Nursing resume keywords & ATS keyword list

Hospital and clinic ATS systems score nursing resumes by clinical keyword match. Use this nursing keyword list — patient care, EHR documentation, medication administration, and certifications — then align with each RN job posting before you apply.

Core ATS keywords

EHRpatient careclinical assessmentmedication administrationcare coordinationpatient safety

High-volume search keywords

nursing carepatient advocacynursing assessmentIV therapywound careinfection controlnursing documentationbedside mannercritical carepatient education

Role skills (from the registered nurse resume example)

Patient care & monitoringClinical assessmentEHR documentationMedication administrationCare coordinationMultidisciplinary collaboration

Registered Nurse ATS keywords list (downloadable format)

Copy this keyword list into your resume planning doc — then check your match with the free ATS score checker.

#	ATS keyword
1	EHR
2	patient care
3	clinical assessment
4	medication administration
5	care coordination
6	patient safety
7	nursing care
8	patient advocacy
9	nursing assessment
10	IV therapy
11	wound care
12	infection control
13	nursing documentation
14	bedside manner
15	critical care
16	patient education
17	Patient care & monitoring
18	EHR documentation
19	Multidisciplinary collaboration
20	Epic
21	Cerner
22	Meditech
23	RN license
24	BLS
25	ACLS
26	CCRN

Related ATS keyword lists

Hard skills

Patient care & monitoringClinical assessmentEHR documentationMedication administrationCare coordinationMultidisciplinary collaboration

Soft skills

stakeholder managementcross-functional collaborationownershipprioritizationwritten communicationverbal communicationempathypatient advocacy

Tools & platforms

EpicCernerMeditech

Certifications to consider

RN licenseBLSACLSCCRN

How to use these keywords

Copy the job description you are applying to and highlight every noun/phrase that appears more than once — those are the Registered Nurse keywords ATS weights most heavily.
Aim for a 75–85% keyword match. Below 60% your resume is probably being filtered out; above 85% you are well-positioned.
Do not keyword-stuff. Integrate terms naturally into bullet points that describe real outcomes.
Use both the full phrase and the acronym where relevant (e.g. "Customer Relationship Management (CRM)") — different ATS parsers tokenize differently.
Run the final resume through the free ATS resume checker before submitting.

Skip the guessing — check the exact keyword gap

Paste your resume and a registered nurse job posting — get a free ATS score and see which keywords are missing.

Free ATS resume checker See Registered Nurse resume example

Common questions

What are the most important ATS keywords for a Registered Nurse resume?

The most important ATS keywords for a Registered Nurse resume are the ones that appear in the specific job description you are applying to — but EHR, patient care, clinical assessment are the baseline Registered Nurse terms that show up in most postings.

How many ATS keywords should a Registered Nurse resume have?

Target 15–25 role-specific keywords across your summary, skills, and experience sections. Density matters less than placement — keywords in the top half of the first page carry more weight.

Should I list keywords in a separate "keywords" section?

No — ATS parsers flag keyword-stuffed sections and recruiters ignore them. Weave keywords into natural prose inside your summary, skills, and bullet points.

How do I know which Registered Nurse keywords a specific job uses?

Paste your resume and the job description into the free ATS resume checker. It extracts the keyword gap automatically, showing exactly which Registered Nurse phrases the posting uses that your resume is missing.