Best Nurse Practitioner Resume Examples + Writing Guide
As a nurse practitioner, there are many things you can do in the medical field. How do you showcase that in your resume?
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Nurse Practitioner Resume Example
As a nurse practitioner, you can provide a variety of types of primary care for different people. This may include assessing patient needs, ordering and interpreting tests and diagnostics, and even prescribing treatment plans. With such an important role as helping people stay healthy, a hiring manager wants to know your skills before they can offer you the job. If you’re looking to make sure that your stellar patient care shines through in your resume, then here’s what you need to know.
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What To Highlight in a Nurse Practitioner Resume
Typically, a hiring manager is going to want to see work experience in your particular niche, such as pediatric or geriatric care, the necessary certifications to work in healthcare and your specific job title. A Registered Nurse (RN) and a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) can be very slightly different providers, and identifying your specific speciality on your resume is important. Refer to the job description to confirm it’s the nurse practitioner job you are looking for.
Build my resumeStructure of a Nurse Practitioner Resume
Your resume structure will depend on what resume format you choose. You may choose between the chronological resume which emphasizes work history, the functional resume which emphasizes skills and the combination resume which emphasizes both. Regardless of the format, the headings will be as follows:
Header
The first part of any resume is the resume header. This includes your name, phone number, email address and job networking profile links. As a nurse, you can feature whatever letters after your name signify your title, such as “Lindsay Dunn, FNP.” This immediately tells the hiring manager what your job title is, which can save them some time in searching through your resume.
Resume Summary or Objective
The next section features your resume summary or resume objective. This goes at the very top of your resume and typically consists of two to three sentences that quickly discuss your years of experience and most important skills. Essentially, if you only had one paragraph to argue for the new job, what would you want to say to impress a hiring manager? That’s what your resume summary should say.
Skills
Your skills section tells the hiring manager what you will do and how you will fit in as part of a healthcare team. Here are a few skills to consider including in your nurse practitioner resume:
- Charting
- Managing Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
- Basic Life Support (BLS)
- Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
- Ability to use common interventions
- Acute care/First aid/Critical care
- Knowledge of diagnostic tests
- Interpretation of test results
- Communication skills
- Inpatient and outpatient care information
- X-rays and other screenings
- Knowledge of medical conditions
- Ability to do physical examinations
- Knowledge of chronic illnesses
- Patient education and preventative care
- Creating care plans
- Helping with follow-up care
As you can see, this includes both soft skills and hard skills. Some hard skills, such as performing physical exams, can benefit from your soft skills like good patient communication . Reflect the skills that you really think you’re good at and the skills that the job is requiring a candidate to possess.
Work History
This section includes your relevant experience. Every professional resume needs this section, regardless of years of experience working in the medical field. If you’re lacking work experience, list your academic, internship and volunteer experience.
Education
This section shows that you have the educational requirements to work in the healthcare field in the United States. A Certified Nurse Practitioner will have a Bachelor of Science in Nursing or may even have a Master of Science in Nursing. Your college experience is extremely important and you can also list memberships, such as the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).
Do’s and Don’ts for a Nurse Practitioner Resume
- Have referrals available. Most nurse practitioners will need to provide resume references at some point in the job search process. It’s a good idea to be prepared ahead of time.
- Pay attention to the resume writing process. You need to be able to showcase why you are the best candidate for this job.
- List up to ten years of relevant experience. A great track record shows that you care about this industry and want to stay in it.
- Say that references are available by request. The hiring manager knows of this fact.
- Talk poorly about previous locations where you worked. Even if you were unhappy working at a specific hospital or medical practice, remain focused on only discussing your job role and responsibilities.
- List skills you’re not confident in. There are so many skills required to be a nurse; you should only be listing the skills that you excel in performing.
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FAQ: Nurse Practitioner Resumes
Have questions? We’re here to help.
Do I need to include a cover letter for a nurse practitioner application?
Yes. You can use the nurse practitioner cover letter example from ResumeHelp to create a great cover letter, especially if you’re not confident in your cover letter writing. A cover letter allows you to express exactly what sets you apart from other job seekers. If you’re still a student, be sure to check our Nursing Student Cover Letter guide.
How can I write a nurse practitioner resume without a lot of experience?
There are many ways to modify a resume if you don’t have a lot of experience in the field. For nurse practitioners, highlight academic and volunteer work that you’ve already done. Even though it wasn’t paid, it still counts as work experience.
How do I change my nurse practitioner resume to apply to different jobs?
The perfect resume will change based on the specific job requirements. In addition to following a nurse practitioner resume example, useResumeHelp to learn how to parse resume keywords and ensure that your resume is directly targeted to a specific application.
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