Are you ready to lead your own nursing team?
You might have what it takes to run the daily operations on the ward, but this is an important position, and you need to prove this on your resume.
To help you do this, we’ve created a step-by-step writing guide, complete with a director of nursing resume example to inspire you.
Contents
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Director of Nursing Resume Example
This example Director of Nursing resume provides you with a general idea of how your resume should look, and what information recruiters expect to see.
The rest of this guide will explain how to layout your resume and create each section effectively.
Director of Nursing resume layout and format
When it comes to holding the attention of recruiting managers, the format and layout of your resume play a key role.
Your resume needs to strike a perfect balance between looking awesome, and being easy for recruiters to read (which is not always easy to achieve)
Use the following formatting tips to get started.
Formatting your resume for success
- Length: Attention spans in recruitment are notoriously short, so keep your resume short and sweet. There’s no exact rule for resume length, but aim for 2 pages or less if you want to ensure yours gets read in full.
- Font & readability: The key to a good resume is readability. To make your resume easy to read, use a clear and uncomplicated font, and break up the text with bullet points and short paragraphs.
- Layout & Structure: Go with a resume design that looks good, but also allows for easy reading and navigation for employers. Ensure the page is clearly split up into sections by adding large font headings and dividing borders. Keep the color scheme simple and don’t overcrowd the page.
- Photos: Although it is not compulsory to include a photo in your resume in the USA, it can be advantageous if you are applying to companies in creative industries.
Quick tip: Achieving a professional look for your resume can be difficult and time-consuming. If you want to create an attractive resume quickly, try our quick-and-easy Resume Builder and use one of their eye-catching resume templates.
Resume layout
Here’s an overview of the sections you should add when writing your resume.
- Name and contact details – Stick these details at the top, so they are easy to find.
- Resume summary – A punchy paragraph summarizing your skills and knowledge, enticing recruiters to read more of your resume.
- Skills section – Short list of your most valuable skills, enabling recruiters to quickly spot your suitability.
- Work experience – Showcase your previous employment, starting with your most recent roe and working backwards – voluntary work and college placements can be included if you have no paid experience.
- Education – A summary of your most relevant qualifications and academic achievements
- Additional info – An optional section for that other attributes that may boost your application, such as hobbies or clubs
Here’s what to include in each part of your resume.
Contact Details
Keep your contact details short to save resume space and include the following.
- Name and profession title
- Cell phone number
- Location – Add your local area such as Silicon Valley or New York, unless you are looking for work in a different location
- Email address – Keep it professional and don’t use an old address that you thought was cool in high school, but now looks a bit embarrassing.
You can add a link to your LinkedIn profile if you have one – you do not need to include personal details like date of birth or marital status.
Director of Nursing Resume Summary
Start your resume with a bang by adding a powerful summary to the top, summarizing your most valuable skills and experience.
This short paragraph is your chance to show recruiters why you are a perfect fit for the job and encourage them to read more of your resume.
How to create a resume summary that will get you noticed:
- Keep it short: Attention spans are short in the job market, so keep your summary brief and high-level at around 4-7 lines – This is just enough to catch the eye of rushed hiring managers.
- Tailor to target jobs: Recruiters will be scanning for the skills and knowledge they mentioned in the job description, so add as many as you can to your summary.
- Avoid using cliches: Recruiters always see cringey cliches like “hardworking guru who works well in a team or individually” – they don’t mean much to anyone, so focus your summary on tangible skills and experience.
Example resume summary for Director of Nursing
What to include in your Director of Nursing resume summary?
- Summary of experience: What kind of companies have you worked for in the past? And which jobs have you carried out?
- Relevant skills: Scatter your most in-demand Director of Nursing skills through your summary to ensure they are noticed quickly by hiring managers.
- Qualifications: Any qualifications that are important to the Director of Nursing jobs you are applying for, should be mentioned in the summary.
Quick tip: Choose from hundreds of pre-written summaries across all industries, and add one to your resume with one-click in our quick-and-easy Resume Builder. All written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset and style.
