Intensive Care Nurse Resume Guide + Tips + Example

Kellie Hanna by Kellie Hanna, Content Strategist, Career Advice Expert
Updated on February 23, 2023
 • Rated 4/5 Stars

You need a great resume if you want a job as an intensive care nurse, so we’re here to help you build one. Our guide to crafting an effective resume for an intensive care nurse job will help you make the most of your compassion, interpersonal skills and medical knowledge skills to stand out from the competition.

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Intensive Care Nurse Resume Template

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Intensive care nurse resume sample (text version)

Hayden Crawford

Los Angeles, CA 90010
(555) 555-5555
example@example.com

Professional Summary

Compassionate intensive care registered nurse (ICU) with 10 years of experience in large hospital environments. Service-oriented with organized and proactive nature. Proficient in handling emergency situations and managing clinical staff.

Skills

Medication
Therapy and treatment
Procedural assistance
Life support and IV administration

HIPPA compliance
Reporting and documentation
Communication
Adaptability

Work History

November 2019 – Current
Los Angeles Community Hospital – Los Angeles, CA
Lead Intensive Care Registered Nurse

  • Give compassionate care to critical patients suffering from injuries or debilitating conditions.
  • Assess an average of 40 patients per month and administer medications.
  • Observe behavior and symptoms and report changes to on-call physicians.
  • Educate families about patients’ conditions and provide support as needed, improving patients’ conditions by 75%.
  • Frequently act as charge nurse and preceptor to 10 students per year.

September 2016 – October 2019
Cedars Sinai Medical Center – Los Angeles, CA
Intensive Care Registered Nurse

  • Managed life support equipment and IV administration of fluids and medications.
  • Provided basic patient care such as grooming and changing bedding.
  • Updated patient charts with data such as condition and medications and kept 300 records current to support accurate treatments.
  • Monitored telemetry and responded to codes.
  • Stocked supplies and reported malfunctioning equipment.

June 2012 – August 2016
Southern California Hospital – Los Angeles, CA
Registered Nurse

  • Collaborated with five physicians to quickly assess 200 patients per month and deliver appropriate treatment while managing rapidly changing conditions.
  • Followed a treatment plan and medication schedule ordered by the doctor and assessed patient pain levels during the hospital stay.
  • Implemented medication and IV administration, catheter insertion and airway management.
  • Supported patient families and provided any needed assistance.

Education

  • January 2016
    University of California – Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
    Master of Science Nursing
  • Nursing Administration
  • June 2012
    University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
    Bachelor of Science Nursing

Certifications

  • Critical Care Nurse Certification (CCRN), American Association of
  • Critical Care Nurses (AACN) – (Updated 2022)
  • Registered Nurse (RN) certification- (Updated 2021)
  • ACLS and BLS Certification – (Updated 2021)

5 essentials of a top intensive care nurse resume

  1. Contact details

    Add your contact information to the top of your resume; otherwise, hiring managers won’t know how to contact you for an interview. Display your contact information like so: Your full name, then your city, state and ZIP code, followed by your phone number and professional email address. Add your LinkedIn profile and professional website (if you have them) last.

  2. Personal statement

    A personal statement is also known as a professional summary. This is where you introduce yourself and highlight your top qualifications for the job in three to five sentences. A resume for an intensive care nurse must include a professional summary with appropriate skills and one or two notable accomplishments, and it should touch on how long you’ve been in the industry. If you are just starting your career, use an intensive care nurse resume objective instead.

  3. Skills

    You’ve got to let potential employers know what skills you bring to the table. Create a separate section for your job-relevant skills and display them with bullet points to make them easy to read. Our sample resume for an intensive care nurse includes hard and soft skills, from advanced life support to empathy.

  4. Work history

    Your resume must include an employment history section, whether or not you have professional experience as an intensive care nurse. In reverse-chronological order, list current and previous employers and provide business names, locations, and the dates you worked for each. Include three bullet points of measurable achievements for every job you list. If you’re applying for your first job as an intensive care nurse, it’s acceptable to highlight relevant extracurricular activities, coursework, presentations, volunteer experience and community service.

  5. Education

    Hiring managers want to see your education credentials, so a resume for an intensive care nurse job must include an education section. Add all the educational institutions you’ve attended after high school and display the name of the schools and the years that you graduated in reverse-chronological order using bullet points. If you did not attend college, list your high school information and the classes you’ve taken since graduating.

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Action words for a stand-out intensive care nurse resume

Action words strengthen resumes because they tell the hiring manager exactly what you did and convey confidence. Use them with numbers to make a more substantial impact. 

Here’s a short list of perfect action words for an intensive care nurse resume:

  • Evaluate
  • Assess
  • Counsel
  • Motivate
  • Plan
  • Lead
  • Manage
  • Expedite
  • Supervise
  • Monitor
  • Lead
  • Educate
  • Provide
  • Administer

We have 400+ resume examples to help you create the perfect intensive care nurse resume. 

