Get Results This Year With a Nursing Student Cover Letter

Updated July 26, 2022161

Nursing students need to show off their skills if they want to land their dream job after graduation. Here’s how a nursing student cover letter example can help you craft the perfect cover letter.

As a nursing student, you’re learning all sorts of nursing skills that will be helpful for your career. Medication administration and caring for patients are important aspects of your education. However, while this knowledge is an important part of becoming a registered nurse, you will need the perfect cover letter to find a nurse position once you graduate. If graduation is nearing, a nursing student needs to learn how to create a professional resume. Here’s an example of a cover letter to draw inspiration from.

Nursing Student Cover Letter Example

The first step to writing your cover letter is to look at a nursing student cover letter sample. Here’s a cover letter sample you can use as a starting point.

Dear Mr. Smith,

My journey in healthcare began at a very young age when I would stay up late at night to watch healthcare and veterinarian TV shows. Despite staying up past my bedtime and losing sleep, I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that each healthcare professional was examining, treating and healing patients. Although I now know that my favorite shows were heavily dramatized, they can still be credited for starting my lifelong obsession with helping people through healthcare. Now, as a nursing student who is graduating in the fall, I am excited to apply for the nurse position at Company Name.

I have spent most of my nursing training in the pediatric ward, where I have maintained a consistent focus on high-quality patient care. In my final two semesters working in the pediatric ward, I was able to improve patient satisfaction by 29% on average, resulting in some of my healthcare colleagues actively asking me for tips on patient care.

My learned knowledge along with my practiced and innate skills like compassion, make me the perfect candidate for this job. I believe I can help you improve your organization’s patient satisfaction. As I’m preparing for graduation, I’d be happy to sit down with you soon and talk about joining your team upon graduation.

Sincerely,

Harry Rosenberg

This is a shorter cover letter than the letter you’ll likely write for a job posting, but it’s a great start to understanding the cover letter format.

Tips for Writing Your Nursing Student Cover Letter Using This Example

First, you want to address the cover letter directly to the hiring manager. The best salutation is one that isn’t generic like, “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Hiring Manager,” but is instead addressed specifically with the name of the hiring manager. Then, you can start building the rest of your cover letter with these writing tips.

First paragraph: Introduce yourself with a hook and list your best achievements.
A hook is an important part of your cover letter. This ensures that from the very first sentence, the recruiter is interested in you and wants to keep reading to find out more about how you can help their company. This applicant talks about becoming interested in healthcare from a very young age, building a unique story that “hooks” the recruiter into reading more.

Second paragraph: Give more information about how you’re the best fit for the job.
The second paragraph should be full of concrete reasons why you’re the best person for the job. This means including metrics and plenty of numbers that showcase what makes you such a good candidate. As a nursing student, you might bring up especially high grades, the clinical experience you received as part of your training, or volunteer work that you did in the past. The applicant here mentions a 29% increase in patient satisfaction ratings on average.

Third paragraph: Call to action
Finally, the third paragraph needs to round off your cover letter by repeating why you’re the perfect person for this new job, then including a call to action. This call to action politely requests a follow-up for the job interview. The applicant specifically mentions that he’s looking for a job after he graduates, stating, “I’d be happy to sit down and talk to you about joining your team after I graduate.” This preemptively sets specific expectations for when he would be hired.

FAQ: Nursing Student Cover Letter Example

Do I need a cover letter to get a nursing student job?

Yes. A professional cover letter is a great way to continue discussing what makes you the ideal candidate for the job you’re applying to. A nursing student resume will likely do the bulk of the work when it comes to showcasing the experience you have, but a cover letter highlights that experience into something that a hiring manager can be impressed with. If you’ve never written a cover letter yourself, you can use the ResumeNerd cover letter builder to make the process easier.

How long should my cover letter be to get a nursing student job?

Most of the time, experts suggest that you keep your cover letter to about half a page to three-quarters of a page. This is more than enough space to showcase all the skills from the job description and explain what makes you special. But it’s also not so long that a hiring manager would be tempted to just skip over it. A cover letter should be about 250-350 words.

Does this cover letter example work if I don’t have a lot of experience?

If you’re applying for an entry level nursing job, you may not have yet acquired a lot of clinical experience. However, you do have plenty of experience that can be transferable to the role. Perhaps you spent time working in the medical center at your school rather than at a local hospital but that is still considered relevant experience. Include any types of experience you received as a student nurse, including shadowing as a student, internships and other academic experience.

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About The Author

Cindi Cervone Carlson

Cindi Cervone Carlson is a Senior Vice President for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Cindi is responsible for developing, delivering, and implementing a dynamic, world-class organization dedicated to delivering outplacement consulting, training, support, and executive coaching. Cindi started her career at Challenger as a client who had lost her job. Over the past nine years, she has risen from an entry-level, part-time professional to Senior Vice President.

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Get Results This Year With a Nursing Student Cover Letter

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Tips for Writing Your Nursing Student Cover Letter Using This Example

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