Core skills section
Next, you should create a bullet pointed list of your core skills, formatted into 2-3 columns.
Here, you should focus on including the most important skills or knowledge listed in the job advertisement.
This will instantly prove that you’re an ideal candidate, even if a recruiter only has time to briefly scan your resume.
Best skills for your Director of Nursing resume
Nursing Leadership – Leading, managing, and supervising nursing staff, including hiring, training, and evaluating their performance.
Clinical Management – Managing clinical services, including assessing and planning patient care, coordinating and directing nursing care, and evaluating patient outcomes.
Regulatory Compliance – Maintaining detailed knowledge of healthcare regulations and accreditation requirements, including developing policies and procedures to ensure compliance.
Budget Management – Managing departmental budgets, including tracking expenses, forecasting revenues, and ensuring that resources are allocated effectively.
Staff Development – Developing and implementing educational programs that enhance the knowledge and skills of nursing staff.
Quality Improvement – Developing and implementing quality improvement initiatives that enhance patient care, including identifying opportunities for improvement, developing metrics to measure success, and implementing evidence-based practices.
Risk Management – Identifying and mitigating risks associated with patient care, including conducting risk assessments, developing risk management plans, and implementing corrective actions.
Cross-Functional Communication – Communicating effectively with nursing staff, patients, families, and other healthcare providers, including active listening, conflict resolution, and effective delegation.
Data Analysis – Collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data related to patient care, including developing reports and making recommendations to improve clinical outcomes.
Strategic Planning – Developing and implementing strategic plans that support the organization’s mission and vision, including goal setting, forecasting, and risk assessment.
Quick tip: Our quick-and-easy Resume Builder contains thousands of in-demand skills for every profession that can be added to your resume in seconds – saving you time and greatly improving your chances of landing job interviews and getting hired.
Work experience
Once you’ve got recruiters interested with your impactful summary, your work experience is where the real detail will lie.
Lay out your previous jobs from current to oldest, detailing what you contributed and achieved in each one.
If you’re highly experienced you can cut this section down to your most recent few years of work, but if you are junior you can bulk this up with voluntary work and college placements.
Structuring your jobs
It’s easy to overwhelm readers when writing about a job you have been doing for years or even months.
Break the information up like this to keep it simple for recruiters to understand.
Job outline
Begin each job with a short summary of who the organization is, where you sit within it, and what the main goal of your position is.
Key responsibilities
List your notable responsibilities in short sharp bullet points to demonstrate your input and how you contributed to the organization’s success.
Highlight the skills that are most important to the roles you are applying for.
Key achievements
Show employers the value you can bring to them by adding a few achievements to your jobs.
Whether you’ve saved the company money or improved an internal process, let recruiters know
Add some numbers to give readers a real scale of the impact, e.g. “reduced call wait time by 10%”
Example job for Director of Nursing resume
Outline
Lead a clinical team of 42 nurse managers, floor nurses, and certified nursing assistants to provide premium nursing care for patients in the surgical wards at Detroit City Hospital.
Key Responsibilities
- Ensure that all resident rights and responsibilities are protected and enforced
- Establish and maintain a close liaison with patients and family members
- Develop, review and revise standards and guidelines to support the mission and care responsibility of the ward staff
- Provide training and educational programs for team members and mentor them to reach their full potential and their desired career goals
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our quick-and-easy Resume Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education section
Towards the bottom of your resume, add your education section.
Here you should list your professional qualifications and academic record, such as high school diplomas or college degrees.
If you have lots of work experience, you can keep this section brief (because recruiters will be more interested in your career. If you have little/no experience then you should bulk this section up with plenty of detail.
Additional information
If you have anything else to add which is relevant to the jobs you are applying for, the additional info section is the place to add it.
Perhaps you have a hobby which involves relevant skills, or maybe you have some awards or publications worth mentioning.
Writing your own Director of Nursing resume
Following the steps in this guide will help you to create a winning Director of Nursing resume and bag lots of interviews.
If you want some more help through the process, try our quick-and-easy Resume Builder for expert guidance and tons of pre-written resume content.
Good luck with your job search!