Need the perfect resume for an intensive care nurse job now? Our builder has all the tools you need to craft a professional resume in minutes! You can make edits as you go, download your finished resume and save it in multiple file formats. It’s so easy!

Top skills for an intensive care nurse resume

Review the job description carefully and match the required skills to the skills and traits that fit you. 

Your skills might include the following:

  • Empathy
  • Compassion
  • Motivation
  • Leadership
  • First Aid / CPR
  • Friendliness
  • Patience
  • Communication
  • Perception
  • Adaptability
  • Flexibility
  • Mental agility
  • Physical agility
  • Respiratory maintenance
  • Electrocardiography (ECG) monitoring
  • Human Anatomy

Certifications for an intensive care nurse resume

To become an intensive care nurse, you must start as a practicing registered nurse and obtain at least one of the following certifications from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN):

  • CCRN
  • CCRN-K
  • CCRN-E
  • PCCN
  • PCCN-K
  • CMC
  • CSC
  • ACNPC-NG
  • ACCNS-AG
  • ACCNS-P
  • ACCNS-N

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Intensive care nurse resume FAQ

  1. 1. What does an intensive care nurse resume look like?

    There is no standard intensive care nurse resume template; you can use any of our resume templates and customize them for the job you want. A good resume for an intensive care nurse will look much like the intensive care nurse resume sample on this page and will contain the job seeker’s contact information, skills, employment history, education and certifications, if applicable. An intensive care nurse resume might also contain sections for awards and honors if the job candidate has them to display.

  2. 2. What to put under skills on a resume for an intensive care nurse?

    A resume for an intensive care nurse should only include skills that 1. Are relevant to the job, and 2. Fit the job applicant’s true skill set. Review intensive care nurse resume examples for ideas on how to display your skills.

  3. 3. What are some tips for creating an excellent resume for an intensive care nurse job?

    Not all resumes are created equal. Here are our top tips for crafting a perfect intensive care nurse resume:

    • Add separate sections for extra training, certifications, licenses and awards.
    • Keep your resume short and to the point. If you have less than 10 years of experience, it should be one page long; if you have more than 10 years of experience, then it’s acceptable to have no more than two pages. 
    • Ensure your resume is formatted correctly, meaning margins should be one inch on all sides and line space should be single or 1.5 inches. 
    • Only use appropriate fonts, like Times New Roman, Arial or Helvetica, in 11-12 points on the body and 14-16 points on headers.
    • Proofread your resume more than once before sending it to potential employers.

Do’s and don’ts for building an intensive care nurse resume

  • Use measurable achievements to describe your intensive care nurse abilities and experience.
  • Use action words to make an impact on your intensive care nurse resume.
  • Tailor your resume to your target intensive care nurse job.
  • Use keywords from the job description throughout your intensive care nurse resume.
  • Format your intensive care nurse resume so that it is easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
  • Lie about your intensive care nurse experience and skills.
  • Boast that you’re the “best intensive care nurse ever.”
  • Include irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
  • Add skills and experience that do not pertain to being an intensive care nurse.
  • Forget to proofread. An intensive care nurse resume with errors is unprofessional.

Top 4 tips for acing an intensive care nurse interview

  1. Learn about the institution.

    It’s vital to take the time to learn about the institution or company’s history, goals, values and people before the interview. Doing so conveys interest, passion and commitment — traits that can set you above the competition. Plus, a glimpse of the company culture early on will help you know what to expect and can boost your confidence.

  2. Practice at home.

    Practice really does make perfect. To practice for your interview, start by reviewing the most common interview questions, such as: 

    Possible behavioral questions include:

    Write down two or three possible answers as you review potential questions, then review them with a friend or a family member in a mock interview so you can get comfortable with the questions and memorize your answers.

  3. Ask questions.

    You should always have at least three questions ready to ask every job interview you encounter; those who do tend to get hired more often than those who don’t because they show motivation, keen interest and thoughtfulness. 

    Some questions you might ask for an intensive care nurse job are: 

    • What is a typical day like?
    • What are your expectations for the first 90 days?
    • What does a successful intensive care nurse look like to you?

  4. Gather references.

    You’ll need professional references quickly if the hiring manager offers you the job after the interview. Having them ready will save you stress and time, so prepare a list of two former colleagues and a former manager who are willing to speak to your abilities to perform the job of an intensive care nurse and who you know will give you a stellar review.

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Kellie Hanna

Kellie Hanna

Content Strategist, Career Advice Expert

Kellie is the content strategist for My Perfect Resume. She has more than 20 years of experience in digital media and is passionate about helping job seekers navigate their careers. She has a B.A. in English and writing from Temple University.

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