure everything is in place, accurate and properly written.
Conclusion
Now that you have gone through this comprehensive guide on how to write a student nurse resume, you know it is quite simple and easy with the tips mentioned. Make sure your resume has all the important details and does not leave the hiring manager with questions and confusions.
Medical field is facing a serious shortage of qualified medical professionals and that means you are very likely to land your dream job with the right resume. By 2033, the medical industry is likely to have shortage of 1,24,000 physicians, according to The American Hospital Association. Source: https://www.oracle.com/human-capital-management/healthcare-workforce-shortage/#:~:text=The%20US%20healthcare%20industry%20is,to%20124%2C000%20physicians%20by%202033.
This means that your contribution is extremely important to the society and society is grateful for your service. Make sure you practice ethically and serve the society well. Our resume writing tips will help you do that with a perfect resume!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do I need to mention my license details in resume?
Absolutely. Without that you cannot practice nor can you be hired. The hiring managers also have to follow the rules and hire only the licensed professionals.
Should I mention the online program I attended for nursing students?
Yes. Anything relevant to the position and role should be mentioned in your resume. You may mention it in your extra section.
I am interested in neurobiology apart from my nursing curriculum, should I mention it in my resume?
Sure. Any relevant interests you have, you should mention them in you resume as it shows that you have more knowledge and passion than your fellow applicants.
