Registered nurse resume template and example

Patient assignment and assessment

A nurse manager reads this first to judge your acuity level. Name the unit, its size and your usual assignment so the reader can picture a shift with you on it.

• Managed a 4-patient assignment on a 28-bed step-down unit, including patients on heparin drips and BiPAP.
• Completed head-to-toe assessments every 4 hours and called the rapid response team on rising early warning scores.
• Cared for post-op orthopedic and general surgery patients, managing PCA pumps, surgical drains and early mobility goals.

Medication administration and safety

Medication errors are the risk every hiring unit screens for. Show the dispensing system you used and the safety checks you kept, not just that you gave medications.

• Pulled scheduled and PRN doses from Omnicell cabinets and scanned the patient band and every dose before administration.
• Verified high-alert infusions such as insulin and heparin with a second RN at the pump, per unit policy.
• Reconciled home medication lists on admission and sent 12 discrepancies to pharmacy for review in one quarter.
• Placed peripheral IVs, including ultrasound-guided access after completing the unit's competency sign-off.

Quality, infection prevention and patient experience

Units are measured on nurse-sensitive indicators. If you led or joined work that moved one, give the indicator, the change and the time frame.

• Checked Foley catheter necessity every shift as the unit's CAUTI champion and removed catheters under the nurse-driven removal protocol.
• Turned bedbound patients every 2 hours and requested wound care consults early; the unit went 9 months without a stage 3 pressure injury.
• Introduced bedside shift report with two other nurses; HCAHPS nurse communication scores rose from the 48th to the 71st percentile.

Charge, precepting and unit leadership

Charge shifts, precepting and council work tell a manager you can be trusted with the whole unit for a shift.

• Took charge 3 shifts a month, balancing acuity across 9 RNs and 3 nursing assistants and placing admissions from the ED.
• Precepted 4 new graduate RNs and 6 nursing students through their clinical rotations.
• Rewrote the sepsis screening checklist used at handoff as a member of the unit practice council.

Discharge teaching and care coordination

Readmissions and late discharges cost the hospital, so bullets about teaching and coordination show judgment beyond the bedside.

• Taught insulin injection and glucose monitoring to newly diagnosed patients using teach-back before discharge.
• Coordinated with case management, physical therapy and social work so 60% of planned discharges left before noon.

ICU nurse

• Name the ICU type (medical, surgical, cardiac, neuro, trauma), because the skills differ between them and managers hire for the match.
• Lead with acuity: ventilators, CRRT, arterial lines, vasoactive drips, sedation protocols and whether you usually take 1:1 or 1:2.
• Put CCRN and ACLS in the license block, and mention devices such as an intra-aortic balloon pump or ECMO only if you have managed them.

Emergency department nurse

• Show the department's annual visit volume or beds, the trauma level designation, and whether you worked triage, fast track, resuscitation or all three.
• Use ESI levels to describe triage and give a throughput number such as door-to-triage time.
• List CEN, ACLS and PALS up top. TNCC, from the Emergency Nurses Association, belongs there too if you hold it.

Medical-surgical and telemetry nurse

• Ratios run higher, so the story is organization: 5 or 6 patients plus admissions and discharges in the same shift.
• Name the patient mix on the floor (orthopedic, GI, renal, post-op) and your telemetry experience.
• CMSRN is the certification to add once you have two years on the floor.