Healthcare Careers

Welcome to the Healthcare Career Category where you’ll find information on career management, jobs and professional networking for nurses, physicians and allied health professionals.

5 Things that New Grad RNs and Experienced RNs Should Know About the Job Market

A New Grad RN recently shared their frustration with us regarding the difficulties encountered in finding a first job. Having spoken to many New Grad RNs over the years, we know how frustrating it can be for them to land their first job with an acute care hospital. These days, many people point to uncertainty surrounding the Affordable Care Act as the cause. However, our experience indicates that New Grad RNs have been having this difficulty since at least 2006. While the problem has certainly been magnified since 2008, we’re not sure how much of it can be attributed to the Affordable Care Act. The poor economy and an overall misunderstanding of the “nursing shortage” are more likely causes. Understanding the issues at play can help New Grad RNs formulate a strategy for landing their first job in an acute care hospital. Read more

Sample Nursing Resume – RN Resume

Below is an image of a sample nursing resume – RN Resume – rendered from a BluePipes profile. As a professional networking website dedicated to healthcare professionals, BluePipes provides a profile that helps nurses identify and record details pertinent to their unique careers. Your profile can be rendered as a PDF resume, saved, and utilized at your convenience.

Unlike job boards and lead generators, BluePipes will never sell your personal contact information to third parties. Moreover, only the information displayed on your public profile is visible to  members. Everything else is kept private and secure so only you will be able to access when necessary.

BluePipes also provides free access to over 100 comprehensive skills checklists that members can complete, save, and download as PDF documents. Read more

Nurse Resume Length Image

How Long Should My Nursing Resume Be?

Our article discussing the top 10 details to include on your nursing resume has received over 2 million views. The most common question we receive pertains to the length of the nurse’s resume. Inquirers are concerned that they can’t fit all of the information we recommend into a one-page document. In this article, we’ll focus on nursing resume length so you can approach the topic with confidence.
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Sample Nursing Skills Checklist

Skills checklists are self assessment tools utilized by healthcare employers and healthcare professionals for gauging a healthcare professional’s skill set within a particular healthcare specialty. Healthcare employers often require potential job candidates and new-hires to complete them. They are a standard requirement for employment with travel nursing agencies and healthcare staffing agencies of all types. Skills checklists can also be very useful for healthcare professionals interested in determining their own expertise within their healthcare specialty, for identifying areas of future career growth, and for getting an edge in the hiring process. BluePipes provides members with free access to over 100 comprehensive skills checklists which can be completed, saved, downloaded as a PDF file and utilized at the member’s discretion. Below is a sample BluePipes skills checklist for an ICU nurse. Join BluePipes today; it’s free and easy! Read more

6 Considerations about the Geography of the Nursing Shortage

Geography and/or regional issues are often cited when referring to the nursing shortage. The idea is that certain areas of the country have a surplus of nurses while other areas of the country are faced with severe shortages. The net result is an overall nursing shortage. These regional imbalances lead to recommendations that nurses, especially those having difficulty landing a job, should seek employment opportunities in regions exhibiting shortages. However, others contend that such recommendations maybe without merit. Understanding the issues at play will help nurses form a clearer picture of the nursing labor market and possibly assist them with their job searches. Read more

Median Staff RN Salary VS. Top 10% by Specialty

This Infographic displays a comparison between median Staff RN salaries and the top 10% of Staff RN salaries by specialty. Remeber, the median is the numerical value separating that higher half of the data sample from the lower half of the sample. In other words, 50% of Staff RNs make more than the median salary and 50% make less than the median salary. This is much different than the average Staff RN salary. Read more

Average RN Salary by Specialty 2013

This Infographic shows national average RN salaries in the year 2013 for 11 common nursing specialties. It’s important to remember that these figures are estimates compiled from several different reporting sources and methods. However, the figures do provide a general idea of the overall market. Read more