Nurse Practitioner Resume: Examples & Template

You're a nurse practitioner, ready to heal the world one patient at a time. But first, your resume needs some tender loving care. Our guide is here to provide the perfect prescription for your nurse practitioner resume, ensuring it's in tip-top shape.

With our expert advice, you'll soon be impressing hiring managers like Florence Nightingale with her lamp. Let's get started and nurse your career to new heights!

This guide will show you:

• A nurse practitioner resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a nurse practitioner resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on nurse practitioner resumes.
• How to prepare the best nurse practitioner job description for a resume to get any job you want.

Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.

Use this resume template

Sample resume made with our builder—See more resume examples here.

Need more specific advice? Switch over to the other resumes:

• Nursing Resume
• Caregiver Resume
• CNA Resume
• Medical Assistant Resume
• Nursing Student Resume
• Med-Surg Nurse Resume
• Telemetry Nurse Resume
• Charge Nurse Resume
• Pediatric Nurse Resume
• Professional Resume Examples

Nurse Practitioner Resume Example

1. What’s the Best Format for a Nurse Practitioner Resume?

Looking for the best NP resume format?

Here’s your answer: the chronological resume format.

Why this one?

Easy: it concentrates on your professional experience, key achievements, and skills.

And—

If you use the reverse-chronological order, your most recent experience will show up first.

Plus, it’s the preferred resume format for most recruiters so they’ll have no problems finding what they’re looking for.

Just like in a well-organized medicine cabinet.

Have these tips in the back of your mind when making your nurse practitioner resume:

• Use white space to your advantage.
• Don’t stuff too much information.
• Use a resume-friendly font.
• Make reader-friendly headings.

Export your nurse practitioner resume as a PDF file. PDFs keep the document formatting in shape on all computers and devices.

Okay.

Now, we’re all set to move on to the first section of your NP resume.

Not really sure what resume format would work best for you? Here’s our guide that’ll help you: Best Resume Format: Which to Choose?

2. Nurse Practitioner Resume Objective or Summary?

Listen:

Nurse practitioners know exactly which sections of a patient’s medical record to look at to glean as much information as possible with a single glance.

Recruiters do the same.

The average recruiter will spend less than 10 seconds scanning NP resumes hoping that they’ll quickly learn something important about you.

Your nurse practitioner resume objective or summary will be one of the first things they’ll see.

Here’s the difference between the two:

• Nurse practitioner resume objective concentrates on your skills and aims to show the recruiter you're a perfect fit for the position. Resume objectives are best for an entry-level nurse practitioner resume or new graduate nurse practitioner resume.

• Nurse practitioner resume summary of qualifications, gives a glimpse into the highlights of your work history. Resume summaries work best on an experienced nurse practitioner resume with at least 2+ years of professional practice.

Nurse Practitioner Resume—Objective Statement

The right example shows that the candidate knows exactly how to market themselves.

They start with listing strong personal traits, describe their educational background and achievements.

More than that—

The candidate refers to the employer by name, identifies their soft skills and hard skills, and says how they’d benefit the company.

The wrong example looks generic and could be used in any resume—

With equally bad results each time.

Nurse Practitioner Resume—Summary of Qualifications

Just like previously—

The only thing the wrong example shows is:

The candidate doesn’t seem to be motivated enough to even write a decent resume summary.

Here’s out tried and tested formula to help you get your nurse practitioner resume summary right:

1. Begin with a description of your strong traits.
2. Summarize your track record.
3. Mention your skills and experience.
4. Identify your biggest achievement(s).

And:

5. Put numbers wherever possible.

Still fuzzy about writing your resume objective or summary? Our guides will take you through the entire writing process by the hand:

• Professional Career Objective Examples
• Professional Resume Summary Examples

3. The Best Nurse Practitioner Job Description for a Resume

If your nurse practitioner resume would only have to consist of one section—

It would be the experience section.

So—

Make sure it puts you well ahead of the pack and delivers like dexamethasone.

Here’s how to get your nurse practitioner description right:

• List your latest or current position first. Let the previous ones follow.
• In each entry add your job title, dates worked, and name of the company.
• List your experience in bullet points. Put up to 6-7 bullets for each entry.
• Be specific about your duties, and try to present them in terms of accomplishments.
• Use resume action verbs for maximum impact.
• Tailor your resume to the job by focusing on your relevant experience.
• Put numbers wherever you can. Numbers speak louder than words.

Here’s what your nurse practitioner job description for a resume could look like:

Nurse Practitioner Resume—Job Description Sample

You’ll only get the job if the recruiter sees you’ve got everything they look for in a candidate.

This is why you should use the original job ad as a point of reference for your resume job description.

More than that—

Try to stay as close as possible to the original phrasing in case your nurse practitioner resume ends up scanned by the ATS (Applicant Tracking System).

And one final remark:

You may find it difficult to quantify each and every experience bullet in your job description.

Don’t worry.

Select up to 3 achievements you’re able to put a number next to and place them in a key achievements subsection.

Look at the example above to see what it looks like in practice.

And—

Take a look at the wrong example of a job description to see what you must avoid.

This kind of job description is not necessarily liked, let alone appreciated, by the recruiter.

What about an entry-level nurse practitioner resume?

Here’s the thing:

No section on your nurse practitioner resume must be left empty.

Just think about it:

Would you employ someone who has absolutely no idea what to do on the job?

The answer is obvious.

Now, in resume writing there’s only one rule:

Relevance.

