Elizabeth Openshaw 
Transform your nursing CV with our top tips!
It's the end of your nursing shift. You've been on your feet all day, barely had time to have a cup of tea, let alone a bite of a sandwich. Lunch break? What's that? Yet you've helped and cared for so many people along the way, giving them hope, and raising a smile when they might not have felt like it. You're dedicated to your career, but you fancy a change of scenery…
Is it time to give your nursing CV a refresh?
Whether you're interested in changing roles, looking for your first job, or are returning to work after a break, an up-to-date and professional nursing CV is a must-have. It's worth updating your nursing CV even if you're not looking for a job right now as you never know when the mood might take you.
So how do you ensure your CV stands out? You might have a perfectly good one, but if it's not getting you anywhere, it could be missing some key elements. Are you showcasing the right strengths? How do you effectively showcase your skills?
Make your nursing CV stand out – 5 expert tips
If you're feeling unsure about how to write a nursing CV, or don't know what to include, don't worry, we have the answers for you. Here are some helpful tips and advice to upgrade your nursing CV into a compelling document that maximises your chances of securing an interview:
1. Keep it clear and logical
One of the most important pieces of CV advice out there is to keep your document clear, concise, and easily readable. It's important to achieve a balance of providing enough relevant information about your education, training, skills, and experience whilst keeping it succinct and within the standard two pages.
Some useful tips on how to do this include:
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Using bullet points to list skills and experience
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Using subheadings to break up the text
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Listing your work history in reverse chronological order so your most recent role is the first thing that a hiring manager will see
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Removing unnecessary words, such as superfluous adverbs and adjectives, that can be viewed as “filler words”
Top tip: Opting for a clean and clear look is the way to go, so avoid fussy templates that contain charts and images as they can distract the HR Manager from focusing on your achievements and skills.
2. Include relevant training placements
If you've recently graduated, or have limited nursing experience, it's a good idea to add your practical training, certificates, and placements on your CV. Under an Education and Training section, detail where and when you received your professional qualifications and highlight any relevant placements, writing a brief summary of the work undertaken.
For nurses with a long work history, it's still worth including where and when you received your qualifications on your nursing CV, but there's no need to put any dates.
Top tip: For any positions that you held over 10 years ago, a summary will suffice. There's no need for extensive detail here, so just include your job title and the hospital or practice name.
3. Incorporate your nursing philosophy
The difference between an average CV and an exceptional one doesn't necessarily come down to the number of years of experience the applicant has or the grades they achieved. An exceptional CV offers the HR Manager a personal glimpse into the unique values of the applicant, and demonstrates how these values have influenced their experience.
A simple way to stand out from the pack, and showcase what you're about on your nursing CV, is to highlight your nursing philosophy or special interests in your personal statement.
Your nursing philosophy can be one or two sentences that outlines your perspective, values, and ethics surrounding the care of patients, as well as the motivational factors that drove you to join the nursing profession. Including your philosophy will help to individualise your nursing CV, making it more memorable and stand out in the mind of the hiring manager.
Top tip: Keep it concise and to the point. For example, “Offers value to patients and the nursing profession with a passion for developing robust clinical skills and being open to new opportunities to learn and grow in order to contribute to the well-being of patients and the further development of the profession.”
4. Use action words
After listing all of your skills and experience on your nursing CV, it's important to demonstrate how you put those skills into practice. The work experience section of your nursing CV is the ideal place to do this. Rather than simply listing previous duties and responsibilities, use action words to validate how you've applied your skills within the workplace. Action words are verbs that grab the attention of the reader, and promote a sense of proactivity and initiative, such as “achieved,” “established,” or “implemented.”
For example, instead of saying, “Followed workplace procedures and regulations,” you could say, “Maintained a safe and caring environment by adhering to workplace safety procedures, rules, and regulations.” It's a small difference that can have a huge impact on your CV, bringing it to life and showing you in the best light possible.
Top tip: Try to avoid overusing the same words throughout your CV, such as “managing,” “developing,” or “providing.” Instead, get those grey cells working by coming up with alternatives such as “orchestrating,” “enhancing,” and “shaping.”
5. Ensure it's ATS-friendly
If you haven't heard of ATS, it's time to be enlightened. It stands for applicant tracking systems, and is a software that tracks candidates through the recruitment and hiring process. It's also used for parsing CVs, which means the ATS will “read” your CV, scoring it on different sets of elements. If your nursing CV doesn't comply with its rules, your CV could be rejected without it being even seen by a human.
To prevent this from happening, ensure your CV:
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Includes relevant keywords
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Is formatted correctly
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Has an Education section
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Doesn't contain logos, images, tables, or boxes
Top tip: For more information on this lengthy subject, check out TopCV's blog on applicant tracking systems where there is more detail on what to do.
Bonus tip: tailor it to the job you're applying for
This is a worthwhile bonus tip to adhere to. Customising your nursing CV shows that you've taken the time and effort to produce a solid job application, rather than firing off the same CV 10 times over.
While some of the roles you go for might require an application form, as opposed to a CV, it's worth having a CV on hand because you can use a lot of the information there within an application form.
Top tip: Only use information from your CV in the application form if the job advert only requires one. Otherwise you'll be duplicating the information, and that won't go down at all well.
Which strengths should I include in my nursing CV?
Include both hard and soft skills, with tangible evidence that shows your experience and knowledge. It really is time to show and tell here.
Hard skills for a nursing CV include patient care planning, wound care management, medication administration, clinical assessments, emergency response, and infection control, plus any specialised services.
For soft skills, you can include compassion, empathy, problem resolution, resilience, and effective communication.
Nursing CV example
While it's all well and good writing about what to include in your nursing CV, it's a better idea to have a look at a nurse CV sample, so you can get an idea of what a great nursing CV should look like. 
Update your nursing CV with confidence
Drafting a nursing CV might sometimes feel like a game of trial and error – you try it one way, and if that doesn't work, you re-jig it and try again. Fortunately, there's a way to take the guesswork out of it, presenting a polished, tailored, and professional CV each time you apply for a new role by following the advice above.
Remember to:
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Keep your CV clear and logical
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Include relevant qualifications and training details
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Insert action verbs to make your CV stand out
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Incorporate your nursing philosophy
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Align it to ATS
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Customise your CV every time you apply for a different position
Learn more about working with a professional CV writer from TopCV, and improve your chances of landing a new nursing job. Or, try out our free CV review to give your application the best chance of success.
This article was originally written by Rikki Wimmer and has been updated by Elizabeth Openshaw.