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Use professional field-tested resume templates that follow the exact CV rules employers look for.
Create CVHealthcare organizations receive thousands of applications for nursing roles every year. Hospitals, clinics, and healthcare systems rely heavily on Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to manage this volume. These systems automatically scan resumes, identify nursing qualifications, and rank candidates based on job description relevance.
An ATS friendly Registered Nurse (RN) CV ensures your experience, certifications, and clinical skills are accurately parsed by the system so your profile appears in recruiter searches. Without ATS optimization, even highly qualified nurses can be filtered out before a hiring manager reviews their application.
This guide explains how to build an ATS optimized Registered Nurse CV template, including the correct formatting, essential nursing keywords, structured resume sections, and strategies to highlight clinical experience in ways that both ATS software and healthcare recruiters understand.
Hospitals and healthcare organizations often use ATS platforms such as Workday, Taleo, iCIMS, and Greenhouse to manage recruitment. These systems scan resumes and convert them into structured candidate profiles.
ATS algorithms evaluate nursing CVs based on factors such as:
presence of relevant nursing certifications
clinical specialties and experience areas
job titles and hospital experience
clinical skills and patient care competencies
healthcare keywords matching job descriptions
The system then ranks candidates according to how closely their resume matches the role requirements.
ATS resume parsing tools analyze the structure and wording of a CV to extract specific information.
Typical extracted fields include:
An ATS compatible nursing CV follows formatting and structural rules that help automated systems read the document correctly.
To ensure ATS compatibility, nursing resumes should follow these guidelines:
use a single-column layout
avoid graphics, icons, or images
avoid tables and text boxes
use standard fonts like Arial or Calibri
maintain consistent section headings
save files as .docx or simple PDF
Simple formatting improves parsing accuracy and ensures clinical information is extracted correctly.
Below is a structured ATS optimized Registered Nurse CV template designed for hospital recruitment systems.
Full Name
City, State / Country
Phone Number
Professional Email Address
LinkedIn Profile (optional)
Avoid placing contact details in headers or footers, as some ATS platforms cannot read those areas.
The summary should highlight clinical experience, nursing specialties, and patient care expertise.
Example:
Compassionate Registered Nurse with 7+ years of experience providing high-quality patient care in fast-paced hospital environments. Skilled in patient assessment, medication administration, care coordination, and electronic health record documentation. Proven ability to support multidisciplinary healthcare teams and deliver patient-centered care while maintaining strict clinical compliance.
This summary integrates keywords that ATS systems often search for in nursing roles.
candidate name and contact details
job titles (Registered Nurse, ICU Nurse, Staff Nurse)
healthcare employers and hospitals
clinical specialties
nursing certifications and licenses
education and nursing degrees
If the resume uses complex formatting like tables, graphics, or columns, the ATS may misread sections and fail to capture important qualifications such as RN licensure or BLS certification.
Healthcare recruiters expect a clear resume structure.
Typical sections include:
Contact Information
Professional Summary
Nursing Skills and Clinical Competencies
Professional Nursing Experience
Certifications and Licenses
Education
Healthcare Technology and Systems
These sections help ATS systems categorize information properly.
The skills section helps ATS systems quickly identify relevant clinical competencies.
Examples include:
patient assessment
medication administration
care plan development
infection control protocols
clinical documentation
patient education
vital sign monitoring
wound care management
IV therapy
discharge planning
Including these nursing competencies improves ATS matching with healthcare job postings.
Experienced nurses may also include specialized skills such as:
critical care nursing
emergency triage
pediatric patient care
telemetry monitoring
oncology nursing
perioperative care
These skills signal specialization within nursing practice.
The Professional Experience section is the most important part of a nursing CV. ATS systems analyze job titles, employers, and experience relevance in this section.
Each job should follow a consistent structure:
Job Title
Hospital / Healthcare Organization
Location
Employment Dates
Followed by bullet points describing achievements and responsibilities.
Example:
Registered Nurse
City General Hospital
Rotterdam, Netherlands
2020 – Present
Provide direct patient care to medical-surgical patients in a 30-bed hospital unit.
