Top 12 Rehabilitation Nurse Skills to Put on Your Resume
In the dynamic field of rehabilitation nursing, showcasing a robust set of specialized skills on your resume can sharpen your edge. The right mix signals clinical judgment, teamwork grit, and patient-first follow-through—elements that lift outcomes and make hiring managers look twice.
Rehabilitation Nurse Skills
- Patient Assessment
- Wound Care
- Mobility Training
- Pain Management
- Medication Administration
- Patient Education
- Electronic Health Records (EHR)
- CPR Certified
- IV Therapy
- Discharge Planning
- Adaptive Equipment
- BLS (Basic Life Support)
1. Patient Assessment
Patient assessment, in the context of a rehabilitation nurse, involves a comprehensive evaluation of a patient's physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and environmental needs to build an individualized plan aimed at maximizing function, safety, and independence.
Why It's Important
Effective assessment anchors the entire rehab plan. It surfaces risks early, sets realistic functional goals, and directs interventions that actually move the needle on recovery and quality of life.
How to Improve Patient Assessment Skills
Sharpening assessment is part science, part presence. Practical tactics that stick:
Build rapport fast: Active listening, plain language, and a calm tempo uncover what standardized tools miss.
Use validated tools: Pain scales, delirium screens, mood screens, and functional measures (e.g., Section GG items used in many post-acute settings) add consistency.
Scan the whole picture: Home layout, caregiver capacity, transportation, work demands—context can make or break a plan.
Interdisciplinary huddles: Align with PT/OT/SLP, social work, and physicians. Small syncs prevent big misses.
Document with intent: Clear, objective notes; trends over time; SBAR-style handoffs. Patterns jump out when the record is clean.
Reassess frequently: Status changes, new equipment, medication shifts—update goals and interventions without delay.
Cultural humility: Honor beliefs and preferences; adapt teaching and goals so they actually fit the person’s life.
How to Display Patient Assessment Skills on Your Resume
2. Wound Care
Wound care for rehabilitation nurses means assessing, treating, and monitoring acute and chronic wounds to promote healing, prevent infection, manage pain, and support mobility and participation in therapy.
Why It's Important
Good wound care prevents setbacks. Fewer infections, fewer readmissions, more progress. Patients move sooner, safer, and with less fear.
How to Improve Wound Care Skills
Assess precisely: Type, etiology, size, depth, stage (use current pressure injury terminology), exudate, and periwound skin—measure consistently.
Moisture balance: Pair the dressing to the wound (absorbent for heavy drainage, moisture-donating when dry). Reassess with each change.
Offload pressure: Surfaces, positioning schedules, heel protection, and mobility tweaks are non-negotiable.
Infection control: Recognize biofilm and local/systemic signs. Escalate appropriately; debride within scope or coordinate promptly.
Fuel healing: Screen nutrition and hydration; loop in dietitians early for protein and micronutrient support.
Advanced therapies: Consider NPWT, compression, or adjuncts when indicated and available.
Track and trend: Photo with consent, measurements, and time-to-heal targets keep plans honest and effective.
How to Display Wound Care Skills on Your Resume
3. Mobility Training
Mobility training means coaching and assisting patients to move safely and efficiently—bed mobility, transfers, gait, stairs, ADLs—often using assistive devices and smart body mechanics to build independence.
Why It's Important
Mobility unlocks daily life. It trims fall risk, eases pain, and magnifies confidence, which fuels participation in therapy.
How to Improve Mobility Training Skills
Start with a sharp baseline: Strength, ROM, balance, sensation, orthostatic vitals, and cognition inform the plan.
Progressive plans: Stepwise goals—bed mobility to transfers to ambulation—with criteria to advance or pause.
Safe patient handling: Gait belts, slide sheets, lifts. Protect the patient and your back.
Balance and vestibular work: Targeted tasks reduce falls and fear. Practice dual-tasking when appropriate.
Device mastery: Fit and teach canes, walkers, wheelchairs, and orthoses; reinforce maintenance and safe use.
Caregiver training: Short, focused teaching with return demonstration beats long lectures.
Monitor response: Pain, fatigue, HR, BP, oxygenation—adjust intensity swiftly.
How to Display Mobility Training Skills on Your Resume
4. Pain Management
Pain management in rehabilitation blends assessment, education, pharmacologic therapy, and nonpharmacologic strategies to restore function and allow meaningful participation in therapy.
