Automatically apply for jobs with Zippia

Upload your resume to get started.

Registered health nurse skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Angela Mund,

Angela Mund

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical registered health nurse skills. We ranked the top skills for registered health nurses based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 23.7% of registered health nurse resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a registered health nurse needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 registered health nurse skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how registered health nurses use patients:

Use critical thinking and knowledge-based judgment to advise and instruct patients in self-care as appropriate over a telecommunication device.
Managed a case load of patients providing disease, medication and safety education and cardiopulmonary symptom management.

2. Home Health

Here's how registered health nurses use home health:

Registered Nurse Coordinator: Introduction to home health administration and leadership initiatives and business practices.
Conducted Medicare/Medicaid OASIS admissions for patients requiring Home Health Services.

3. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how registered health nurses use cpr:

Coordinated CPR training, First Aid for general staff, and flu clinics for residents.
Provided CPR training, new employee orientation, and annual education to all hospital staff.

4. Quality Care

Here's how registered health nurses use quality care:

Provided disease/case management for people who receive Wyoming Equality Care.
Work with the pediatric population in order to ensure a safe environment and provide quality care so that patients may thrive.

5. Mental Health

Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.

Here's how registered health nurses use mental health:

Receive help-line and referral calls and collect clinical data to provide to physician for disposition regarding inpatient mental health/chemical dependency care.
Collaborated with referral network partners, human resources, employee relations, environmental health/safety and legal in implementing employee work accommodations.

6. Compassion

Here's how registered health nurses use compassion:

Provided participants with respect, compassion, and confidentiality during health screenings.
Adapted and performed duties quickly with efficiency and compassion.

Choose from 10+ customizable registered health nurse resume templates

Build a professional registered health nurse resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your registered health nurse resume.

7. Infection Control

Infection control describes the principles and practices used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities to control and minimize the spread of infections with the aim of lowering rates of infection. Infection control refers to the process of detecting and controlling pathogens in order to reduce their spread.

Here's how registered health nurses use infection control:

Manage clinical supply inventory, perform laboratory equipment control and maintenance, demonstrate effective patient safety and infection control maintenance.
Reduce employee work-related injuries through surveillance, root-cause analysis and education on infection control, safety and mental/physical wellness.

8. Rehabilitation

Here's how registered health nurses use rehabilitation:

Collaborate with the interdisciplinary team to assure personal care, medical care and rehabilitation are provided.
Assessed patient health condition and applied interventions aimed to facilitate the rehabilitation process.

9. Physician Orders

Physician orders are an instruction or a set of instructions given to a patient by a doctor. This could range from being put on bedrest to being given a prescription to fill and take.

Here's how registered health nurses use physician orders:

Transcribed and inputs physician orders; delivered patient education on medications and treatments.
Examine physician orders for completeness, accuracy and clarity.

10. Community Resources

Community resources are a set of resources that are used in the day to day life of people which improves their lifestyle in some way. People, sites or houses, and population assistance can come under the services offered by community resources.

Here's how registered health nurses use community resources:

Researched and developed relationships with community resources to assure strong referral base; organized and executed immunization and well-child clinics.
Supported patients with education on diagnoses, medication reviews, medication administration, nursing treatments and referrals to community resources.

11. Discharge Planning

Here's how registered health nurses use discharge planning:

Provide population management of chronic wound care patients in ambulatory setting including initial assessments, follow-up care, and discharge planning/teaching.
Implemented discharge planning and prepared discharge summaries/instructions as requested by the nursing supervisor.

12. Direct Patient Care

Here's how registered health nurses use direct patient care:

Provided direct patient care, administered psychotropic medications, and documented effectiveness and outcomes.
Direct patient care and education utilizing nursing process.

13. IV

Here's how registered health nurses use iv:

Managed caseload of patients with many diverse medical conditions including IV therapy.
Manage medication administration including IV therapy as ordered by the physician.

14. Patient Safety

Here's how registered health nurses use patient safety:

Accustomed to using non-violent crisis intervention techniques along with individual/unit searches to maintain patient safety.
Recognize and intervene in situations related to patient safety.

15. Health Services

Here's how registered health nurses use health services:

School-based Health Program RN Educator-provided comprehensive primary and preventive health services to adolescents.
Provide referrals via phone to community area residents requesting various psychiatric/behavioral health services.

5 Registered Health Nurse resume examples

Build a professional registered health nurse resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 5+ resume templates to create your registered health nurse resume.

Create my resume

Build a professional resume in minutes using this template.

What skills help Registered Health Nurses find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What type of skills will young registered health nurses need?

