Registered Nurse CV: Example and Template
This is what a CV looks like that makes your diploma, clinical expertise and measurable quality of care visible on two pages for hospital, care home and Spitex settings.
Currently 489 open Registered Nurse positions in Switzerland, across 20 cantons, 133 of them from the last 7 days. Mach Karriere als Mensch_Faire une carrière empreinte d'humanité_Fai una carriera piena di umanità advertises the most.
CV example — two-page template
This template is editable straight away — or upload your existing CV and it is carried into this layout automatically.
Which qualification and registration should be included in a nursing CV?
State your protected professional title exactly - such as "Registered Nurse HF" or "BSc Nursing FH" - along with your graduation year, school and registration number.
Write your title exactly as it appears on your diploma: "Registered Nurse HF" (a programme at a Höhere Fachschule / college of higher vocational education) or "Bachelor of Science in Nursing (FH)". Older qualifications such as DN I, DN II, AKP or PsyKP also belong in the CV with their correct designation and year; add the equivalence in brackets if you have the corresponding confirmation. If you have completed a postgraduate diploma (NDS HF) in intensive care, anaesthetics or emergency nursing, or a CAS, place this ahead of your basic diploma, as hospitals filter candidates by this.
Include your NAREG registration - the national register of healthcare professions - at the top of your CV. If you obtained your diploma abroad, add the recognition decision from the Swiss Red Cross (SRK), including the date and any conditions such as an adaptation course. Also state your residence status (Swiss citizen, settlement permit C, residence permit B, or cross-border commuter permit G) so that HR does not need to ask.
Keep your mandatory certificates current and visible: BLS-AED-SRC must be renewed annually or every two years in many hospitals, and depending on the employer, courses in kinaesthetics, aggression management, hygiene or medication administration may also be required. Always note the year of the last refresher - a certificate without a date quickly looks outdated in nursing.
How do I describe my professional experience as a nurse convincingly?
For each position, describe the care setting - specialty, number of beds, nurse-to-patient ratio - followed by three to four bullet points with figures.
Nursing management first reads where you worked and with what level of case complexity. So be specific: "acute geriatrics, 28 beds, 5-7 patients per day shift", "ICU with 12 ventilator beds, SGI-accredited", "Spitex with an average of 11 visits per round" or "care unit with 42 residents, BESA levels 3-11". Without this context, it remains unclear whether you are familiar with 1:1 care or a long-term unit with a high proportion of residents with dementia.
Phrase your achievements using metrics that are actually collected in everyday nursing practice: falls per 1'000 patient days, pressure injury incidence by category, CIRS reports, screening completion rates for tools such as CAM-ICU, NRS or Braden, the proportion of complete care plans, billing rejections, or the number of apprentices mentored. Also mention your specialist and area responsibilities, such as wound care specialist, hygiene officer, workplace trainer, palliative care contact person, or superuser for electronic nursing documentation.
Make your documentation and system knowledge explicit, as this saves significant onboarding time: LEP Nursing 3, Kardex and progress documentation in the hospital information system, RAI-HC or BESA for needs assessment under KLV Art. 7, eMediplan, and shift and route planning. Finally, mention your desired workload and your availability for night, weekend and on-call shifts - this is often the deciding detail for employers running shift operations.
How long should the CV be, is a photo needed, and what is Swiss practice?
Two pages is standard, a professional portrait photo is customary in Switzerland, and the complete application dossier should include your diploma and work references.
Keep your CV to two pages, or a maximum of three if you have more than ten years of experience. List your last three to four positions in detail, and summarise older assignments, pool work or temporary relief shifts in one line per year. Explain any gaps briefly and factually, such as maternity leave, further education or a language stay - such breaks are common in nursing and are not a reason for exclusion.
A friendly, professional portrait photo remains customary in Switzerland and is expected by most hospitals, care homes and Spitex organisations, although it is not mandatory. State your year of birth, place of residence, and nationality or permit type; you can leave out marital status, religion and information about children. If you drive to Spitex assignments, include your category B driving licence in your profile.
Submit the complete dossier: cover letter, CV, copy of your diploma, NAREG extract or SRK recognition decision, all work references, and current course confirmations - usually combined into a single PDF with a clear file name. If you are asked to state a salary expectation, refer to regional guidelines - for registered nurses HF with a few years of experience, around CHF 80'000 to CHF 95'000 per year is typical depending on canton, workload and allowances - and give a range related to your years of experience.
Where Registered Nurse are hired in Switzerland
How the 489 open positions are spread across the cantons.
Figures as a table
| Canton | postings |
|---|---|
| Bern | 33 |
| Luzern | 32 |
| Aargau | 24 |
| Waadt | 21 |
| Zürich | 20 |
| Basel-Stadt | 13 |
| Freiburg | 10 |
| Thurgau | 9 |
Which languages the postings require
Of 331 postings that state a language — in brackets, those requiring professional level.
Figures as a table
| Language | postings |
|---|---|
| German | 305 (289) |
| French | 51 (42) |
| English | 6 (0) |
| Italian | 1 (0) |
Who hires Registered Nurse in Switzerland
Employers with the most open positions. Staffing agencies are excluded.
Figures as a table
| Employer | postings |
|---|---|
| Mach Karriere als Mensch_Faire une carrière empreinte d'humanité_Fai una carriera piena di umanità | 43 |
| Luzerner Kantonsspital | 37 |
| Assisteo SA | 31 |
| Lindenhofgruppe | 18 |
| Stiftung Kifa Schweiz | 15 |
| medicjobs.ch | 14 |
Full-time or part-time?
How the positions are advertised.
Figures as a table
| Workload | postings |
|---|---|
| Vollzeit / plein temps | 390 |
| Teilzeit / partiel | 97 |
| Temporär | 2 |
The CV in full
To read through and reuse.
