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The Perfect Director of Nursing (DON) Resume Writing Tips


Do you want to apply for a Director of Nursing (DON) position to help you get closer to your career goals? Applying for jobs on Seek, LinkedIn, and other job boards can be a time-consuming process, however, to streamline the process, you can ensure your resume writing helps you to stand out from the crowd, and your online profile helps you to get an interview!

If a recruiter or hiring manager are looking for a Director of Nursing (DON), they are searching for specific transferable skills. With less than ten people being interviewed for the job and hundreds of people, just like you, applying, The Perfect Resume team have created Resume Writing Tips to help you stand out from the others.

What do recruiters look for in a Director of Nursing (DON) resume or an online profile?


Tailoring your resume to a Director of Nursing (DON) position is mandatory today to ensure that your application will pass Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). In doing so, your resume will be read by the prospective employer. Then, fingers crossed, you will be shortlisted as a potential candidate and be called for not one, but multiple job interviews!

Firstly, before you apply to be a Director of Nursing (DON), you need to be acquainted with what a Director of Nursing (DON) does!

Director of Nursing (DON)s handle the services provided by the nursing personnel of a healthcare facility, including overseeing the nursing personnel, patient care, administrative tasks, record keeping and budgeting.

Hiring Managers are looking for a highly organised Director of Nursing (DON) to assist in managing and leading all nursing personnel operations.

To be successful as a Director of Nursing (DON), you should have knowledge of necessary healthcare and medical procedures, be open to learning, and have strong communication skills. Ultimately, a high performing Director of Nursing (DON) should be able to achieve department goals and develop a collaborative and efficient workplace with specific attention to quality patient care.

Knowing this, your resume and online profile should include the hard and soft skills that the recruiter or hiring manager is looking for in a candidate.

The Director of Nursing (DON) position description template will also contain pivotal information about what the candidate will need to do daily. Such as:

• Developing short and long-term goals for the entire nursing department.
• Establishing new policies and updating existing policies to improve the standard of care for patients.
• Planning and overseeing admission, nursing, and patient care processes.
• Maintaining department budgets and recording all expenses.
• Responding to any nursing-related issues in a timely manner.
• Coordinating with medical staff and other departments to ensure hospital efficiency.
• Overseeing all record-keeping processes and ensuring all necessary documents are accurate and up-to-date.
• Hiring and training new nursing staff members.
• Evaluating staff performance and preparing accurate reports detailing your findings.


You will also have some requirements and personal attributes that you will need to demonstrate in your resume to ensure your potential employer will take your application seriously, such as:

• Bachelor’s degree in nursing, healthcare administration or a relevant field.
• A minimum of 2 years experience in a similar role.
• In-depth knowledge of legal policies and regulations in the healthcare industry.
• Certified nursing and CPR qualifications.
• Aptitude for problem-solving.
• Excellent leadership and interpersonal skills.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.




You may also want to do some industry research to find out what other companies want in their Director of Nursing (DON)s.

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