That new diploma is looking nice and shiny, and so are your basic medical skills! You’re in the position to perform all the usual duties of a Registered Nurse, including patient exams, routine procedures and treatments, and offer assistance to more experienced medical personnel.
But what resume template will let you turn your fresh graduate experience into something that appeals to recruiters so that you can start drawing samples and completing patient questionnaires ASAP?
Don’t worry! We’ve spent years helping people in medical roles, including aspiring graduates like you, and our three New Grad RN resume examples are bound to help you get things rolling!
Why this resume works
- A versatile set of skills is just as important as a good career background in your new RN resume. Hospitals don’t need just another nurse on the team; they need a superhero in scrubs—without the cape.
- So don’t just stop at skills like IV Management or Clinical Documentation. Include things like Preventive Care and Patient Communication to show employers you’re not just good at changing dressings but also changing lives, one encouraging word at a time.
Related resume examples
What Matters Most: Your Skills & Experience Sections
Your job skills section should include all kinds of stuff, from blood sample collection to patient documentation and note checking. Recruiters want to see that you’re equipped to do it all, whether you’re a new grad RN or not!
Keep each skill specific to your profession. Avoid generic terms like “communication” and instead go for something like “patient education” or “active listening” to convey your efficiency within your job role.
Being extra precise helps you avoid sounding bland in comparison with other candidates! After all, you want to stand out, and showing off your knowledge of vitals and essential life support will do that.
9 best new grad RN skills
- Patient Documentation
- Patient Education
- Blood Drawing
- Vitals
- IV Management
- Clinical Records
- Preventative Care
- Sample Processing
- Emergency Response
Sample new grad RN work experience bullet points
You’ve got some great job skills—but how can you show your ability to apply them in a medical setting? This part can sometimes be tricky for new graduates, but you probably have more relevant experiences than you think.
Did you get the opportunity to shadow a doctor or LPN? Did you complete a related internship? You can also refer to unrelated jobs.
Unrelated jobs, such as that after-school stocking job you worked last semester, still build up skills that transfer well to the RN role. Think customer/patient service, stocking shelves vs. managing medical supply inventory, etc.
Just make sure you back your accomplishments with quantifiable data! Here are some examples of bullet points with good metrics for your impact:
- Visited patients, rotating wings weekly to spend at least 15 minutes with each patient, elevating personal rating to 4.8/5 stars
- Assisted patients with mobility, helping them follow physical therapy protocols under the supervision of three CNAs, improving recover results by 14%
- Answered patient call lights within 15 seconds and tended to patients’ needs or located an RN or doctor, depending on the intensity of the situation, achieving a 3 minute decrease in wait times
- Turned and positioned immobile patients safely with 0 incidents, maintaining proper body alignment and preventing 100% of bed sores
Top 5 Tips for Your New Grad RN Resume
- Don’t go overboard
- Sometimes, new grads get the urge to spruce up their resumes with fancy fonts and bright colors. Keep that to a minimum. You want to convey professionalism and prioritize legibility!
- Think about the skills, not the source
- We can’t stress enough that applicable RN-related skills can come from anywhere. You don’t have to have job experience in the medical field to launch your career! Think of transferable skills, like a cheerful bedside manner, that you gained from an internship, outreach initiative, or college project that relate to patient care.
- Pick a template that works
- We have three new grad RN resume templates for you to try, and the one you pick should depend directly on the most impressive section you’re presenting. Got lucky with some relevant mentorship experience? Experience section to center stage! Are your skills and certifications jaw-dropping? Give them their own column.
- About those certifications . . .
- Don’t even think about leaving them out! If you have Basic Life Support (BLS), Certified Wound Treatment Associate (WTA-C), or Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) credentials, spotlight those. Certifications demonstrate your capabilities even if you haven’t had relevant work experience yet.
- Consider a cover letter
- A lot of people use a cover letter generator to reflect on experience points that don’t fit on their resumes. How does that time you assisted with a critical situation while volunteering at a nursing home make you a better fit for the company today?
Recruiters only have a few seconds to spare for each resume. So, keep to a one-page resume! And don’t worry about filling the page to the brim. Focus on leveraging your most powerful points instead of pulling in fluff.
Yes! Having more experienced professionals or college professors vouch for your promise as a new grad RN can bolster your credibility. Just make sure you attach them separately instead of trying to puzzle them into the resume.
You can include an especially impressive GPA, Dean’s List achievement, and any other academic awards you’ve obtained. Including these thoughtful details alongside your Bachelor’s in Nursing shows ambition!
