Trauma Nurse Resume Examples & Templates
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Your calmness under pressure and nursing expertise are vital to patients facing a life-or-death emergency. With collaborative rapid responses, a patient-first approach to pain management, and accurate assessment and monitoring, you’ve excelled as a trauma nurse. If you’re ready for the next chapter, a well-written trauma nurse resume is the next step to advance your nursing career.
Let us help you write an effective trauma nurse resume to showcase your skills and present you as a must-interview candidate.
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Trauma nurse resume example (text version)
Milo Newman
Philadelphia, PA 19111
(555) 555-5555
example@example.com
Professional Summary
Versatile trauma nurse with a solid foundation in trauma and emergency nursing. Proficient in managing diverse patient populations and collaborating seamlessly with multidisciplinary teams. Experienced in trauma assessment, treatment and ongoing patient care. Known for maintaining composure in high-stress situations and providing empathetic support to patients and their families.
Skills
- Emergency response
- Acute care
- Advanced nursing skills
- Protocol order Trauma assessment
- Patient advocacy
- Critical thinking
- Teamwork and communication
Work History
November 2021 – Current
Pennsylvania Hospital – Philadelphia, PA
Trauma Nurse
- Provide emergency medical care to an average of 30 critically ill patients in a 12-hour shift within a 24-bed Trauma department.
- Support medical staff of 20 in providing immediate care for heart attack and burn victim patients.
- Treat patients requiring stabilization and resuscitation for a variety of illnesses and injuries.
September 2019 – October 2021
Roxborough Memorial Hospital – Philadelphia, PA
Emergency Room Nurse
- Administered medications via oral, IV and intramuscular injections to 80 patients per week in a busy level 1 emergency center and monitored their responses.
- Answered codes quickly and orchestrated efficient, skilled medical care.
- Assisted 10 doctors with procedures and patient stabilizations.
June 2015 – August 2019
Penn Medicine – Philadelphia, PA
Registered Nurse
- Collected blood, tissue and other laboratory specimens and prepared them for lab testing.
- Collaborated with five physicians to quickly assess an average of 200 patients per week and deliver appropriate treatment while managing rapidly changing conditions.
- Updated patient charts with data such as medications and patient medical history to support accurate treatments.
Education
June 2015
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA
Bachelor of Science NursingTrauma Nursing Core Course (TNCC)
Certifications
Trauma Certified Registered Nurse certification (TCRN) – (Updated 2024)
Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) – (Updated 2023)
Registered Nurse (RN) certification – (Updated 2023)
5 essentials of a top trauma nurse resume
1. Contact details
Start with the basics: the contact details section. For a trauma nurse resume, use the standard: full name, city, state and ZIP code, followed by phone number and email address. Finally, add a professional website or any other professional networking profile, like LinkedIn or a membership organization.
2. Personal statement
The professional summary is your introduction to the hiring manager. In no more than five sentences, highlight your strongest job-relevant abilities, including how long you have been in the industry and one or two professional accomplishments. Always tailor this section to the trauma nurse job description for a resume, as this is the first section a hiring manager will read.
3. Skills
Build the trauma nurse resume skills section using a bulleted list for an easy read. Include keywords from the job description to capture the hiring manager’s attention.
If this is your first job as a trauma nurse resume, you can include transferable skills from other employment.
4. Work history
Use the patient care tech duties for a resume from the job description to build the experience section. List your work history in reverse-chronological order and add the company names, locations and dates of employment. Include a bulleted list of three measurable accomplishments per job, like
If this is your first job, you can include other relevant work experience, like volunteer experiences, community services, professional projects and more.
5. Education
Create an education section for your trauma nurse resume and include the educational institution’s name, the degree conferred and graduation year. Skip the year if it has been more than 10 years.
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Action words for a standout trauma nurse resume
Action words build powerful statements. Combine them with measurable achievements to create an effective resume for a trauma nurse resume.
Here’s a short list of action words for a trauma nurse resume:
- Delegate
- Perform
- Provide
- Facilitate
- Administer
- Assist
- Maintain
- Conduct
- Formulate
- Consult
Our Resume Builder can build a trauma nurse resume quickly and easily. Consider our expert suggestions as you build your resume and download the product once you’re satisfied with it. We have 800+ resume examples to help you create the perfect resume for a trauma nurse resume.
Top skills for a trauma nurse resume
Grab the recruiter’s attention by creating a skills section with your strongest abilities. Use the trauma nurse resume job description for a resume to match the required skills to your own. Add hard skills, such as medical data entry, medication administration and care planning, and soft skills, like collaboration, active listening and bedside manner.
Your skills might include:
- Acute care
- Advanced nursing skills
- Patient safety
- Emergency care
- Family nursing
- Telemetry
- Protocols order
- Teamwork
- Foreign language skills
- Active listening
- Multitasking
- Cultural competency
Certifications for a trauma nurse resume
Complete your trauma resume by including your licenses and certifications. While a specialized certification is not a requirement, including a Trauma Certified Registered Nurse by the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN) can help set you apart from other candidates.