If your experience as an NP is non-existent, populate your job description with other relevant experience, such as:

• Internships
• Voluntary work
• Student practice

All these count.

If you’re not sure how to make a nurse practitioner resume as a new graduate, head straight to our guide: First Resume with No Work Experience

Making a resume with our builder is incredibly simple. Follow our step-by-step guide, use ready-made content tailored to your job and have a resume ready in minutes.

Create my resume now

When you’re done, our free resume builder will score your resume and our resume checker will tell you exactly how to make it better.

4. How to Put Nurse Practitioner Skills on a Resume

This is no understatement—

Your nurse practitioner skills are critical to getting the job

The best part?

If you followed our guidelines, your experience section already has quite a number of relevant skills.

Take another look:

Sample LPN Resume—Skills in a Job Description

Sample Nurse Practitioner Resume—Skills

• Obtaining complete health history
• Performing complete physical exams
• Ordering and performing diagnostic procedures and tests
• Interpreting clinical findings
• Develop health care problems list
• Arranging referrals and medical consults
• Prescribing specific medications/therapeutic interventions
• Communication skills
• Organizational skills
• Teamwork

As you see—

The most important nurse practitioner skills are already on your resume.

Want to give them more visibility?

Double-check the job offer to see what skills the employer identifies by name.

See which ones you can offer.

Put them on your nurse practitioner resume in a dedicated key skills section.

Pro Tip: List up to 10 skills and choose the ones you’re proficient at not to fall victim to the presenter’s paradox.

You can use the lists below as inspiration:

LPN Skills for Resume—List

• Arranging referrals and medical consults
• Organization
• Prescribing specific medications/therapeutic interventions
• Risk management
• Ordering and performing diagnostic procedures and tests
• Interpreting clinical findings
• Interpersonal skills
• Adaptability
• Differential diagnosis
• Collaboration
• Develop health care problems list
• Patient education/counseling
• Emergency procedures
• Multitasking
• Performing complete physical exams
• Troubleshooting
• Problem-solving
• Resilience
• Perseverance
• Patient rights
• Teamwork
• Obtaining complete health history
• Policy and procedure development
• Cooperation
• Promoting evidence-based practice
• Oral communication
• Analytical skills
• Communication
• Authorizing/coordinating admissions/discharge

Don't list random skills, a family nurse practitioner should focus on a different skill set than a neonatal nurse practitioner for example.

To display your nurse practitioner skills on a resume with maximum impact:

• Pepper your entire nurse practitioner resume with relevant skills.
• Don’t list more than 10 of your key skills in a dedicated section.
• Avoid the temptation to list everything. Focus on relevant skills only.

It is especially important in the context of a large skills gap in the healthcare sector.

Still in doubt about what skills to put on your resume? Read our guide: The Ultimate Skill Set for a Resume (99+ Examples of Skills for All Types of Jobs).

5. Is Your Education Section Hypoventilated? It Might Be

Your education matters.

A lot.

Without proper education you wouldn’t be applying for an NP position.

So—

Make sure to list all relevant schools, and professional certifications.

Nurse Practitioner Resume Example—Education

Resume for Nurse Practitioner—License and Certifications

• Registered Nurse—License #24973947
• FNP-BC
• ACLS
• BCLS
• PALS

Making a new graduate nurse practitioner resume? Not sure what to put in the education section? We’ve got you covered: How to Write the Education Resume Section [Tips & Examples]

6. How About a Nurse Practitioner Resume Cover Letter?

Listen:

Cover letters are still a thing and around 50% of recruiters would like to read yours.

Why is this the case?

A cover letter is hard evidence of your written communication skills, and it gives you an opportunity to introduce yourself.

Here’s how to make your cover letter for a nurse practitioner resume stand out:

1. Make sure it’s well organized and clearly written.
2. Keep it short and sweet—one page is enough.
3. Use it to tell the story behind your resume.
4. If you have any employment gaps—explain them.

Looks straightforward, doesn’t it?

The problems usually kick in once you sit down to writing it.

If your mind goes blank—

Keep calm.

And read our dedicated guide on how to write a perfect cover letter.

For even more detailed advice and examples, read one of these guides:

• How to Address a Cover Letter
• How to Start a Cover Letter
• How to End a Cover Letter
• What to Include in a Cover Letter

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

Create my cover letter now

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Key Takeaway

Your nurse practitioner resume must be more than a happy account of all the things you’ve ever done in life.

Here’s a quick summary of how to write a job-winning nurse practitioner resume:

1. Pick out a professional nurse practitioner resume template.
2. Open your resume with a catchy resume objective or summary.
3. Focus on the relevant experience in the job description section.
4. Put your achievements in the limelight.
5. Present your key nurse practitioner skills.
6. Tailor your nurse practitioner resume to the job ad.
7. List your professional licenses and certifications.
8. Write a magnetizing nurse practitioner cover letter.

And—

Get ready for your interview!

Are you a new graduate writing your entry-level family nurse practitioner resume for the first time? Or perhaps you’re an experienced nurse practitioner eager to help the young guns out? We’d love to hear from you, leave your comment below!

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This article has been reviewed by our editorial team to make sure it follows Zety's editorial guidelines. We’re committed to sharing our expertise and giving you trustworthy career advice tailored to your needs. High-quality content is what brings over 40 million readers to our site every year. But we don't stop there. Our team conducts original research to understand the job market better, and we pride ourselves on being quoted by top universities and prime media outlets from around the world.

Sources

• https://doi.org/10.1086/664497
• https://www.hiringlab.org/2019/03/20/healthcare-skills-gap/