The health care industry is booming all over the world. The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and even Japan are now leading the way in employing health care practitioners, especially nurses. This has also led to a boom in nursing school enrolment; in fact, some doctors leave their practice if only to study nursing and work as nurses abroad! Because of the great number of openings for nurses, and the even greater number of nursing graduates fresh out of school and looking for jobs, it can be difficult to apply to a nursing job no matter how good your credentials are.

You can have the best grades in the world, but have no people skills; a transcript of records, therefore, can tell your prospective employers that you were simply good in the classroom. You can have the best recommendation letters in the world, but cannot think quickly; recommendation letters, therefore, can tell your prospective employers that you showed a good side to some people. Lastly, you can have the thickest, richest resume in the world, but if you have no personality or ability to care for people, then you might not be a good nurse.

How you work and reason can be seen when you get to be interviewed for the nurse position, but how can you get interviewed if you have only a few documents to back you up? The answer lies in your cover letter, and you must not underestimate its power. A well-written cover letter for a nurse position should have all the elements of a good cover letter: it should get your prospective employer interested enough in you to interview you, and perhaps even offer you a job.

It may be a single sheet of paper with a few paragraphs, but a cover letter can do more than just cover. It will show your personality and creativity, as well as your potential to be a good nurse. The goal of a nurse is to provide quality health care to his or her patients in the best, quickest way possible – let this goal guide you as you write your cover letter. If prospective employers detect your seriousness in meeting such a goal, then you already have one foot inside the hospital door.

Avoid gushing about the goal, however, and stay away from flowery, convoluted language. You need to be brief: your prospective employers have little time to read long cover letters, let alone look through thick wads of resumes and transcripts. Write a cover letter of no more than four paragraphs, and present only your salient points. The shorter your letter is, the more attractive it will be to an employer. Don't sell yourself short, however: highlight your strengths and achievements without sounding like an overbearing upstart.

Nurses not only have to be smart: they have to be people persons, gentle, and caring. Indicate that you can deal with the stress of being a nurse; state previous experience where you had to deal with long work hours, demanding doctors, and emotional patients, and yet still emerged triumphant at the end of your long day. Say all this in no more than a single paragraph, and use language that is direct and straight to the point.

Ask for an interview and provide all your important contact information. Moreover, do constant follow ups on your application, and do not be afraid to apply again if you are rejected the first time. Nurses are needed all over the world, and you only have to find a hospital, clinic, or health care institution that will take you in. Your passport is a great cover letter, so work on it well and give it all the care it needs.