Perform patient assessments and administer medications in accordance with physician orders.
Monitor vital signs and respond to changes in patient conditions.
Collaborate with multidisciplinary healthcare teams to coordinate patient care plans.
Many nursing resumes list responsibilities but fail to highlight impact.
Strong bullet points should include measurable contributions when possible.
Examples:
managed care for up to 10 patients per shift in a high-acuity medical unit
reduced medication errors through improved documentation practices
improved patient satisfaction scores through enhanced communication
Quantifiable contributions demonstrate effectiveness in patient care.
Keyword optimization is essential because ATS platforms often filter candidates based on healthcare terminology.
Important keywords include:
patient care
clinical assessment
medication administration
care coordination
patient safety
clinical documentation
electronic health records
These terms appear frequently in hospital job descriptions.
Depending on the role, ATS systems may also search for:
ICU nursing
emergency department nursing
pediatric nursing
telemetry monitoring
surgical nursing
Including specialty keywords helps the resume match more specific nursing roles.
Many qualified nurses unknowingly create resumes that fail automated screening systems.
Creative resumes containing graphics or visual layouts often cause parsing errors.
Problematic design features include:
multi-column layouts
icons representing skills
charts or infographics
colored design elements
These features may prevent ATS systems from recognizing key qualifications.
Nursing resumes must clearly list certifications and licenses such as:
Registered Nurse (RN) license
Basic Life Support (BLS)
Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
If certifications are missing or buried in text, ATS systems may not detect them.
Avoid vague statements such as:
Responsible for patient care.
Instead write:
Provided direct patient care including medication administration, patient monitoring, and care plan implementation.
Specific wording improves keyword matching.
Healthcare employers often filter candidates based on certification requirements.
Common certifications include:
Registered Nurse (RN) License
Basic Life Support (BLS)
Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN)
These credentials should appear in a dedicated Certifications and Licenses section.
Example format:
Certifications and Licenses
Registered Nurse (RN) License – State Board of Nursing
Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification
Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
This format allows ATS systems to easily detect certifications.
Modern hospitals rely heavily on healthcare technology and electronic systems.
Listing healthcare technologies improves ATS keyword matching.
Examples include:
Epic Electronic Health Records
Cerner EHR
Meditech
Allscripts
Including EHR experience signals familiarity with digital patient record systems.
Nurses may also list experience with:
patient monitoring systems
IV pumps
ventilators
telemetry equipment
These details highlight clinical competency in modern healthcare environments.
The Professional Summary should clearly communicate nursing experience and specialties.
Registered Nurse with 9+ years of experience delivering patient-centered care in high-acuity hospital settings. Skilled in clinical assessment, medication administration, and interdisciplinary care coordination. Experienced in managing complex patient cases while maintaining strict compliance with healthcare regulations and patient safety protocols.
This summary integrates key nursing keywords used in healthcare recruitment systems.
Strong verbs improve both ATS recognition and recruiter engagement.
Effective nursing action verbs include:
administered
assessed
monitored
coordinated
supported
evaluated
documented
implemented
These verbs highlight clinical responsibilities clearly.
Below is a simplified ATS compatible nursing resume structure.
Name
City, State / Country
Phone | Email | LinkedIn
Professional Summary
Brief paragraph describing nursing experience and specialties.
Core Skills
Patient Care | Clinical Assessment | Medication Administration | Care Coordination | Electronic Health Records | Patient Education
Professional Experience
Registered Nurse
Hospital Name | Location | Dates
Provided patient care in a medical-surgical unit.
Administered medications and monitored patient conditions.
Collaborated with physicians and healthcare teams to implement care plans.
Staff Nurse
Healthcare Facility | Location | Dates
Assisted with patient monitoring and clinical documentation.
Educated patients and families regarding treatment plans.
Education
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
University Name
Certifications
Registered Nurse (RN) License
Basic Life Support (BLS)
Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
Skills
Epic EHR | Patient Monitoring | Wound Care | IV Therapy
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