Resume template · Updated October 2026
Registered nurse resume template
Short answer
Use Henrietta: a plain, conventional layout that prints education straight after your jobs and fits short clinical skills into a three-column grid. Every Resumity template prints certifications near the end, so the sample puts "RN, BSN" in the headline and names the state license in the summary. The fictional sample is a med-surg nurse with two hospital jobs. Download it as PDF or Word, or edit it in the builder.
Download the registered nurse sample
Morgan is a fictional registered nurse. Replace every detail with your own before you send it.
The files are made in your browser by Resumity's own exporters, from this sample. The builder opens it as your own resume: click any line to replace it. Free plan, no watermark.
Why Henrietta suits a registered nurse resume
Henrietta is a conventional single-column layout, which is what most hospital recruiters expect. It prints education right after work experience, so the BSN is not pushed below a long skills list, and its three-column skills grid fits the many short clinical skills a nurse lists.
Second choice: Meridian. Meridian uses no colour, so it prints and photocopies cleanly, and it puts skills above experience if your unit skills matter more than your job history.
What goes in each section, in Henrietta's order
Henrietta prints its sections in a fixed order, the same in the PDF and the Word file. Here is that order for this sample, and what to put in each section.
- Professional Summary. Start with your license: "Registered nurse licensed in Ohio", then your unit type, years and usual patient load. Certifications print near the end, so this line is where a screener first sees the license.
- Work Experience. Most recent job first. Put the unit and bed count in the job title line ("Registered Nurse, Medical-Surgical Unit") and one result per bullet.
- Education. BSN or ADN with the school and graduation date. New graduates can add clinical rotations as an extra section instead of an older job.
- Skills. Procedures, monitoring and equipment you have used, plus the EHR system by name. Henrietta shows them as a grid without group labels, so list the most important first.
- Certifications. State license with expiry, then BLS, ACLS and any specialty certification such as CCRN or CMSRN, each with the issuing body.
The sample resume as text
The same content as the files above, so you can copy a line or compare it with your own.
Morgan Ellis
Registered Nurse, RN, BSN
Columbus, OH | morgan.ellis@example.com | (614) 555-0147 | linkedin.com/in/sample-morgan-ellis
Registered nurse licensed in Ohio, with four years on an adult medical-surgical unit caring for five to six patients per shift. Known for clear discharge teaching and steady charting under pressure.
Experience
Registered Nurse, Medical-Surgical Unit, Riverbend General Hospital, Columbus, OH (06/2022 to Present)
- Care for five to six adult patients per twelve-hour shift on a 32-bed med-surg unit, including post-operative and diabetic patients.
- Led the unit fall-prevention huddle for a year; the unit logged fewer falls in the second half of the project than in the first.
- Rewrote the discharge teaching checklist with two colleagues so patients leave with one page of plain-language instructions.
- Precepted three new graduate nurses through their twelve-week orientation.
Registered Nurse, Telemetry, Lakeside Community Medical Center, Dayton, OH (07/2020 to 05/2022)
- Monitored cardiac rhythms for up to four telemetry patients and escalated changes to the rapid response team.
- Administered and documented medications in Epic, including IV infusions and insulin drips per protocol.
- Served on the unit infection-control committee and audited hand hygiene monthly.
Education
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Ohio Valley University (05/2020)
Certifications
- Registered Nurse License, Ohio Board of Nursing, Ohio Board of Nursing (Expires 10/2027)
- Basic Life Support (BLS), American Heart Association (2026)
- Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), American Heart Association (2026)
Skills
Patient assessment, IV therapy, Medication administration, Telemetry monitoring, Wound care, Discharge planning, Epic EHR, Pyxis MedStation, Infusion pumps, Patient education, Calm under pressure, Team communication
How to make the sample yours
Put your own license in the summary and certifications
Replace the Ohio license with your state, license type and expiry. Leave the license number off unless the posting asks for it; many employers verify it themselves.
Name the unit and patient load in each job
Change "Med-surg, 32 beds" to your own unit. A recruiter hiring for ICU or telemetry reads that line first to see whether your experience transfers.
Swap in the EHR you actually used
The sample lists Epic. If you charted in Cerner, Meditech or another system, write that one: hiring teams often search for the exact system name.
Keep the bullets about what you did, not duties
The sample bullets describe one result each: fewer falls, faster discharge teaching, a precepted new hire. Rewrite them with your own real numbers or drop the number.
Cut the second job if you are a new graduate
New graduates can replace the older job with clinical rotations, listing the unit and hours of each placement.
Keywords to keep where they are true
Terms this kind of resume is usually searched for. Use the posting's exact wording, and only for work you have done.
- Registered Nurse (RN)
- BLS
- ACLS
- patient assessment
- medication administration
- care plans
- Epic EHR
- patient education
- discharge planning
- telemetry
- infection control
- interdisciplinary team
Mistakes to avoid
- Listing every nursing task you were trained in. Keep the ones the posting asks for.
- Mentioning the license only in the certifications list at the end, where a screener may not reach it.
- Patient names, room numbers or any detail that could identify a patient, even in a sample bullet.
- A two-column design: some text extractors read columns out of order.
How the sample PDF reads in text extractors
We exported this sample with Resumity's PDF exporter in Chrome on 2026-10-29 and read the file back with three open-source text extractors. This shows whether software that turns a PDF into text can recover it; it is not a test of any commercial applicant tracking system. How we test templates.
| Extractor | Name, email, phone | Headings | Bullets intact |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdf.js 4.10.38 | All found | 5 of 5 | 7 of 7 |
| pdftotext (Xpdf) 4.00 | All found | 5 of 5 | 7 of 7 |
| pypdf 6.13.0 | All found | 5 of 5 | 7 of 7 |
Frequently asked questions
Should a nursing resume be one page?
One page is enough for most nurses with under ten years of experience. Add a second page only for extra units, certifications or leadership roles a reader would miss.
Where do I put my nursing license on a resume?
In a licenses and certifications section near the top, after the summary. Write the state, the license type and the expiry date.
Can I open this nurse resume template in Word?
Yes. The DOCX file opens in Microsoft Word, and Google Docs and LibreOffice can import it. The PDF is for sending once you have finished editing.
Is the person in the sample real?
No. Morgan Ellis, both hospitals and the license line are made up. The sample shows the layout; every detail should be replaced with yours.
Will applicant tracking systems read this Henrietta PDF?
The sample PDF read back with its contact details, all 5 section headings and all 7 bullets intact in three open-source text extractors (pdf.js, pdftotext and pypdf). Commercial systems such as Workday, Greenhouse or Taleo were not tested, and each employer configures its own.
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