Personal statements: A tale of passion and promise
Personal statements are like brief professional summaries. The main idea with personal statements is to illustrate your professional strengths in a short and concise way. As a nurse, it's important that you establish a personal connection with your reader, so you'll want to write with warmth and sensitivity. At cvapp.nz, we can help you achieve this with ease.
Let's start with your personal statement. Your personal statement serves as your professional introduction. In ideally four to six sentences, you'll want to include any stand-out professional facts, strengths or achievements here. You don't have to elaborate too much on previous employment positions -- that's what your employment history section is for – but more on that later. We recommend reading over the job description carefully. If you have any relevant skills mentioned, you'll want to include these in your CV. Try to include any keywords that might apply to you and your professional situation.
As a nurse, being compassionate, empathetic and attentive to patient care are non-negotiables, so do be sure to keep this in mind as you craft your CV. Check out an example of an excellent nursing personal statement below:
Service-oriented and organised registered nurse with several years of experience in the healthcare industry. Strong communication skills and a desire to serve others, proficient in patient diagnosis, after-care and handling every patient case with confidentiality and privacy.
Employment history: your career highlights
When it comes to your CV's employment history section, we recommend including relevant positions that align with your profession as a nurse. Prioritise listing jobs, in reverse chronological order from most recent to least recent, that are more closely related to your field, and consider leaving out less relevant positions, especially those from a while ago. This will help streamline and optimise your CV for nursing roles and get you noticed faster.
It's important to provide thorough details about your previous roles in this section. Include information such as the title of your position, the organisation or company you worked for, the duration of your employment in years and/or months, as well as any key responsibilities and tasks you handled. If you have experience in the healthcare industry, it's also important to mention details about the facility type, such as the specific department you worked in or any other relevant information about the hospital units or departments you worked in. These additional specifics can be helpful for potential employers reviewing your CV.
Here’s a great example of a nursing employment history section:
Nurse at Beverly View Hospital, Timaru
May 2019 — Present
- Provided high-quality care to patients in the NICU ward and ER departments
- Contacted family members to advise on out-patient treatment options and patient care
- Collaborated with senior doctors to create specifically tailored treatments for admitted patients
Nursing Assistant at Christchurch Central Hospital, Christchurch
February 2014 — October 2018
- Managed patients in the surgical ward, providing support and taking patient requests
- Assisted hospital staff with patients, including data collection, food and beverage dispatch and contacting families of patients
- Collaborated with other medical professionals to answer patient queries and concerns
- Assisted with emergency department cases and supported families in the ER room
Nursing Extern at Bluewater Health Services, Christchurch
May 2013 — December 2013
- Assisted with the daily operations of the medical office, including greeting patients, helping with patient on-boarding and escalating patient questions to senior staff members
- Gathered important medical information and data from patients for senior medical assessment
- Processed patient paperwork for time-effective patient care
Education: mapping academic milestones
In this section, it is essential to include any relevant educational qualifications. To become a qualified nurse in New Zealand, you must have completed a Bachelor of Nursing degree from an approved institution and have successfully completed the Competency Assessment Programme (CAP). Additionally, it is necessary to be registered with the Nursing Council of New Zealand. Make sure to include detailed information about these qualifications in your education section. If you possess any international credentials or qualifications, remember to include those details as well.
Like your employment history section, you’ll want to list your credentials and qualifications in order of most recent to least recent. You might also like to include any relevant academic awards, licenses, certifications, honours or scholarships in this section. At cvapp.nz, we offer a range of templates and examples to provide you with inspiration and guidance to create an attention-grabbing CV that showcases your professionalism with ease. Check out our example of a great nursing education section here:
Master of Health Science, University of Canterbury, Christchurch
February 2013 — December 2016
Bachelor of Health Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin
February 2009 — May 2012
NCEA Level 3, Roncalli College, Timaru
February 2004 — December 2008
Skills: so, what are your strengths?
As a nurse, the skills you have to offer are important. It's important to highlight a variety of medical skills in your skills section: these may include any clinical expertise, emotional intelligence, and technical abilities. Our A.I skills suggestion tool simplifies the process of incorporating these skills into your profile. While we suggest emphasising both hard and soft skills, it is especially relevant for nurses to emphasise soft skills like time management, collaboration, and communication.
We’ve got a great example of a skills section below – for more career resources and top tips, be sure to check out the cvapp.nz website!
- Communication Skills
- Critical thinking and problem solving
- Strong Interpersonal Communication Skills
- Knowledgable in Medical Terminology and Procedures
- Trauma and ER Experience
- Patient Advocacy
