Chief Nurse Executive Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Chief Nurse Executive resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Chief nurse executives are tasked with overseeing nursing operations at hospitals, clinics, healthcare systems, or other healthcare organizations. They often play a critical role in developing and implementing strategic plans, managing budgets, and ensuring compliance with industry regulations. And because the field of nursing is so diverse—with professionals working in areas like emergency care, pediatrics, geriatrics, mental health, and many more—chief nurse executives need a diverse set of skills to succeed in their roles.
If you want to become a chief nurse executive or want to take your current role to the next level, you’ll need a resume that showcases your unique set of skills and experience. Here are some tips and an example to help you write yours.
How to Write a Chief Nurse Executive Resume
Here’s how to write a chief nurse executive resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most important part of your resume because they’re the only thing hiring managers will read. So it’s crucial that you use them to your advantage by including specific details about your experience and accomplishments.
For example, rather than saying you “managed a team of nurses,” you could say you “increased staff satisfaction by 15% and reduced turnover rate by 10% by developing new training program for new hires and providing ongoing coaching and feedback to all staff members.”
Notice how the second bullet point is more specific and provides more detail about the project and its outcome.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you submit your resume online, it’s likely that it will be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. These programs look for certain nurse executive resume keywords, like “leadership” or “patient care,” in order to determine whether or not you’re a good fit for the role. If your resume doesn’t have enough of the right terms, the ATS might reject your application.
To make sure this doesn’t happen, use this list of chief nurse executive keywords as a starting point when writing your resume:
- Nursing Management
- Nursing
- Healthcare Management
- Healthcare
- Nursing Education
- Hospitals
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
- Patient Safety
- Medication Administration
- Inpatient Care
- Patient Advocacy
- Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
- Patient Care
- Home Health Care
- Healthcare Information Technology (HIT)
- Basic Life Support (BLS)
- Nursing Education Leadership
- Acute Care
- Critical Care Nursing
- Patient Satisfaction
- Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
- Clinical Research
- Leadership in Nursing
- Hospitals & Nursing
- Nursing Management
- Staff Development
- Public Speaking
- Clinical Trials
- Healthcare Consulting
- Nursing Process
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As a Chief Nurse Executive, you will be responsible for the overall management and operation of a nursing unit. You will need to be proficient in a variety of software programs and systems in order to effectively do your job. These might include electronic health records (EHR) systems, patient scheduling systems, and nurse call systems. You should also be familiar with the various types of medical equipment used in the nursing unit.