3 Most Valuable Nursing Skills To Land a Perfect Nursing Job

Due to the recent pandemic, the last few years have seen a large demand for healthcare professionals, such as nurse practitioners, licensed practical nurses (LPN), registered nurses (RN), and intensive care unit nurses (ICU), to name a few.

To gain a successful nursing profession in today’s ever-evolving healthcare environment requires knowledge of modern and advanced medical tools and technology, and other specialised technical skills, or hard skills. But soft skills such as communication and teamwork are crucial for nurses looking to be valuable team members in the emergency room, pediatric operating rooms, and beyond. But, in the nursing field, these skills are anything but soft. They’re key skills for the well-being of patients and the peace of mind of patients’ families.

To land the perfect nursing job, you have to know which skills to showcase in your CV that are relevant to the position you’re applying for. In this article, we’ll show you the top three skills employers seek in nurses and how to best showcase these skills on your CV to impress them. Lastly, we’ll explore the foundation of the nursing field, referred to as the six C’s of nursing.

Nursing job positions attract hundreds of similarly-skilled nursing candidates. Therefore, it’s crucial for your nursing CV to stand out from the competition and highlight your greatest strengths as a nurse.

Hiring managers use specific tools that make their hiring process easier and more efficient. An example of such a tool is applicant tracking system (ATS) software. ATS aids the employer’s hiring process by filtering out irrelevant CVs and applications, so nurses need to tailor their skills section of their CVs to showcase relevant keywords to describe their nursing skills and work-related experience (most of which can be pulled directly from the job description). And in their work experience section, they should cite examples from previous job duties that showcase the skills mentioned in the job description and their results.

Here are some examples of hard skills you can add to your nursing CV:

• Basic life support
• Patient care
• Familiarity with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• Emergency and critical care nursing
• Computer skills (e.g. proficiency with specific medical or database software)

It’s also important to highlight relevant soft skills, such as:

• Effective communication skills
• Empathy
• Time management
• Teamwork
• Critical thinking skills

If you’re interested in advancing your nursing career, you need to develop and refine the top in-demand nursing competencies. The following are the three most essential and sought-out nursing skills employers seek in nurses:

1. Medical skills:

These are the critical hard skills, or technical skills, successful nurses need. These skills can include advanced competencies in specific medical procedures, technology, and data-driven decision-making.

The types of medical skills that are most important can vary depending on the type of nurse (emergency room nurse, CNA nurse, LPN nurse, etc.). Here’s examples of some of them – look for more in the job description for the particular job you want.

• EIV Therapy
• EGeneral medicine expertise
• ENebulizer therapy
• Expertise in national standards of care and treatment processes for common conditions (National Patient Safety Goals)

Nurses use technology to carry out their tasks on a daily basis, so some related technical skills to consider for your CV should include:

• EElectronic Health Records
• EMobile patient charts (usually on tablet devices)
• EMedical devices, such as wearable devices like heart monitors
• EIntravenous Devices

Organizational skills are also key for the nursing profession, as nurses must make use of various types of data to make informed decisions on managing hospital resources and patient assignments effectively. Important abilities in this area include:

• ENurse Staffing
• ENurse Scheduling
• EPatient workload, based on the patient’s care needs
• EPatient admission, transfer, and discharge needs

2. Leadership skills:

This is an essential soft skill needed for nursing success. Employers are looking for nurses who are strong advocates for their patients and skilled in leading teams to achieve better clinical outcomes and results.

3. Flexibility and time management skills:

Nursing often requires long shifts, traveling to different hospital locations, and handling a large influx of patients on short notice. It is crucial to show employers you have the motivation, energy, and commitment to get the job done while possessing the time management skills to carry it out efficiently.

The 6 C’s are the central set of values identified by National Health Service (NHS) England Chief Nursing Officer Jane Cummings and launched in 2012 in the UK. These values and their associated behaviors provide a foundation of values ensuring high-quality care.

The 6 C’s are defined as:

• Care
• Compassion
• Courage
• Communication
• Commitment
• Competence

When writing your CV, focus on how to best highlight your nursing competencies that showcase each of the 6 C’s. For example, you can showcase “Care” by highlighting your nursing technical skills that allow you to provide the best level of care to patients. Your “Compassion, Courage, and Communication” can be shown on your CV by providing examples in your job history that show you are a great patient advocate.