ER Nurse Resume Example & Template W/ Responsibilities

What to highlight in an ER nurse resume

An ER nurse is often working an even more stressful job than other nurses in hospital. While all healthcare jobs require a high level of talent, working as an ER nurse comes with critical judgement and the ability to correctly make decisions that may be the difference between life and death. To make your resume really shine, you need to show off those skills. Here’s how you can use an accident and emergency room nurse resume example to create your own high-quality resume.

A strong resume for nurses working in the emergency department needs to feature your ability to manage stress and make split-second decisions for patient needs while in emergency situations. General medical knowledge is certainly important, and your nursing license should prove that you have that general knowledge. If you want to shine in your ER nurse resume, then you need to showcase instead strong interpersonal skills as well as the ability to make quick, accurate decisions.

How to write an ER nurse resume

One of the most important elements that impact the structure of any resume is your resume format. Most nurses will use the chronological resume format, which emphasizes your professional experience. However, the functional resume and combination resume formats, which place more emphasis on skills, can be effective as well. No matter what resume template you choose, here are the sections you’ll need to think about:

Header

The resume header is part of the resume design. It includes your full name, contact information, and your professional portfolio links (if available).

Professional Summary or Career Objective

The first official section on any resume is your professional summary or career resume objective statement. This short paragraph, only two to three sentences, gives a hiring manager a general overview of your strengths and top achievements.

Skills

Your ER nurse skills section will have a wide array of options. Some good skills for a resume often highlighted for a ER nurse job include:

• General patient care and nursing care
• Triage
• Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
• Basic Life Support (BLS)
• Critical care and acute care for patients in distress
• Monitoring patient condition and vital signs
• Creating care plans and treatment plans
• Maintaining ICU information
• Pediatric care
• Inserting catheters
• Ordering and reading diagnostic tests
• Decision-making skills
• Working with a healthcare team
• Deciding on interventions
• Keeping track of medical procedures and medical records
• Interpersonal skills
• Talking to family members
• Communication skills
• Pain management
• Patient assessment processes
• Telemetry

For this position, a mix of hard skills (technical skills such as maintaining ICU information) and soft skills (intangible traits, such as communication skills) is required, so include both in your resume.

Work History

Your work experience section is all about where you’ve worked before and what you did for them. If you’re applying to be an ER nurse, then try to include as many emergency care experiences as possible, whether your job title specifically noted emergency care needs or not.

Education

In your education section, include your nursing education and license; if you’re a registered nurse, for example, then include that here. You can also include any other certifications that you might have received, like the Trauma Nursing Core Course (TNCC).