Nurse CV Examples & Guide for 2025

Crafting a standout CV can be particularly daunting when trying to encapsulate the wide array of skills and experiences you possess as a nurse. Delve into our guide and discover expert tips and tailored advice to transform this challenge into a polished and professional summary of your nursing career.

Formatting your nurse CV to meet the role expectations

Staring at the blank page for hours on end, you still have no idea how you should start your professional nurse CV. Should you include more colours, two columns, and which sections? What you should remember about your CV format is this - ensure it's minimalistic and doesn't go over the top with fancy fonts and many colours. Instead, focus on writing consistent content that actually answers the job requirements. But, how about the design itself :

• Use the reverse chronological order to showcase your experience, starting with your most recent role;
• Include your contact details (email address, phone number, and location) - and potentially your professional photo - in the header;
• Must-have CV sections include summary or objective, experience, education, and skills: curate the ones that fit your profile;
• Your professional nurse CV should be between one-to-two pages long: select the longer format if you have more experience.

A little bit more about your actual CV design, ensure you're using:

• plenty of serif or sans serif font (e.g. Montserrat, Exo 2, Volkhov) as they are Applicant Tracker System (ATS) compliant. Avoid the likes of Arial and Times New Roman because most candidates' CVs are in this typography.

When submitting your CV, are you still not sure what format it should be? Despite the myth that has been circling around, most modern ATS systems are perfectly capable of reading PDFs. This format is an excellent choice as it keeps all of your information intact.

Our checklist for the must-have information in your nurse CV header

Right at the very top of your nurse CV is where you'd find the header section or the space for your contact details, headline, and professional photo. Wondering how to present your the name of the city you live in and the country abbreviation as your address;

• are tailored to the role you're applying for by integrating key job skills and requirements;
• showcase what your unique value is, most often in the form of your most noteworthy accomplishment;
• select your relevant qualifications, skills, or current role to pass the Applicant Tracker System (ATS) assessment.
Still not sure how to write your CV headline? Our examples below showcase best practices on creating effective headlines:

Choosing your opening statement: a nurse CV summary or objective

At the top one third of your CV, you have the chance to make a more personable impression on recruiters by selecting between:

• Summary - or those three to five sentences that you use to show your greatest achievements. Use the CV summary if you happen to have plenty of relevant experience and wish to highlight your greatest successes;
• Objective - provides you with up to five sentences to state your professional aims and mission in the company you're applying for

More detailed look into your work history: best advice on writing your nurse CV experience section

The CV experience is a space not just to merely list your past roles and responsibilities. It is the CV real estate within which you could detail your greatest accomplishments and skills, while matching the job requirements. Here's what to have in your experience section:

• Prove you have what the job wants with your unique skill set and past successes;
• Start each bullet with a strong, action verb, and continue with the outcome of your responsibility;
• Use any awards, nominations, and recognitions you've received as solid proof of your skill set and expertise;
• align your experience with the role responsibilities and duties.

For more help on how to write your CV experience section, check out the next section of our guide:

Writing your CV without professional experience for your first job or when switching industries

There comes a day, when applying for a job, you happen to have no relevant experience, whatsoever. Yet, you're keen on putting your name in the hat. What should you do? Candidates who part-time experience , internships, and volunteer work.

The CV skills' divide: between hard and soft skills

Of course, you may have read the job requirements plenty of times now, but it's key to note that there is a difference between technical and personal skills. Both are equally relevant to your job application. When writing about your skill set, ensure you've copy-pasted the precise skill from the job requirement. This would not only help you ensure you have the correct spelling, but also pass any Applicant Tracker System (ATS) assessments.

• Hard skills show your technological capabilities. Or whether you'll be a good technical fit to the organisation. Ensure you've spotlighted your hard skills in various sections of your CV (e.g. skills section, projects, experience) by including the technology and what you've attained;
• Soft skills pinpoint your personality and people or communication skills, hinting at if you'll easily accomodate into the team or organisation. Quantify your soft skills in your CV achievements, strengths, summary/objective, and experience sections. Always support your soft skills with how they've helped you grow as a professional.

CV education and certificates: your academic background as proof of your skill set

A common misconception about your nurse CV education is that you only need it, if you have less professional experience. That is completely false. The CV education section serves to back up your technical (and sometimes personal) capabilities, fill in gaps in your work history, and show you have the initial industry background and know-how. When creating your education section:

• List your degrees in the reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent (and relevant) ones first;
• Include your degree and university names, start and graduation dates. It's optional to also denote you received a "First-Class Honours" for diplomas that are more relevant to the role;
• Curate your relevant university coursework, projects, or thesis work if you happen to have less professional expertise and need to integrate more job keywords and skills.

Your professional qualifications don't need to stop at your academic background. It's advisable to also select up to three of your most noteworthy (and relevant) industry certificates and feature them in a dedicated section. Once more, include the certificate name, the institution that issued it out, and the date you obtained it on. You could feature both hard skills and soft skills certificates, as in the examples below:

Key takeaways

What matters most in your nurse CV-writing process is for you to create a personalised application. One that matches the role and also showcases your unique qualities and talents.

• Use the format to supplement the actual content, to stand out, and to ensure your CV experience is easy to comprehend and follows a logic;
• Invest time in building a succinct CV top one third. One that includes a header (with your contact details and headline), a summary or an objective statement (select the one that best fits your experience), and - potentially - a dedicated skills section or achievements (to fit both hard skills and soft skills requirements);
• Prioritise your most relevant (and senior) experience closer to the top of your CV. Always ensure you're following the "power verb, skill, and achievement" format for your bullets;
• Integrate both your technical and communication background across different sections of your CV to meet the job requirements;
• List your relevant education and certificates to fill in gaps in your CV history and prove to recrutiers you have relevant technical know-how.