Angela Mund

Vice President, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists

To meet the needs of our current volatile and complex healthcare landscape, all healthcare providers will need to understand the business of healthcare, in addition to providing expert patient care. Starting in 2025, all graduates from nurse anesthesia programs will be awarded a doctoral degree, a doctorate in nursing practice (DNP), or a doctorate in nurse anesthesia practice (DNAP). These degree programs include additional anesthesia experience as well as an understanding of effective leadership, healthcare economics and reimbursement, the use of big data for improving patient outcomes, and evidence-based practice.

What skills stand out on registered health nurse resumes?

Angela Mund

Vice President, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists

To become a CRNA, the applicant must first be a registered nurse and graduate of a baccalaureate nursing program. A minimum of one year of clinical experience in an intensive care unit (ICU) is required. The application process is rigorous, and many nurse anesthesia programs are seeing higher than typical applicant numbers, perhaps due to the impact of COVID-19 on the ICU nurse workforce.

The most competitive applicants will have an overall GPA >3.5. Basic science courses are heavily weighted with respect to both course grade and type of course. A competitive resumé should include evidence of clinical expertise, leadership, volunteerism, and scholarly work. In addition, all registered nurse applicants should have shadowed a CRNA to learn about the profession prior to application. The interview process may include assessments of critical thinking, decision-making, and emotional intelligence.

What soft skills should all registered health nurses possess?

Diane Salvador Ph.D.

Executive Director and Professor, Elmhurst University

The most important skill for new nursing graduates is critical thinking. You will be put into varying roles and assume different responsibilities. You must critically think and evaluate situations you find yourself in and make wise nursing decisions. Another important skill that we emphasize in education is communication - this is key to safe, quality care.

What hard/technical skills are most important for registered health nurses?

Diane Salvador Ph.D.

Executive Director and Professor, Elmhurst University

New nurses should be prepared to demonstrate proficiency in basic nursing care and procedures. It is important to realize that each hospital has its own policy and procedure to follow, so taking advantage of your nurse preceptor and orientation program will ensure you are familiar with these basic procedures.

What registered health nurse skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Michelle Hampton Ph.D.

Associate Professor, San Jose State University

I think there are always opportunities to work and gain experience once the nurse is licensed. They might need to be creative, flexible, and work where there's a need. That might be a specialty area they hadn't considered or a geographic area that requires some travel. I don't think a gap year is inevitable for all new graduates and there might be opportunities for them to find work, and they can always continue the learning process after you're employed, even if it's not your dream job. The more significant obstacle seems to be for students who are currently still in nursing programs.

Clinical sites weren't accepting students for several months, and now that they are again, they have significantly limited the number of students allowed at one time and the number of hours they can train. When a staff member or patient tests positive, students are pulled from the site for some time, and students are struggling to get the minimum number of hours required to continue progressing in the nursing program. Some schools have even suspended admission for new groups of students instead choosing to focus on getting the current students through the program.

What technical skills for a registered health nurse stand out to employers?

Dr. Antonio Fernandez

Professor, Barry University

To properly implement this new, inevitable working culture which will impact the job market, the employers will start looking for the new type of employee, capable of efficiently working alone, remotely, flexible in the hours, and schedule accommodation since no physical buildings will be necessary thus eliminating the need for the teams sharing a location in a given city or even country. Meeting, conferences, discussions will be held with participants in different geographical and time zones. The capacity to adapt to continuous changes and innovation will be an indispensable skill sought after by employers second only to the most important, the highest valued skill technical knowledge and expertise in the new formats. Computer, digitalization, web navigation, encryption of data and messages.

Do you want to know more?

List of registered health nurse skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a registered health nurse resume and required skills for a registered health nurse to have include:

Patients
Home Health
CPR
Quality Care
Mental Health
Compassion
Infection Control
Rehabilitation
Physician Orders
Community Resources
Discharge Planning
Direct Patient Care
IV
Patient Safety
Health Services
EMR
Social Work

Patient Assessment
Medication Administration
Triage
Medical Care
Excellent Interpersonal
Patient Education
OSHA
Primary Care
Vital Signs
Health Promotion
Patient Teaching
TB
Pathogens
Group Therapy
Crisis Intervention
Family Education
ICU

Health Education
Blood Pressure
Substance Abuse
Nursing Diagnosis
PET
Medicaid
Advanced Life Support
Patient Care
Work Ethic
Medical-Surgical Nursing
Registered Nursing
Emotional Support
Mental Illness
Resuscitation
Allergies

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Zippia Careers
Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Registered Health Nurse
Registered Health Nurse Skills

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse healthcare practitioner and technical jobs