ER Nurse Sample

An Emergency Room (ER) Nurse works in critical care settings to treat trauma patients and people brought in for illnesses and injuries. They work with doctors and other healthcare professionals to assess and provide care for various conditions and stabilize and treat individuals in life-threatening emergencies like heart attacks, severe illness, major injuries, and strokes. ER Nurses can also tend to less urgent or minor medical concerns, like hives, bone sprains, fevers, or sore throats. They have the challenging job of triaging cases based on the urgency level of each case.

As an ER Nurse, in addition to understanding how to treat patients in high-stress environments, you're adept at communicating with coworkers and patients and know how to lead with empathy and compassion. If this is the kind of job you want or you have and are looking to land a new role, you're in the right place. Below are tips and a resume example to help you craft a job-winning Emergency Room (ER) Nurse resume to move forward in your career.

How to write a resume

Your Emergency Room (ER) Nurse resume aims to identify why you're uniquely qualified for the job. To do this, you must show hiring managers what you've got to offer, from the relevant jobs you've held and your notable accomplishments to your rock-solid competencies and education. You also need to write a resume that, as experts call it, is ATS-friendly. 

Here are some tips to help you show hiring teams what you bring to the job, while also passing an employer's applicant tracking system, or ATS. 

Get past the ATS

Most employers use software to help them streamline the hiring process. One job of such software, known as an application tracking system, is to scan and filter the hundreds of resumes they receive. 

The reality is you can be the most qualified candidate for a position. Still, if your resume isn't ATS-friendly, you risk it being rejected. As you write with an employer's ATS in mind, consider the following for your Emergency Room (ER) Nurse resume:

• Use plenty of keywords in your resume. Refer to the job description and include any competencies and work history you have that align with it. Great places to incorporate keywords include your summary, competencies, and work history sections.

• Incorporate industry jargon and lingo, especially if it's in the job description. However, include just what you feel is necessary without overdoing it. 

• When using acronyms, use both the acronym and spelled-out version. 

• Don’t include information in the header and footer sections of your document. An ATS can’t read these sections of a resume.

• Avoid using a creative template or section headings that might not be readable by or confuse an ATS.

• Don’t include images, charts, graphs, or tables. These generally aren’t readable by an ATS. 

• Run your resume through an ATS resume checker. 

Begin strong

Your contact information goes at the top of your resume. Below that, you'll include your resume summary. 

A strong resume summary includes short, concise sentences outlining your top accomplishments and skills. It should be written so that it entices the reader to keep reading.

Following your summary, include 10 to 15 of your core competencies. Refer to the job description to ensure you capture all competencies you have that are required for the job.

Be standard

Yes, that's right. When developing your US-based resume, you want to use a standard format and section headings. In terms of format, the reverse chronological resume is the most commonly used. 

Section headings should use typical naming conventions, like Work Experience and Education. If you choose to include additional sections, be sure the names you give them are straightforward, like Volunteer Experience, Certifications, and Technical Skills. 

The only time to be creative when developing your resume is with the written content. Even then, there are some clear guidelines to follow – you want to stand out and be unique, but not to the point of confusing the reader. A creative template and naming conventions can be challenging for ATS software to read, reducing the chances of your resume landing in the hands of a hiring manager. Additionally, hiring managers prefer a standard format over a creative one for most professions because it's easier to read and locate the information they seek.

Show vs. tell

One of the best ways to make your resume stand out is to ensure it shows the hiring team what you’re capable of in your work experience section vs. merely telling them what you’ve done. In other words, you want the hiring manager to be able to visualize your ability to succeed. 

Here are some ways to achieve this:

• Use a bulleted list to share five to six of your top accomplishments for each position. 

• Use as much quantifiable data as possible that shows the level of your accomplishments.

• Begin each bullet point with a power verb. Use various power verbs to avoid sounding repetitive. 

• Use the STAR method to describe a situation, task, action, and result. 

