Home Mental Health Nurse Resume template
Mental Health Nurse resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what mental health nurses actually do day to day, not generic filler. Download and replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details.
Which resume format should you use?
Reverse chronological
You have a steady work history. This is the format almost every recruiter and ATS expects by default.
Functional
You're changing fields or have gaps in your employment. Leads with skills rather than a job-by-job timeline.
Combination
You're early career or have worked consistently but for only a few employers. Blends a skills summary with a shorter chronological history.
This template uses the reverse chronological format: the one most mental health nurses should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Registered Nurse with mental health endorsement, experienced in clinical assessment, risk screening and medication management across acute and community settings. Skilled in developing individualised care plans, running psychoeducation sessions and de-escalating crisis situations while keeping patients and families informed. Works confidently within multidisciplinary teams to support recovery-oriented, person-centred care.
Key skills
- Clinical assessment and risk screening
- Medication management and side-effect monitoring
- Care planning and coordination
- Crisis de-escalation and behavioural management
- Mental State Examination (MSE)
- K10 and PHQ-9 assessment tools
- Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems
- Counselling and psychoeducation
Experience: example bullet points
- Conducted mental health assessments and risk screening for patients presenting to acute and community services, using standardised tools including the K10 and Mental State Examination
- Administered and monitored psychotropic medications for an assigned patient caseload, documenting side effects and escalating concerns to the treating psychiatrist
- Developed and reviewed individualised care plans in collaboration with patients, families and the multidisciplinary team, improving continuity of care across shifts
- Delivered psychoeducation sessions to patients and families on illness management, medication adherence and relapse prevention
- Managed and de-escalated acute behavioural disturbances using least-restrictive intervention techniques, maintaining a safe environment for patients and staff
Education
Bachelor of Nursing followed by postgraduate specialisation in mental health nursing, with AHPRA registration as a Registered Nurse holding mental health endorsement.
Keywords an ATS is likely to scan for
Applicant tracking systems match your resume against terms in the job ad before a person ever sees it. Only include the ones that actually apply to your experience, but if a term below matches something you've done, use the same wording the job ad uses.
- AHPRA registration
- Registered Nurse
- Mental health endorsement
- Mental State Examination
- K10
- PHQ-9
- Psychotropic medication
- Risk assessment
- De-escalation
- Care planning
- Bachelor of Nursing
- Multidisciplinary team
- Electronic health records
- Mental Health Act
- National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards
Getting past ATS screening
- Match the specific skills, certifications and terms used in the job ad, not just your own wording for the same thing.
- Keep formatting simple: no tables, text boxes, columns, headers/footers or graphics. Parsers frequently drop content placed in these.
- Submit as .docx or PDF unless the job ad specifies otherwise.
- Use standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills) rather than creative alternatives.
- List your core skills and technical competencies in their own section so a keyword scan can find them instantly.
This is a starting point, not a guarantee of interviews. Tailor every bullet point to your own real experience and the specific job ad.