Skip to main content
Free resume exampleUpdated September 2026

🏥 Registered Nurse resume example

A registered nurse resume example built to pass hospital applicant tracking systems and still read well to a nurse manager. It uses standard section headings, a single column, and the exact clinical, EHR, and certification keywords found in RN job postings. Every bullet pairs a nursing action with a unit, a system, or a measurable patient outcome.

Free • Opens with the example filled in • Download as PDF after a free signup

This example contains 39 of 77 ATS keywords employers use for Registered Nurse roles.

Keywords come from the same dictionary the 22skills ATS checker scores against. Matched terms are shown in green.

Example resume

Fictional example. Name, employers and numbers are invented; the structure and keywords are real.

Emily Carter

Registered Nurse (RN) · ICU & Medical-Surgical

Denver, United States

About

Registered Nurse (RN) with 8 years of acute and community care experience across ICU, Medical-Surgical, and Home Health settings. Skilled in Patient Assessment, IV Therapy, and Medication Administration, with a record of cutting ICU readmissions and raising audit results during Joint Commission Standards reviews. Certified in ACLS and CCRN, charts daily in Epic and Cerner, and precepts new graduate nurses on a 24-bed unit.

Experience

  • Ridgeline Regional Medical Center· ICU Staff NurseDenver, CO2021-08 – Present
    • Deliver direct patient care for 4-5 acute ICU patients per 12-hour shift, including continuous Vital Signs Monitoring, IV Therapy, and ventilator management on a 24-bed unit.
    • Chart assessments and medication administration in Epic with 100% documentation compliance across quarterly Joint Commission audits.
    • Lead Rapid Response and Sepsis Protocol activations for the unit, cutting time to intervention from 18 minutes to under 8 minutes for early signs of deterioration.
    • Precept new graduate nurses through structured Team Preceptorship and rotate as charge nurse two shifts a week, coordinating a 10-person care team across the unit.
    • Coordinate Discharge Planning and Patient Education with case managers and families, reducing 30-day ICU readmissions 12% year over year.
  • Lakeside Community Hospital· Medical-Surgical Registered NurseAurora, CO2018-09 – 2021-07
    • Provided Med-Surg nursing care on a 32-bed unit, managing IV Therapy, wound care, and Pain Management for a caseload of 5-6 patients per shift.
    • Administered blood products and managed Blood Transfusion protocols per Standard Precautions and CMS Regulations, with zero transfusion reaction incidents across 3 years.
    • Charted in Cerner and reconciled medications using Pyxis MedStation, cutting medication administration errors 40% through a double-check workflow redesign.
    • Partnered with physicians and case managers on Care Coordination for medically complex patients and served on the unit's Quality Improvement council that redesigned the Fall Prevention protocol.
  • Fairhaven Home Health Services· Home Health Registered NurseDenver, CO2017-06 – 2018-08
    • Delivered home health visits to 15 to 20 medically complex patients a week, including wound care and catheter care in patients' homes.
    • Educated patients and family caregivers on Family Communication strategies and chronic disease self-management, improving 90-day care plan adherence to 85%.
    • Maintained HIPAA Compliance and documented visits on a mobile EHR, completing same-day charting for 100% of scheduled visits.

Education

  • University of Colorado Denver· B.S. in Nursing (BSN)Nursing2014-08 – 2018-05

    Clinical rotations in medical-surgical, critical care, and obstetrics. Member of the Student Nurses Association.

Certifications

  • RN License · Colorado Board of Nursing (2018)
  • BLS (Basic Life Support) · American Heart Association (2025)
  • ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support) · American Heart Association (2025)
  • CCRN (Critical Care Registered Nurse) · American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (2023)

Why this example passes the ATS

  • The headline and summary name the license, the unit type, and the top clinical skills in the first three lines, where hospital ATS filters and unit managers both look first.
  • Skills are grouped into clinical, EHR, specialty, compliance, and soft-skill categories with exact ATS phrasing such as "ICU (Intensive Care Unit)", "HIPAA Compliance", and "Vital Signs Monitoring".
  • The certifications section spells out both the acronym and the full name, for example "CCRN (Critical Care Registered Nurse)", so the resume matches ATS searches for either form.
  • EHR platforms are named explicitly ("Epic", "Cerner", "Pyxis MedStation") instead of a vague "EHR experience" line, which is one of the most common gaps in nursing resumes.
  • Each bullet includes a number: patient ratio, response time, error reduction, or readmission rate, so a recruiter can see scope and impact at a glance.

Registered Nurse ATS keywords in this example

Grouped the way the checker groups them. Green terms appear in the example above; grey ones are in the dictionary but not used here.

