PICU Nurse Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this PICU Nurse resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Pediatric critical care nurses are the most specialized nurses in the field. They’re highly trained in the care of children with complex medical needs, and they have a deep understanding of how to manage all kinds of conditions—from cancer and asthma to congenital heart defects and cystic fibrosis.
If you’re interested in working with children but want to work in a challenging, fast-paced environment where you can make a difference every day, then you might be ready to become a pediatric critical care nurse. But before you can land your dream job, you’ll need a stellar resume to help you get there. Here are some tips and an example to help you write yours.
How to Write a PICU Nurse Resume
Here’s how to write a resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most important part of your resume because they’re the first thing recruiters will see. And they have to be compelling enough to make them want to read the rest of your resume.
So rather than just listing your responsibilities, you should use bullet points to describe specific examples of how you contributed to the organization. For example, rather than saying you “provided patient care,” you could say you “provided critical care to pediatric patients suffering from life-threatening illnesses, providing comfort and support to families during difficult times.”
The second bullet point paints a much more vivid picture of the type of work you do as a nurse and the type of impact you can have on patients and their families.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for a nurse practitioner, critical care, or pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) nurse role, your resume is likely to be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. ATS programs rank resumes based on how many of the targeted terms they find. If your resume doesn’t have enough of the right words, your application might not make it past the initial screening process.
One way to make sure your resume includes the right keywords is to read through a few job postings and take note of the terms that are used most frequently. Then, try to use some of those same terms in your resume. You can also use this list of common PICU nurse keywords as a starting point:
- Nursing
- Pediatric Nursing
- Basic Life Support (BLS)
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
- Critical Care Nursing
- Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
- Patient Safety
- Inpatient Care
- Patient Education
- Hospitals
- Acute Care
- Nursing Education
- Medication Administration
- Clinical Research
- Phlebotomy
- Healthcare
- Healthcare Management
- Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
- Patient Education Programs
- IV Therapy
- Cardiology
- Pediatrics
- Critical Care Medicine
- Emergency Nursing
- Clinical Assessment
- Trauma Nursing
- Nursing Management
- Wound Care
- Pressure Ulcers
- Operating Rooms
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As a PICU nurse, you are responsible for the care of critically ill children. This means that you need to be proficient in a variety of software programs and systems, such as electronic health records (EHR) systems, patient monitoring systems, and medical devices. You should also be comfortable with technology and be willing to embrace new ways of working.
Some of the programs and systems that PICU nurses are typically expected to be proficient in include: electronic health records (EHR) systems, patient monitoring systems, and medical devices.