Nadine Bircher
Registered Nurse HF, Postgraduate Diploma NDS HF Intensive Care
Registered Nurse HF with 9 years of experience in acute medical care, long-term care and Spitex, including 4 years in an interdisciplinary ICU with 12 ventilator beds. Manages nursing processes according to NANDA-I/NIC/NOC, documents care activities for billing purposes using LEP Nursing 3, and assesses care needs under KLV Art. 7 using RAI-HC. Certified workplace trainer, mentored 24 HF students and FaGe apprentices through to successful graduation.
What sets me apart
Acute and long-term care expertise in one profile: Experience in acute somatic care (medical ward/ICU), long-term care with BESA classification, and Spitex with RAI-HC needs assessment - ensuring smooth handovers across the entire care continuum.
Wound care expertise embedded in daily practice: Certified wound care specialist: conducts wound rounds, trains teams in pressure injury prevention according to EPUAP/NPIAP categories, and reduced dressing material costs by CHF 12'000 per year.
Safe medication processes: Introduced double-checking for high-risk medications and eMediplan reconciliation on admission; reduced medication errors reported in the CIRS system by 41%.
Structured clinical training: Workplace trainer with cantonal certification: works with competency records, EPA-based learning objectives and weekly reflection sessions; 100% graduation rate among mentored apprentices.
Key achievements
Reduced fall rate by 28%. Introduced a fall assessment on admission plus a night-light and mobilisation concept on a 34-bed ward: falls per 1'000 patient days reduced from 6.4 to 4.6 within 12 months.
Halved pressure injury incidence. As wound care lead, standardised positioning plans, skin inspection and the Braden scale within the nursing process - nosocomial category 2+ pressure injuries reduced from 14 to 6 cases per year.
Made Spitex routes 15% more efficient. Redesigned 6 care routes with clear allocation of KLV service categories A/B/C: 15% less travel time, freeing up an average of 7 more minutes of direct client time per visit.
Experience
Registered Nurse HF, Wound Management Lead — Spital Seehalde AG, Winterthur, 03/2021 - present
Interdisciplinary internal medicine ward with 34 beds, skill-grade mix of 18 staff members, 4-6 patients per day shift.
- Reduced fall rate from 6.4 to 4.6 falls per 1'000 patient days (-28%) through a structured fall assessment within 24 hours of admission.
- Reduced nosocomial category 2+ pressure injuries from 14 to 6 cases per year; trained 22 team members in the Braden scale and patient positioning.
- Conducted around 480 wound rounds per year and streamlined the dressing material range from 34 to 19 items (savings of CHF 12'000 annually).
- As workplace trainer, mentored 9 HF students and 5 FaGe apprentices, all completing their qualification procedure successfully.
Registered Nurse HF, Intensive Care — Klinik Rosenmatt, Zürich, 08/2017 - 02/2021
Interdisciplinary ICU with 12 ventilator beds, SGI-accredited, nurse-to-patient ratio of 1:1 to 1:2, around 1'100 admissions per year.
- Cared for around 220 invasively ventilated patients annually, including weaning, CVVHDF and catecholamine therapy.
- Introduced delirium screening with CAM-ICU across all 12 beds; increased the screening completion rate from 42% to 96% within 6 months.
- Reduced medication errors reported via CIRS by 41% following the introduction of double-checking for infusion pumps with high-risk substances.
- Conducted 12 clinical practice supervision sessions per year for NDS HF intensive care students.
Registered Nurse HF, Long-Term and Spitex Care — Alterszentrum Aareblick & Spitex Region Aareblick, 09/2015 - 07/2017
Care unit with 42 residents (BESA levels 3-11) and rotating assignments in Spitex with an average of 11 client visits per round.
- Prepared around 180 BESA classifications and care plans; billing to health insurers processed without rejections.
- Replanned 6 Spitex routes: 15% less travel time and 7 more minutes of direct client time per visit.
- Introduced a palliative care concept with 4 core care principles; reduced unplanned hospital admissions in the final stage of life by 9 cases per year.
- Coordinated family conversations for 42 residents, achieving a satisfaction score of 4.6 out of 5 in the annual survey.
Education
Postgraduate Diploma HF, Intensive Care Nursing (NDS HF) — Höhere Fachschule für Pflege Zürichsee · 2019
Registered Nurse HF, Nursing, HF programme (3 years) — Höhere Fachschule Gesundheit Ostschweiz · 2015
Federal Certificate of Proficiency (EFZ), Healthcare Assistant (FaGe) — Berufsfachschule Gesundheit Thurtal · 2011
Wound Care Specialist: certificate course in wound management (2022) · Workplace trainer course for clinical education, 5 days, cantonally recognised (2021) · BLS-AED-SRC Complete, refreshed annually (last in 2024) · Basic course in Palliative Care, Level A2 (2016)
Common questions
- What language should I write my CV in as a Registered Nurse?
- 87% of the adverts are in German — write the CV in German unless the advert itself is in French.
- Where in Switzerland are Registered Nurse most in demand?
- Spread out, Bern first at 7%, then Lucerne and Aargau. Across a language border, apply with the matching version.
- What language level do Registered Nurse adverts ask for?
- German in 92% of adverts that state a requirement, 95% of them at professional level. "Good knowledge" will not do — give A2 to C2.
- Are Registered Nurse roles offered full or part time?
- 80% full time, only 20% part time. If you need part time, say so early rather than leaving it open.
- Who hires Registered Nurse in Switzerland?
- Currently Mach Karriere als Mensch_Faire une carrière empreinte d'humanité_Fai una carriera piena di umanità, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Assisteo SA, among others. Their adverts are the best word list for your own CV.