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Registered nurse skills for your resume and career

Q: What hard/technical skills are most important for Registered Nurses?

Technical skills are critical for safe and effective nursing care. Some essential skills include the ability to safely start an IV, give oral medications, administer subcutaneous and intramuscular injections, take vital signs, do a thorough head-to-toe assessment, chart effectively, and utilize emergency safety equipment. Hard skills, in addition to foundational skills required for every nursing job, are going to be tailored to the specific specialty chosen by each nurse and that area of practice.

Q: What skills stand out on Registered Nurse resumes?

Skills that typically stand out on RN resumes include special certifications such as Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) or Acute/Critical Care Nursing (CCRN). Managers also tend to pay attention to applicants who have volunteer experience or are members of nursing organizations within their educational programs or nationally. Other useful skills include any previous electronic medical record experience or working at the bedside previously as a certified nurse assistant if the nurse is newly licensed.

Q: What skills will help Registered Nurses earn the most?

There is a national nursing shortage. This has increased due to older nurses reaching retirement age along with the ongoing pandemic. Certain specialty certifications may increase a nurse's salary. Typically salaries are driven by years of experience, the geographical location, and any specific salary structures or scales that are implemented by the hospital system itself. Nurses who are newly hired are often able to secure sign-on bonuses, moving stipends, and increased hourly pay if they have previous experience in the specialty area in which they are applying. I would encourage any new nurses to reach out to experienced nurses in their community and do some research on what base pay rate they should expect, and meet with human resources to discuss benefits, especially continuing education, before signing any contracts.

Q: What soft skills should all Registered Nurses possess?

Soft skills are a critical part of any healthcare profession. The key skills for nurses specifically are leadership, interdisciplinary teamwork, intrinsic motivation, effective communication, excellent work ethic, and having a positive attitude. Emotional intelligence and empathy are also gaining more recognition as critical to long-term career success and effective patient care.

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted experts

Angela Mund,

Angela Mund

To get a job in nursing, you will need to display an excellent balance of both hard and soft skills on your resume. Some of the most important technical medical skills a registered nurse can possess include acute patient care, knowledge of CPR, experience working in surgery, and BLS and ACLS certifications. The exact technical skills needed, however, will depend on your field of work.

When it comes to soft skills, registered nurses will need to be organized, have great communication, and strong leadership while following procedures. Registered nurses need these skills in order to provide the best care to patients and families and to accurately administer physicians' orders.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical registered nurse skills. We ranked the top skills for registered nurses based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 23.8% of registered nurse resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a registered nurse needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 registered nurse skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how registered nurses use patients:

Provided comprehensive medical and emotional care to critically ill patients with varying diagnosis Interacted with patient families to provide support.
Helped maintain a healthy and hygienic environment as well as provided compassionate emotional support to patients and family members

2. BLS

Here's how registered nurses use bls:

Registered Nurse on Medical-Surgical/Telemetry unity Skills: ACLS, BLS Certified 12 Lead EKG Interpretation Geriatrics-focused medical training
Certified to administer Chemotherapy, BLS

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 nurses use cpr:

Maintained competency with all emergency operational procedures, and initiated CPR and emergency measures, as needed.
Administered medications including emergency medications used when performing CPR.

4. Acute Care

The branch of secondary healthcare which is responsible for giving short-term care to patients recovering from severe injuries or urgent medical problems is known as acute care. Acute care comprises multiple domains like; emergency care, urgent care, short-term stabilization, pre-hospital care, critical care, and trauma care.

Here's how registered nurses use acute care:

Received many compliments from hospital nursing managers on ability to adapt almost immediately to any acute care unit that was scheduled.
Implemented nursing care for psychiatric patients admitted to acute care crisis stabilization units within the hospital (child/adults/detox/geriatric units).

5. Acls

Here's how registered nurses use acls:

Provided compassionate, competent care within vascular-surgical step-down unit with telemetry and mechanical ventilation monitoring requiring ACLS certification.
Responded to medical emergencies after obtaining ACLS certification and after completion of critical care course.

