Sample cover letter for new graduate nurse practitioner

You’ve just completed your education. Then you see it: a New Grad Nurse position at the top hospital in your area. You type up an application. Cover letter? Meh. I’ll just whip up a generic copy-paste job, nobody reads them.

Do that and the response will be like a staff nap room at the end of a night shift—silence. You’ll need a prescription for a cure-all new grad nurse cover letter to stop that happening! Read on and learn how to write a cover letter that’d make Clara Barton proud.

This guide will show you:

• An example cover letter for a new grad RN that’ll help you beat the competition.
• A new grad RN cover letter template you can use today.
• How your unique combination of experience and education is the wonder drug for your new grad registered nurse cover letter.
• How targeting your cover letter to the job is the most effective treatment. 

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New Grad Registered Nurse Cover Letter for a Resume—See more cover letter templates and create your cover letter here.

Looking for other jobs in healthcare too? See: 

• Nursing Cover Letter
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• Physical Therapist Cover Letter
• Occupational Therapy Cover Letter
• Physician Assistant Cover Letter
• Medical Cover Letter
• Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) Cover Letter
• Phlebotomist Cover Letter
• Dentist Cover Letter
• Dental Assistant Cover Letter
• Dental Hygiene / Hygienist Cover Letter
• Veterinary Assistant Cover Letter
• EMT Cover Letter

Want to explore your options further? See our full selection of cover letter examples for every career: Best Cover Letter Examples for All Professions

1

New Grad RN Cover Letter Template (Text Version)

Lisa Wilkinson

101 W Lombard St

Baltimore, MD 21201

555-847-9234

linkedin.com/in/lisawilkinson.zety 

11/28/2019

Mildred Ratched

Head of Recruitment

Willow View Hospital

800 S Caton Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21229

Dear Ms Ratched,

I am writing to apply for the Graduate Nurse position with Willow View Hospital. While pursuing my BS in Nursing at the University of Maryland I undertook clinical practice experience in a busy inner-city hospital just like Willow View, which reinforced my passion for delivering outstanding patient care in a challenging environment. Your reputation for excellence in patient care and as a center for surgical innovation makes Willow View the ideal place to get my nursing career off to the best start possible.

In my clinical practice experience my communication skills and ability to interpret diagnostic testing results gave me highly-scored evaluations by my preceptors, placing me in the top 10% of my class. For further training I undertook a summer externship, giving me experience in a constantly challenging ER where I worked alongside qualified staff, working off shift and weekends. This experience has built my resilience and adaptability and given me the ability to start my nursing career with confidence, and determination to constantly improve my skills. 

I have wanted to pursue a career in nursing ever since spending time in hospital as a child and seeing the crucial role nurses played in patient care. Working as a Graduate Nurse at Willow View is renowned for being challenging and an environment where only the best will thrive. This is precisely my motivation for applying for this position because my career goal is to become an outstanding RN who delivers outstanding patient care.

Can we set a time to discuss how my thorough knowledge of nursing protocols can contribute to Willow View’s glowing reputation?

Yours Sincerely, 

Lisa Wilkinson

Graduate Nurse

P.S. I’d also love to tell you how I was graded in the top 5% of my class in my patient care coursework. 

That’s a prognosis for success!

Match your cover letter with a resume fully indicated for use with it. Examine our guide: How to Write a Nursing Resume [20+ Examples & Template]

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Use the Best New Grad Nurse Cover Letter Template

Just as an NCP needs to be carefully structured to maximize the chance of positive patient outcomes, a cover letter needs a solid structure to maximize your chances of success. 

Here’s a simple template to use.

New Grad RN Cover Letter—Checklist

• Your contact info.
• Contact info for institution you’re applying to.
• Paragraph 1: Introduction and an impressive job-fitting achievement.
• Paragraph 2: Key skills and why you’re the best match for the job.
• Paragraph 3: Your passion and why you want in.
• Paragraph 4. A call to action.
• Complimentary close.
• A P.S. to add value.

That’s our plan. Now it’s time to implement it.

How should you format a new graduate nurse cover letter? It should be standard business letter format but what does that mean? One-inch margins? Left-align? See our guide: Cover Letter Format: A Complete How-To

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Nail Your Header and Salutation

The header and greeting are at the top left of the page. That’s scientifically proven to be the first place people look so get your first impression right. 

The header is nothing more than the contact details section. You need your name and address, phone number, and email address. 

Then a space, the date, and the name of the hiring manager and the address of the place of work you’re applying to.

Another space and follow with the salutation. That’s just a fancy way of describing the greeting. Speaking of which, never go with “To Whom It May Concern” in your cover letter. Apart from the fact it sounds like it should be wearing a top hat and spats, it harms your chances of being hired. 

You’ll have a much better chance of success if you address your new grad RN cover letter to the recipient by name. It instantly activates their brain in a unique way, getting them opened up for the letter that follows. 

It also puts you ahead of the 84% of applicants who don’t even bother personalizing their application.

But enough talk, in your profession you know you learn by seeing real examples, so let’s go.