Other important certifications to include in your resume are:
- Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
- Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
- Disaster Nursing Certification
- Flight Medic
If you’re still pursuing a certification, you can include it with the expected completion date. And, when applicable, remember to include the expiration date.
Pair your resume with a matching cover letter
Trauma nurse resume FAQ
How do I make a trauma nurse resume stand out?
To make your trauma nurse resume stand out, match as much information as possible to the job description. This will show the employer you have the skills they’re looking for. Also, add numbers to your work history by using quantifiable accomplishments that showcase how you’ve successfully used your abilities in other roles.
Remember to keep your resume concise, scannable, and easy to read with bullet points and clear formatting.
What skills should I list in a trauma nurse resume?
Always tailor your resume for the specific job using the job description as a guide. Then, create a balanced list between hard skills and soft skills.
Hard skills are your technical abilities, for example:
- Vital signs
- Patient record documentation and reporting
- Equipment and supplies sterilization
- Patient preparation for procedure
- Lab work
- Examination assistant
- Patient education
Don’t forget about soft skills like:
- Cultural competence
- Adaptability
- Foreign languages
Build your skills section with the ones you want the employer to see first. Use your work history accomplishments to help showcase how you use those skills.
What format should a trauma nurse resume using?
Choose a resume format according to your years of experience:
- The chronological resume format is great for candidates with 10+ years of experience, as it focuses on their work experience.
- The functional resume format works for candidates starting their career as it focuses on skills and abilities while downplaying the lack of experience.
- The combination resume format is ideal for candidates with 3 to 9 years of experience. It balances the skills and experience sections.
What’s the best style for a trauma nurse resume?
A well-structured, accurately formatted resume will be the best style for your trauma nurse resume. Find a modern template to fit all your skills and experience, or a creative template to highlight your style. When in doubt, opt for a clean, basic template to present your information.
Our vast template collection has over 40 professional resume templates, where you can find one that will suit your needs. You can play around with different styles in our Resume Builder, which will help you create a professional document to pass the ATS-test and get your trauma nurse resume template to the hiring manager.
Do’s and don’ts for building a trauma nurse resume
- Use measurable achievements to describe your trauma nurse resume skills and experience.
- Use action words to make an impact on your trauma nurse resume.
- Tailor your resume to your target trauma nurse job.
- Use keywords from the job description throughout your trauma nurse resume.
- Format your trauma nurse resume so that it is easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
- Lie about your trauma nurse resume experience and skills.
- Boast about your “incomparable” trauma nurse resume abilities.
- Include irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
- Add skills and experience that do not pertain to a trauma nurse resume.
- Forget to proofread. A trauma nurse resume with errors is unprofessional and will be discarded.
Top 4 tips for acing a trauma nurse resume interview
1. Research the company before your interview.
Research the institution’s history, goals and values through its official website, social media and the news. This knowledge will show your potential employer interest, dedication and commitment — traits that hiring managers look for in every candidate. It will also help you craft your own questions for the interviewer. Plus, having a glimpse of the company culture before you arrive will give you an idea of what to expect on arrival.
2. Practice at home.
Prepare for any scenario by practicing an interview with the help of a friend or relative. Start by reviewing the most common interview questions, such as:
- Describe a Time When You Needed to Cope With a Stressful Scenario
- What Two or Three Things Are Most Important to You in Your Job?
- Tell Me About a Time When You Were Forced to Think on Your Feet
- Why Should We Hire You Over Other Candidates?
- Interview Question: Qualities that Contribute to Professional Success
Research other possible interview questions, write down your answers and then practice with your interview partner. Ask them for feedback on your answers and body language, and work with them to improve. Being prepared will boost your confidence and chances of getting a callback for a second trauma nurse resume interview.
Pro tip: Practice in front of a mirror. Remember to look at both your facial expressions and body language, which hiring managers will notice.
3. Be proactive and ask questions.
You are also interviewing the employer to find out if it’s a fit for your career. Prepare at least three questions that will help you learn more about the company, their mission and values and the role. Get started with these examples:
- Why did you choose to work for this employer?
- What’s the day-to-day like?
- How do you protect your staff from issues with patients or within staff?
- How do you measure performance?
- What measure have you established for personnel safety?
- How do you support continued professional development?
Use open-ended questions and allow the interviewer to answer before moving on to the next one. You can bring a small notebook or piece of paper with your questions written down.
4. Gather your references.
Contact former managers and colleagues to be potential references as you start applying for trauma nurse resume positions. Your potential references should be able to vouch for your work ethic and skills. Explain to them where you are in the process and let them know they could receive a phone call or email. Also, request at least two letters of recommendation for you.
If this is your first full-time job as a trauma nurse, you can request a reference from a mentor or instructor, an individual that can vouch for your skills.
Cover letter examples for the next step in your nursing career
How we reviewed this article
Since 2012, we have helped more than 11 million job seekers. We want to make your career journey accessible and manageable through our services and Career Center’s how-to guides and tips. In our commitment to bring you a transparent process, we present our Editorial Process.
Sources
O*Net OnLine. Certification: Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN)
Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing. Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN)
Registered Nursing. Trauma Nurse Certification
Nilda is a career advice writer. She is committed to helping job seekers navigate the job market and succeed in their careers.
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