When considering a nursing position internationally, a detailed CV (curriculum vitae) is most often a requirement.
Nursing practices may differ from country to country, so a detailed and informative CV will shed a clearer understanding of your work experience to prospective employers.
Whenever you write a new CV, or refresh a current one, you can rely on a few tips compiled by Sunrise Jobs to guide you in writing a stellar CV.

About Your Personal Details:
- Do provide your full name in this following format: first name and then your surname or family name in this order
- Do include your current address (if currently working abroad on contact)
- Do not forget to note your original or permanent address
- Do include the country code, city code and number when listing your telephone number
- Do not forget to include your e-mail address
Selecting a Photo for Your CV
Considering employers will organize a Skype interview, at which you are going to see each other, we highly recommend to add photo on your CV. First of all, the employer wants to be sure that the person who applied for the job is the same person doing the interview. The photo must be professional, it should be a portrait, taken from the front. Avoid exaggerated poses or hair dues, as well as glasses or a lot of jewellery, avoid full body shots as well. Passport-style photo would perfectly match our needs.
About Your Working History/Experience:
(Remember, this section MUST give clear picture of your nursing background and must be thorough)
- Do not include any non-nursing related jobs
- Do make sure there are no chronological gaps in you CV (if there are gaps, provide an explanation i.e. pregnancy, maternity leave, taking care of family, etc.)
- Do include a brief description of the hospital: address of the hospital, country and city, private of public, number of beds, teaching hospital, trauma centre, etc.
- Do describe unit/ward: type of unit, number of beds, the type of patients’ diagnoses (putting “5 East” on your resume as your unit type means nothing to a potential employer. However, putting “Acute Care Med/Surgery Specialty Unit” or “Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit” conveys a message.)
- Do not forget to include your position
- For OR nurses, do include number of rooms or theatres in your OR, how many cases are typically seen every day or every month and include whether you scrub, circulate or both
- Do include any volunteering nursing position
- List working experience chronological from the very latest to the first (if you had experience in more than one hospital, clinic, health care institution, chronologically list them with the above-listed details)
Education Details
Your CV should include the following education information:
- Degree(s) earned (Diploma, Bachelor, Master’s degree, etc.)
- Name of school
- Beginning and ending dates
- City and state
License and Certification Information:
Including licensing information on your resume won’t necessarily get you a job, but it could lose you a job if it is not there. We recommend that you include the following license information on your resume.
- Name on the license if different then the name on the resume
- License expiration date
- License number
We also recommend including any relevant credentials or certifications you have earned on your resume. Include the certification name type (either certificate you got attending lectures for collecting license points, international certificates attending symposiums, certificates you got in your own country as BLS, ACLS, PALS etc.) We suggest that you list at least two certificates but do not list all that you have, just pick the most important ones.
Experience with Computers and Specific Kinds of Equipment
In fact, most healthcare facilities are now going paperless. Everything from resume tracking to patient charting is going electronic. All your computer skills are welcome to write. Under experience with computers you are welcome to write all kind of equipment you are using in your unit, such as Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP), Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), Pace Maker, Machine for Mechanical Ventilation, Invasive and Non-invasive monitoring (type and brands), Infusion pumps (syringe pumps, drip pumps, etc.) Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT), etc.
Languages
Beside your mother tongue that you will give, knowledge of the English language is a must, it does not need to be perfect and you do not need a certificate but a level equal to B1 will give you a possibility to apply for a job and employers will be satisfied with it. If you know how to speak a language other than English, this is also worth adding to your resume. Please specify language skills in the form of levels (B1, B2, C1, C2)
Social Skills and Competencies
Under Social Skills and Competencies you can put experience such as living and working with other people, in multicultural environments, in positions where communication is important and situations where teamwork is essential.
Organization Skills and Competencies
Under Organization Skills and Competencies you can write coordination and administration of people, projects and budgets, at work and in voluntary work, etc.