6. Home Health

Here's how registered nurses use home health:

Provided education to Home Health Patients to include Disease Process/Management.
Home Health nursing for physical rehabilitation

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7. Surgery

Here's how registered nurses use surgery:

Worked medical/surgical, telemetry, orthopedics, oncology, ambulatory surgery, and float pool positions.
Prepared patients for surgery, assisted with post-operative recovery, initiated IVs and administered medications.

8. Quality Care

Here's how registered nurses use quality care:

Provide direct quality care to adult and pediatric patients including daily monitoring, recording and evaluating psychiatric medical conditions of patients.
Coordinate and monitor patients through the hospitalization process utilizing physicians and third party payers to maintain quality care and fiscal responsibility.

9. Rehabilitation

Here's how registered nurses use rehabilitation:

Prepare and administer prescribed medications/treatments, injections, and immunizations to Hospice, palliative, and rehabilitation patients according to policies.
Performed diagnostic and therapeutic procedures; educated patients and family members on improving self-care abilities, health maintenance, and rehabilitation.

10. Direct Patient Care

Here's how registered nurses use direct patient care:

Provided direct patient care in Medical-Surgical-Telemetry/intensive care unit (ICU), Mother/Baby, Emergency Department at this critical access hospital.
Deliver direct patient care in the chemotherapy room including administration of chemotherapy, hydration, and other medications.

11. Compassion

Here's how registered nurses use compassion:

Dedicated and patient-focused RN with experience performing admissions, assessment, treatment and education for multicultural patients with compassion and empathy.
Handled end-of-life care with exceptional compassion and understanding, easing patient and family experiences during extremely emotionally difficult moments.

12. Critical Care

Here's how registered nurses use critical care:

Provide one on one critical care nursing for adult/geriatric patients requiring complex assessment, high intensity therapies and life sustaining interventions
Provided emergency care, critical care, medical surgical care, and psychiatric care holistically, by an integrated-interdisciplinary approach.

13. 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 nurses use infection control:

Direct and coordinate infection control programs, advising and consulting with specific personnel, family members and patients about necessary precautions.
Performed physical assessments of patients, followed infection control procedures, and ensured efficacy of treatments through monitoring of treatment regimens.

14. Discharge Planning

Here's how registered nurses use discharge planning:

Instructed patients and family members on proper community resources, preventative care, medication administration and discharge planning.
Performed patient assessments/ monitoring, medication administration, computerized patient documentation, patient education and discharge planning.

15. ICU

ICU means intensive care units. It also has a name known as the critical care unit or intensive therapy unit. The ICU handles patients experiencing acute diseases or severe injuries that need specialized treatment procedures by specific professionals.

Here's how registered nurses use icu:

Developed and implemented Medical/Surgical unit nursing care plans and cardiovascular surgical ICU standards of care.
Recovered surgical patients immediately after heart and vascular surgery until transfer out of ICU.

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What skills help Registered Nurses find jobs?

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What type of skills will young registered 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 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 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 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 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 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 nurse skills to add to your resume

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

Patients
BLS
CPR
Acute Care
Acls
Home Health
Surgery
Quality Care
Rehabilitation
Direct Patient Care
Compassion
Critical Care
Infection Control
Discharge Planning
ICU
Medication Administration
IV

Physician Orders
Patient Safety
Patient Education
Triage
Telemetry
Advanced Life Support
Oncology
Vital Signs
Primary Care
Medical Care
Family Education
Patient Care
Emergency Situations
EKG
PACU
EMR
Dexterity

Team Work
Work Ethic
Taking Care
Registered Nursing
Catheter
Resuscitation
Excellent Interpersonal
Diagnostic Tests
PET
Medical-Surgical Nursing
Pain Management
Labor Delivery
Patient Teaching
Nursing Diagnosis
Emotional Support

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.

Registered Nurse skills FAQs

What hard/technical skills are most important for Registered Nurses?

What skills stand out on Registered Nurse resumes?

What skills will help Registered Nurses earn the most?

What soft skills should all Registered Nurses possess?

Have more questions? See all answers to common healthcare practitioner and technical questions.

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Updated January 8, 2025

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