New Grad Nurse Cover Letter

Writing an effective cover letter as a new grad nurse is an important step in getting hired at a job, especially if you’re a recent graduate with only clinical experience.

Knowing what to include in your cover letter and how to format it correctly can be a challenge. But if you’re feeling uncertain about starting the nursing cover letter writing process, don’t be. Check out our video for writing a cover letter as a nurse, which outlines clear steps you can follow along with as you make your own:

To expand on our video’s advice, below you’ll find three writing tips for writing a convincing new grad nurse cover letter to help you score an interview.

1. Play up your experience

As a new graduate without professional nursing experience, you may wonder how to be competitive for a nursing position.

To make up for your lack of work experience, highlight relevant coursework and detail your past clinical experience. Your cover letter should paint you as a qualified nursing professional with the essential nursing skills, passion, and dedication required for this career.

Demonstrate the impact of your work and how you can apply what you learned from your past experiences at your new job like this candidate does:

This is a good example because the candidate states where they’ve gained their clinical experience and the impact of their people skills before going on to eventually highlight key accomplishments or skills (which we’ll introduce in the next point).

2. Emphasize transferable skills

Hiring managers often don’t have time to look over applications in detail, and you’re likely competing with more experienced nurses for the same position.

To give yourself the upper hand, target your cover letter by emphasizing your transferable skills and passion for nursing while relating it directly to the job position.

Your new grad nurse cover letter should expand on your resume and convince a hiring manager that you’ve got plenty to offer and are worth interviewing.

For example, if you’re applying for a position in pediatrics, emphasize your ability to empathize and communicate with children, on top of your clinical experience.

Because of the number and variety of patients and doctors you’ll interact with on the job as a nurse, you’ll also need transferable soft skills such as leadership, time management, and organizational skills.

Ask yourself what skills are most important in your nursing specialty and illustrate how you can meet job expectations with concrete examples of your personal experience.

Check out the example below and see how this candidate showcases her research, organization, and teamwork skills in a professional setting.

3. Use the correct cover letter format

Just as the content of your cover letter should be attention-grabbing and mistake-free, your new grad nurse cover letter format should be structured, clean, and straight to the point.

To create a professional-looking application, stick to the following cover letter format:

1. List your contact details in the header of your cover letter
2. Add the hiring manager’s address and today’s date
3. Include a personal salutation
4. Start with an introduction paragraph
5. Add your body paragraph
6. Finish with a final paragraph and a call to action
7. Add a closing and signature

This easy-to-follow structure helps you write an effective cover letter and avoids the “wall of text” effect some applications may have. Using the proper cover letter format goes a long way toward making a great first impression.

Make sure your cover letter follows HR-approved best practices.

A great cover letter should be one page and follow standard cover letter formatting rules, like having .5 to 1-inch margins and breaks between paragraphs.