Resumes can provide nurses with a way to structure their skills, education, and experience so that they are attractive to an employer. Resumes also aid recruiters in matching an applicant’s skills with available job openings. But what if you put formatting your resume on hold and asked yourself instead, “What do I want my nursing journey to look like?”

A Healing House

Peggy L. Chinn, RN, PhD, FAAN, suggests answering that question by imagining the place where you can be the nurse you want to be. Currently professor of nursing at the University of Connecticut School of Nursing in Storrs, CT, Chinn wrote what is now known as the “Healing House” article¹ in which she describes a place where patients are welcomed; where there is time to spend with every patient; where care is not punctuated by loud voices from the PA system; and where all healers work together toward the common goal of nurturing each patient’s healing spirit, regardless of diagnosis.

Chinn wrote the article to talk about the common values held by nursing and feminism, for example, caring for people, honoring people regardless of who they are, and responding to human needs. The Healing House dream was intended to be an expression of all those values, says Chinn. And like her article, she suggests a way for nurses to express their values and what’s really important to them about taking care of patients.

Dream a New Reality

So where do you want to practice nursing? “Just dream. Write a story. Play a movie in your mind,” says Chinn. “Fantasize about the most marvelous nursing situation you could possibly be in.” Although many nurses may perceive this exercise as just another way to write their philosophy of nursing, Chinn says it’s really quite different.

She encourages nurses to ask themselves, “What do I really care about? What’s the perfect setting for me to practice nursing? What kind of interactions would be going on? How would nurses respond to patients? How would nurses respond to each other?”

If you are not planning to change jobs, Chinn says to imagine what could be going on where you work and what changes you would make — not allowing yourself to be limited by “this could never happen” or “that’s not possible.”

“What they’re looking for may not be possible right now. But they can still plant the seeds of change a little at a time. It all starts with a dream,” says Chin. And when you interview for your next job, you can ask about the things that are most important to you.

What Do You Value?

Once you have written your story, the next step would be to select the three top values you have expressed, and state them during an interview, advises Chinn. She adds that nurses need to begin to ask questions like, “I’m no longer willing to spend all of my time doing paperwork. It takes me away from the bedside. What have you done to reduce paperwork?”

Dina Juhasz, RN, nurse recruiter for Children’s Hospital Boston, would agree that it’s important to have your career grounded in values. “I support the use of a value-based statement at the top of the resume, particularly when balanced with a concise, clearly stated career goal,” she says. “This speaks to the well-roundedness of the candidate.”

Values at Work

Chinn observes that senior nursing students have encountered the visible effect of discouraged nurses. Students have seen and felt enough discontent among nurses to question their own choice of work. But Chinn also says, “They already know, in some cases, which values are important to them. And seeing that nurses do not have the autonomy and respect they deserve in bedside roles, these new grads often move on to graduate school to become nurse practitioners.”

When Juhasz interviews nurse candidates, she says what they ask of her is very revealing. “Questions such as ‘tell me about the interdisciplinary working relationships on the unit’ can reveal a lot about the candidate,” she adds. “And when I respond that their skills and knowledge are needed as part of the team, they become visibly energized.”

Expressing Values Outside of Work

Through the Nurse Manifest project² that she cofounded, Chinn has heard many stories of nurses who feel that they only really practice nursing when they’re volunteering. Community service and volunteer activities are often relegated to the end of the resume, but it’s still important to state them, according to Juhasz.

“Community service, volunteer work, school activities, and professional association involvement all tell me something about the candidate’s character,” says Juhasz.

Nurses need to nurture themselves along their career journey, according to Chinn. “They need to think about how the journey will nurture them and what resources they need to take care of themselves so that they can stay whole and not get burned out,” she says. Chinn recommends that personal interests, such as quilting, marathon running, or playing a musical instrument, be listed on the resume because employers should be interested in how nurses take care of themselves personally, so that professionally they can take care of patients.

While Juhasz says that taking care of oneself outside of work is critical, she does not recommend adding hobbies to the resume. As important as it is to have personal interests, she would rather discuss such interests during the interview.

Integrating Personal and Professional Journeys

According to Juhasz, each nurse has a “story” and she wants to hear that story during the interview. “I want to know how they handle stress, conflict, unknowns, and uncertainties. This is the opportunity to tell us about themselves beyond the professional RN role. This gives us a glimpse into multitasking, stress hardiness, problem-solving skills, managing emergencies, contributions to team work, not to mention the type of person who will be at the bedside with our patients and families,” says Juhasz.

“You still must have boundaries in terms of not bringing your personal problems to work, and bringing your work problems back home,” says Chinn. “But nursing has an enduring commitment to ‘wholism,’ and it’s good for resumes — and nurses themselves — to reflect that concept.”

References

1. Chinn PL. Nursing patterns of knowing and feminist thought. Nurs Health Care. 1989:10(2):71-75.

2. Chinn PL, et al. 2002 Research study report. Nurse Manifes website. Available at: www.nursemanifest.com/2002study report.htm. Accessed August 25, 2003.