Chief Nursing Officer Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Chief Nursing Officer resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Chief nursing officers (CNOs) are the highest-ranking nurses within an organization. They’re responsible for directing all nursing services, overseeing the overall health of employees and patients, and ensuring optimal patient outcomes.
If you want to make a difference in people’s lives and work in a high-pressure environment with tons of responsibility, then you might be ready for a career as a chief nursing officer. But before you can land your dream job, you need an impressive resume that will get you in the door.
Here are some tips and an example to help you write your own Chief Nursing Officer resume that hiring managers will love.
How to Write a Chief Nursing Officer Resume
Here’s how to write a chief nursing officer resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
When you’re writing your bullet points, it can be tempting to focus on the responsibilities of your job. But that’s not enough to make a strong impression. Instead, you should focus on the results of your work.
For example, rather than saying you “managed staff,” you could say that you “increased staff satisfaction by 15% in six months, resulting in a 10% decrease in turnover rate over the same period.”
The second bullet point paints a much clearer picture of what you did and the results of your work. And it also provides a specific number to demonstrate the impact of your work.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you submit your resume for a chief nursing officer (CNO) role, it’s likely that it will be screened by an applicant tracking system (ATS) that looks for certain keywords. ATS programs scan resumes for specific terms related to the job like “patient care” or “quality improvement” to determine whether the applicant has the skills and experience required for the position. If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right keywords, the ATS might discard your application before a human ever sees it.
To increase your chances of getting an interview, use this list of keywords as a starting point to help you identify the most relevant skills and experiences to include on your resume:
- Nursing
- Patient Safety
- Healthcare Management
- Hospitals
- Nursing Education
- Healthcare
- Medicine
- Acute Care
- Inpatient Care
- Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
- Patient Advocacy
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
- Patient Care
- Patient Flow
- Medication Administration
- Surgery
- Interim Management
- Home Care
- Managed Care
- Quality Improvement
- Nursing Management
- Leadership in Nursing
- Healthcare Information Technology (HIT)
- Transplant
- Critical Care Nursing
- Patient Education
- Urology
- Coaching
- Pediatric Nursing
- Emergency Medicine
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for a hospital or health care facility, you are responsible for the overall nursing operations and staff. In order to be successful in this role, it is essential that you are proficient in a variety of technical systems and procedures.
Recruiters are looking for CNOs who are skilled in programs like Microsoft Office Suite, ERP systems, and manufacturing software. Additionally, it is important that CNOs are familiar with government regulations related to their industry, as they will often be responsible for ensuring that the organization is in compliance with these regulations.