Include your education

Unless you're an inexperienced hire, your education section will follow your work experience section. This is where you'll list your degrees. 

In most instances, include your most advanced degree first, followed by your lower-level degrees, with the most recent degree listed first. An exception to this rule is if you're changing careers. In that case, list your most relevant degree first, then follow the standard rule of placing your highest degree next and the rest in reverse chronological order. 

A few other notes to bear in mind for the education section:

• If you’re an inexperienced hire, your education section generally goes above your work experience section.

• Only include the year a degree was conferred if it's been within the last three to five years. It's also okay to leave the year off altogether.

• If you don't have a college degree, include your GED or high school diploma. 

• If you have a degree in progress, list it and then include your expected graduation date following it. 

ER Nurse resume example

Now, you know how to ensure your resume makes a positive impression with hiring teams. As a bonus, below is an Emergency Room (ER) Nurse resume example you can use as a template to create your own. It’s also ATS-friendly.

Key hard & soft skills for an Emergency Room (ER) Nurse

Your resume should include all your relevant skills that align with the target job. Skills include both hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are the technical know-how you need to complete a task, such as reading patient vitals or data entry. A great place to include hard skills is in your Core Competencies section. 

Soft skills are more complicated to quantify, requiring additional information to highlight your abilities. Use several examples of how you apply soft skills throughout your resume summary and work history.

ER Nurse resume soft skills

Here are some top soft skills  commonly found on an Emergency Room (ER) Nurse resume:

• Interpersonal

• Assertiveness

• Communication

• Flexibility

• Analytical

• Detail-oriented

• Problem-solving

• Adaptability

• Collaboration

• Empathy

• Compassion

• Teamwork

• Conflict Resolution

• Emotional Intelligence

ER Nurse resume hard skills

These are some of the hard skills Emergency Room (ER) Nurses need to succeed:

• Human Anatomy

• Treatment Planning

• Infectious Disease

• Counseling

• Electric and Paper Charting

• Policy Adherence

• Patient Assessment

• Patient Triage

• Medical Records

• Vital Measurements

• Emergency 

• Inserting IVs

• Telemetry

Summary & last words

Now you know what it takes to write a top-notch Emergency Room (ER) Nurse resume. Focus on the requirements for an ATS-friendly resume and start strong with a resume summary and competencies list. From there, use standard formatting, and remember to show vs. tell in your work accomplishments section. Finally, include plenty of relevant skills throughout your resume and your degrees in the education section.  

Introduction to ZipJob: Professional Resume Writers

When you're applying for jobs, the last thing you want is to feel unsure or lack confidence when it comes to submitting your resume. After all, your resume is the employer's first impression of you, so you want to feel like you're putting your best foot forward with each application.

If you're hesitant to apply for jobs due to uncertainty about whether your resume meets the necessary standards and stands out, consider hiring a team of professional resume writers. The resume writers at ZipJob will collaborate with you, so you can rest assured knowing you have an Emergency Room (ER) Nurse resume that makes a solid first impression and lands interviews.

Why you should make use of our resume writing services to land your next job as an Emergency Room (ER) Nurse

Many professionals struggle with writing their own resume. Some don't have the time, others don't feel writing is their strong suit, and others have a challenging time sharing about themselves. Fortunately, the ZipJob team of resume writers develops resumes for candidates who fall under all of these scenarios. 

Your resume must meet the requirements of being ATS-friendly and, from there, grab the attention of hiring teams. With the ZipJob team, you'll have a head-turning resume that meets these requirements to help you advance in your career and land your next Emergency Room (ER) Nurse role. 

Resume writing service for Emergency Room (ER) Nurse: Let us write your resume

With expertise across over 65 industries, including healthcare, the ZipJob team of writers has written thousands of resumes for satisfied job candidates. When you apply for ER Nurse jobs, the resume our resume writing service provides will help you pass an employer’s applicant tracking system and grab the attention of recruiters and hiring managers.