Clinical Skills

11/15
  • Patient Assessment
  • Medication Administration
  • IV Therapy
  • Wound Care
  • Vital Signs Monitoring
  • Catheter Care
  • Blood Transfusion
  • Pain Management
  • Patient Education
  • Discharge Planning
  • Care Coordination
  • Phlebotomy
  • Tracheostomy Care
  • Nasogastric Tube Management
  • Chest Tube Management

Certifications & Licenses

4/12
  • RN License
  • BLS (Basic Life Support)
  • ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support)
  • CCRN (Critical Care Registered Nurse)
  • PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support)
  • NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation Program)
  • CEN (Certified Emergency Nurse)
  • CNOR (Certified Perioperative Nurse)
  • CMSRN
  • OCN (Oncology Certified Nurse)
  • TNCC (Trauma Nursing Core Course)
  • NIHSS Certification

EHR & Clinical Systems

3/11
  • Epic
  • Cerner
  • Pyxis MedStation
  • Meditech
  • Allscripts
  • McKesson
  • PointClickCare
  • Omnicell
  • Dragon Medical
  • CPOE (Computerized Physician Order Entry)
  • Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR)

Nursing Specialties

4/14
  • ICU (Intensive Care Unit)
  • Medical-Surgical (Med-Surg)
  • Telemetry
  • Home Health
  • Emergency Room (ER)
  • Labor and Delivery (L&D)
  • Neonatal ICU (NICU)
  • Pediatrics
  • Oncology
  • Orthopedics
  • Operating Room (OR)
  • Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)
  • Step-Down Unit
  • Long-Term Care

Compliance & Quality

10/14
  • HIPAA Compliance
  • Joint Commission Standards
  • CMS Regulations
  • Infection Control
  • Standard Precautions
  • Fall Prevention
  • Sepsis Protocol
  • Rapid Response
  • Quality Improvement
  • Patient Safety
  • Pressure Injury Prevention
  • Evidence-Based Practice
  • Adverse Event Reporting
  • Nurse-to-Patient Ratio

Soft Skills & Leadership

7/11
  • Critical Thinking
  • Clinical Judgment
  • Compassionate Care
  • Team Preceptorship
  • Time Management
  • Patient Advocacy
  • Family Communication
  • Interdisciplinary Collaboration
  • Charge Nurse Experience
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Cultural Competency

How to adapt this example to your own experience

  1. 1Swap in the EHR systems, unit type, and certifications from your own hospital and license state, keeping the same grouped skills layout.
  2. 2Keep your current or most recent unit longest, with 4-5 bullets, and shorten earlier roles to 3-4 bullets.
  3. 3Turn duties into results: patient-to-nurse ratio, response times, readmission or infection rates, and any process you improved.
  4. 4List your RN license and BLS/ACLS status near the top of certifications, since many hospital ATS configurations filter applicants who are missing them.
  5. 5Match the specialty language in the job posting exactly, for example "Medical-Surgical (Med-Surg)" versus "Telemetry", since ATS keyword matching is literal.

Questions about the Registered Nurse resume

What keywords should a registered nurse resume include for ATS?

Name your RN license, BLS/ACLS certifications, the EHR systems you have charted in (Epic, Cerner, Meditech), your unit specialty (ICU, Med-Surg, Telemetry), and compliance terms like HIPAA Compliance and Joint Commission Standards. These are the terms hospital ATS platforms filter on most often.

Should I list every clinical skill I have ever performed?

No. List the skills the job posting emphasizes and the ones you use regularly, grouped by category. A focused list of 18 to 22 skills that matches the posting reads better to both the ATS and the hiring manager than a long, generic list.

How do I show patient care impact without breaking patient privacy?

Use aggregate numbers instead of case details: patient-to-nurse ratios, readmission rate changes, response times, or error reductions. Never include identifiable patient information on a resume.

Is this resume format compatible with hospital systems like Workday and Taleo?

Yes. It uses a single column, standard headings (Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications), and plain text bullets, which is what parsers in Workday, Taleo, and iCIMS read reliably. Save it as a text-based PDF, not a scanned image or a heavily designed template.

Next steps for your Registered Nurse resume

Check your resume against a Registered Nurse job description

Paste a job posting and see which of these keywords your resume is missing. Free, no signup.

All Registered Nurse ATS keywords

The full dictionary by category, with tips on where to place each term.

Start from a blank resume instead

The same free builder without the example content.

More resume examples

💻Software Engineer📊Data Scientist🎯Product Manager🎨Frontend Developer⚙️Backend Developer🔄Full-Stack Developer🚀DevOps Engineer📈Data Analyst✏️UX Designer📋Project Manager📣Marketing Manager💼Sales Manager🧾Accountant🎓Teacher📊Financial Analyst👥HR Manager⚙️Operations Manager⚙️Engineer

Make this Registered Nurse resume yours

Open the example in the free builder, replace the details, and download an ATS-safe PDF. No credit card.