Why It's Important
When pain is controlled, patients move. They sleep. They engage. Progress accelerates and setbacks shrink.
How to Improve Pain Management Skills
Measure what matters: Use validated scales (e.g., NRS, BPI) and capture impact on sleep, mood, and function—not just scores.
Set functional goals: Tie therapy timing and meds to mobility sessions. Aim for what the patient wants to do.
Multimodal care: Combine heat/ice, positioning, TENS, relaxation, breathing, and graded activity with appropriate meds.
Opioid stewardship: Lowest effective dose, shortest duration, bowel regimen, sedation monitoring (e.g., POSS), and taper plans.
Non-opioid anchors: Acetaminophen, NSAIDs (when safe), neuropathic agents, topical options—layer thoughtfully.
Educate relentlessly: Expectations, pacing, flare plans, and safe home strategies reduce fear and overuse.
Team approach: Coordinate with prescribers, PT/OT, psychology, and case management for a unified plan.
How to Display Pain Management Skills on Your Resume
5. Medication Administration
Medication administration in rehab nursing is the precise, safe delivery of prescribed therapies to control symptoms, prevent complications, and support active rehab.
Why It's Important
Accuracy saves time and lives. Correct meds, correct timing, and vigilant monitoring keep therapy sessions on track and patients out of trouble.
How to Improve Medication Administration Skills
Hardwire the rights: Patient, medication, dose, route, time, documentation, indication, response, education—make them habit.
Leverage technology: Barcode med administration, smart pumps, and clear EHR med reconciliation reduce errors.
Double-check high-alerts: Insulin, anticoagulants, opioids, electrolytes—use independent verification.
Time meds to therapy: Align analgesics, antispasmodics, and antiemetics with mobility windows.
Teach-back: Side effects, what to report, storage, and adherence—confirm understanding.
Know your kinetics: Renal/hepatic dosing and interactions matter, especially in older adults and polypharmacy.
How to Display Medication Administration Skills on Your Resume
6. Patient Education
Patient education equips people and caregivers with the knowledge and confidence to manage conditions, perform self-care, and navigate recovery at home without guesswork.
Why It's Important
Clear, tailored teaching lifts adherence, trims complications, and hands control back to the patient. That’s where independence grows.
How to Improve Patient Education Skills
Assess readiness: Health literacy, language needs, cognition, and priorities shape the approach.
Chunk and check: Short bursts of information; frequent teach-back. Less overwhelm, better retention.
Keep it plain: Everyday words, concrete examples, visuals, and step-by-step instructions.
Offer options: Printed handouts, brief videos, quick-reference cards, and simple action plans.
Include caregivers: Train the support system; confirm they can demonstrate safely.
Goal-focused: Tie education to SMART, function-based goals the patient actually values.
Reinforce and revisit: Space teaching across the stay and follow up after discharge when possible.
How to Display Patient Education Skills on Your Resume
7. Electronic Health Records (EHR)
Electronic Health Records are real-time digital charts that centralize a patient’s history, meds, plans, orders, labs, images, and outcomes. For rehab nurses, they streamline coordination and illuminate progress.
Why It's Important
EHRs tighten continuity, support clinical decisions, and cut duplication. When data flows, care follows.
How to Improve Electronic Health Records (EHR) Skills
Train deeply: Shortcuts, templates, flowsheets, and smart phrases—use the system’s full muscle.
Customize wisely: Rehab-friendly templates for Section GG, pain, wounds, and mobility keep notes precise and fast.
Interoperability matters: Ensure records and results sync across settings to smooth transitions.
Use decision support: Alerts, reminders, and order sets help with safety and standards—tune them, don’t ignore them.
Engage patients: Teach portal use for results, messages, and instructions; it lifts adherence.
Protect privacy: Minimum necessary access, strong passwords, and quick logouts—make security routine.
Mine the data: Track outcomes; adjust plans based on trends, not hunches.
How to Display Electronic Health Records (EHR) Skills on Your Resume
8. CPR Certified
CPR Certified means a rehabilitation nurse has completed recognized training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and can intervene in cardiac arrest with confidence and speed.
Why It's Important
When seconds shrink, CPR skills keep blood moving to brain and heart. That window can mean everything.
How to Improve CPR Certified Skills
Keep credentials current: Renew on schedule; don’t let skills lapse between courses.
Practice the fundamentals: Rate 100–120/min, depth about 2–2.4 inches in adults, full recoil, minimal pauses.
