Nurse Resume Example for 2026

A nursing resume needs to highlight clinical skills, certifications, and patient care experience. Whether you're an RN, LPN, or NP, the right format makes a critical difference in getting through ATS and impressing nurse managers.

Sample Nurse Resume Bullet Points

These are strong, ATS-optimized bullet points for a Nurse resume. Customize them with your own achievements and numbers.

Delivered comprehensive patient care for 5-6 patients per shift in a 32-bed medical-surgical unit, maintaining 98% patient satisfaction scores

Served as charge nurse for 12+ nurses, coordinating staffing and patient flow during high-census periods

Trained 8 new graduate nurses on EMR documentation, IV therapy, and unit-specific protocols

What to include in a Nurse resume

1
Licenses & Certifications
2
Professional Summary
3
Clinical Experience
4
Education
5
Skills & Competencies

Nurse resume writing tips for 2026

Put licenses and certifications at the top — they're the first thing recruiters look for

Specify patient ratios, unit types (ICU, ED, Med-Surg), and specialties

Include all certifications with expiration dates: BLS, ACLS, PALS, CEN, etc.

Mention specific EMR systems: Epic, Cerner, Meditech

Highlight any charge nurse, preceptor, or committee leadership experience

Quantify: "Managed care for 5-7 patients per shift in a 40-bed PCU"

ATS tips for Nurse resumes

Over 75% of Nurse resumes are rejected by ATS before a human reads them. To pass ATS screening:

  • Use the exact job title from the posting in your resume headline
  • Mirror keywords from the job description verbatim
  • Use standard section headings: "Work Experience", "Education", "Skills"
  • Avoid tables, text boxes, headers/footers, and graphics
  • Submit as PDF with embedded text (not scanned image)

Top Nurse Skills for 2026

Include as many relevant ones as apply to you:

Patient CareEMR/EHR (Epic)IV TherapyMedication AdministrationBLS/ACLSWound CareCritical ThinkingHIPAA ComplianceTelemetryPatient Education

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With our ATS Pro template

Our ATS Pro template uses clean formatting designed to work with major ATS systems including Workday, Greenhouse, and Lever.