Header and Salutation Example

Lisa Wilkinson

101 W Lombard St

Baltimore, MD 21201

555-847-9234

linkedin.com/in/lisawilkinson.zety 

11/28/2019

Mildred Ratched

Head of Recruitment

Willow View Hospital

800 S Caton Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21229

Dear Ms Ratched,

Simple isn’t it? Now we’ll move on to the cover letter itself.

Pro Tip: Make the email address a clickable link to make it easier for the recruiter. If you include your LinkedIn then also make it a clickable link. 

3

Start Your New Grad RN Cover Letter Right

Demographic changes mean you’re entering an industry where demand is high and increasing. This is great news until you realize it doesn’t focus specifically on graduate nurses.

For graduate nurses reports indicate some graduates are having difficulty finding employment. So don’t be lulled into a false sense of security.

Consider this: recruiters and hiring managers are fast. They take an average of 7.4 seconds to scan each resume they see and it takes just moments to scan a cover letter, too.

You have to catch their attention quickly, and keep it.

Here’s how to stop your cover letter being triage tagged black:

• Introduce yourself as a candidate.
• State the position you’re applying to.
• Give a brief summary of your key skills, experience, and achievements.
• State your passion and career goals. Go for a fact about you or the company that communicates that passion.
• Be relevant to the organization and the position you’re applying to. Read the job description in the ad.

As a new grad nurse, you’re in an unusual position with regards to your cover letter. The third point just there usually applies to experienced professionals. However, real hands-on experience is an integral part of your education so you can use it to your advantage.

You’re going to use a strategy that mixes experience, passion and career goals to make a cover letter more powerful than a dose of vancomycin. Now it’s example time.

New Grad RN Cover Letter Samples [First Paragraph]

That first example is so good you can put on your scrubs now, you’re hired. It introduces the candidate, mentioning the job and the hospital she’s applying to. 

There’s not just experience, but experience relevant to the hospital being applied to. Then there’s knowledge of its areas of excellence that fit in with the candidate’s career goals. 

The second makes you wonder if they even read the job ad. Now that’s our pre-op done, let’s get into the surgery itself.

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

Should a graduate nurse cover letter be a half-page or longer? See our guide: How Long Should A Cover Letter Be? Sample & Guide

4

Write a Healthy Cover Letter Middle

I mentioned pre-op just now so imagine you’ve done everything correctly only to have the surgeon mess things up when it comes to the operation. I know, it’d be a disaster.

Same goes for getting the recruiter all set with an amazing intro then falling flat in the rest of the letter. That’s a disaster, too. A no job disaster.

Keep up the momentum by writing a new graduate nurse cover letter made up of two paragraphs. 

In the first outline your experience and achievements, making it relevant to the job. Show an understanding of the duties of the role.

Remember, you’re a graduate RN you’ve got real experience already.

In the second explain your motivation and why you want this position in particular, not just any old nursing job. This is how to do it.

The first example is pure Florence Nightingale. There is passionate motivation, experience, and achievements. All targeted to the job.

As for the second? That’s more Nurse Jackie. You can tell this same letter gets sent to everyone.

Pro Tip: Don’t just rely on the job description to target your cover letter. Why not try an informational interview to find out even more.

Your new grad nursing cover letter is starting to look good, but you’re about to one last thing to make it great. Let’s cross the finish line.

5

End Your New Grad Nursing Cover Letter With a CTA

I have to apologize, as a new grad RN who’ll be spending plenty of time in an ER taking BP readings you don’t need yet another abbreviation. But it’s just one, I promise.

CTA stands for “call to action” and it’s the panacea for post-job application silence. You know, that sensation of tumbleweeds gently rolling behind you in the days after you hit the send button.

The reason nobody called back could simply be that you didn’t ask them to. Don’t just say “interview me” though, you’ve got to give in order to receive. 

Once more, here are some practical examples for your new grad nursing cover letter.

The second one is about as appealing as a full bedpan. What possible reason could the recruiter have to pick up the phone apart from your claim that you’re the best candidate?

The first one though, that’s a comfy pair of crocs on a pair of tired RN feet. It adds a double dose of passion and enthusiasm with careful attention to the clinical provider’s needs. 

Then that P.S. at the end adds one last impressive achievement that’s sure to catch the hiring manager’s eye. 

And we’re done, you’ve got a cover letter for a new grad nurse that’ll get you the job of your choosing. 

Struggling to come up with a winning sign off for your new grad nurse cover letter? See our guide: How to End a Cover Letter

Key Takeaway

Here’s a reminder of how to write your new grad RN cover letter:

• Use a good format and layout for your new grad nursing cover letter. Otherwise, it’ll be as readable as a doctor’s handwriting.
• Start off with a combination of skills, experience and passion. As a new grad RN you can make use of them all to guarantee the hiring manager keeps reading.
• Keep them hooked. Use the middle to outline experience, achievements, and passionate motivation. All targeted to the job.
• Finish big with a CTA. Don’t just ask them to interview you. Give them a reason to.

Thanks for reading. Got more questions about writing a new grad nurse cover letter? Let us know in the comments section. We’re here to cure your cover letter challenges.

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