Use the AED early: Pads on, follow prompts, resume compressions immediately.
Run mock codes: Team roles, clear communication, and swift equipment setup build muscle memory.
Seek feedback: Devices with compression feedback and peer debriefs sharpen technique.
Advance when relevant: Add ACLS or PALS if your patient population demands it.
How to Display CPR Certified Skills on Your Resume
9. IV Therapy
IV therapy delivers fluids, meds, and nutrients directly into the bloodstream to correct deficits, manage symptoms, and support recovery.
Why It's Important
Direct access means faster onset, reliable dosing, and better control during unstable periods or complex regimens.
How to Improve IV Therapy Skills
Pick the right vein: Consider therapy duration, osmolarity, and patient factors; use ultrasound guidance when available.
Prevent infection: Hand hygiene, aseptic insertion, chlorhexidine prep, “scrub the hub,” securement, and timely dressing changes.
Use smart pumps: Drug libraries, dose error reduction, and hard stops add safety.
Watch the site: Frequent checks for infiltration, phlebitis, and extravasation; know escalation steps cold.
Label and verify: Compatibility, line labeling, and traceable tubing reduce mix-ups.
Central line savvy: If within scope, adhere to bundle practices; if not, advocate and monitor relentlessly.
Document precisely: Gauge size, site, attempts, response, and patient tolerance.
How to Display IV Therapy Skills on Your Resume
10. Discharge Planning
Discharge planning is a coordinated process to transition patients safely from facility to home or another setting with the right services, equipment, meds, and follow-up.
Why It's Important
Good planning cuts readmissions, prevents confusion, and keeps momentum going once the hospital doors close.
How to Improve Discharge Planning Skills
Start at admission: Identify goals, barriers, and supports early—including social determinants that complicate recovery.
Coordinate the village: Physicians, PT/OT/SLP, nursing, pharmacy, social work, and family aligned around one plan.
Reconcile meds: One clean list. Duplicates deleted, interactions checked, instructions clarified.
Lock in services: Home health, outpatient rehab, DME, transportation—scheduled and confirmed before discharge.
Teach-back everything: Wound care, meds, red flags, equipment use, fall prevention, and whom to call.
Handoff well: SBAR to the next level of care; include goals, risks, and what’s working now.
Follow up: Appointments booked; post-discharge calls within 24–48 hours to catch issues early.
How to Display Discharge Planning Skills on Your Resume
11. Adaptive Equipment
Adaptive equipment includes devices that help people perform daily tasks—mobility aids, bathroom safety gear, transfer tools, dressing aids, and more—to restore independence with safety baked in.
Why It's Important
The right tool, fitted well, transforms participation. Energy conserved, hazards reduced, dignity protected.
How to Improve Adaptive Equipment Skills
Assess function thoroughly: Use standardized functional items common in post-acute care (e.g., Section GG) and tools like the AM-PAC “6-Clicks” or Barthel Index where applicable.
Partner with therapy: OT and PT input on fit, training, and progression ensures the device matches the task and the person.
Trial and fit: Real-world practice in simulated home setups reveals what will actually work.
Teach and verify: Caregivers and patients demonstrate safe use; adjust until it’s smooth and repeatable.
Plan for the home: Doorways, stairs, bathroom layout, flooring, lighting—recommend modifications or alternatives.
Navigate coverage: Help patients access funding or alternatives when insurance is tight.
Maintain and review: Check wear and fit over time; swap or upgrade as function improves.
How to Display Adaptive Equipment Skills on Your Resume
12. BLS (Basic Life Support)
BLS equips rehabilitation nurses to recognize and respond to life-threatening emergencies with immediate, high-quality interventions until advanced care arrives.
Why It's Important
Early, effective BLS changes outcomes. It buys time, preserves brain, and bridges to definitive treatment.
How to Improve BLS (Basic Life Support) Skills
Drill the basics: Compression-first mindset, correct rate and depth, full recoil, and minimal interruptions.
Ventilate correctly: Proper bag-mask seal, visible chest rise, avoid over-ventilation.
Know the algorithms: Adult, child, and infant sequences; choking relief; naloxone for suspected opioid overdose when indicated.
Team choreography: Clear role assignment, closed-loop communication, and rotation to prevent fatigue.
Refresh often: Short, frequent practice beats once-every-two-years cramming; debrief after events.
How to Display BLS (Basic Life Support) Skills on Your Resume
