Registered Nurse Cover Letter Example (Australia)

A Registered Nurse cover letter in Australia is read by a Nurse Unit Manager who has a ward to staff and a set of selection criteria to score against. The letter confirms AHPRA registration and the classification in the first paragraph, names the ward and the patient group you nurse now, and then gives evidence against the criteria the advert lists, in the advert's order, so the NUM can tick them without opening the CV.

The sample below goes with the registered nurse CV example: Lauren Tavendale, an RN Year 6 on an orthopaedic and surgical ward at a public hospital in western Sydney, applying for a permanent position on the orthopaedic ward of a district hospital nearby. It opens with the vacancy, the registration and the current ward, spends two paragraphs on the criteria with the numbers the CV already states, and closes with what is attached and the offer of a ward visit.

Rewrite the letter for each employer. A private hospital reads for elective pathways and patient experience; an aged care provider wants the Quality Standards; a remote post wants emergency skills. Keep the structure and move the evidence.

Updated . The person, the employer and the recipient in this sample letter are fictional. Written for applicants in Australia. It goes with the registered nurse cv example (australia) for the same person.

Registered Nurse sample cover letter

About 309 words, one page in the style of the Classic template, on A4.

Lauren Tavendale

Registered Nurse, AHPRA registered, RN Year 6

Penrith, NSWlauren.tavendale@example.com0491 570 112

Ms Megan TrewarthaNurse Unit Manager, Orthopaedic WardEmu Heights District HospitalEmu Heights, NSW

Application for Registered Nurse, Orthopaedic Ward, REQ 2026-0458

Dear Ms Trewartha,

I am applying for the permanent full-time Registered Nurse position on the Orthopaedic Ward, advertised on the state health careers site, and my responses to the selection criteria are attached. I am AHPRA registered with no conditions, an RN Year 6, and I have spent six years on acute surgical and orthopaedic wards in western Sydney, the last four on a 30-bed ward with a joint replacement pathway much like the one your advert describes.

Your selection criteria ask for post-operative and orthopaedic experience and for recognising the deteriorating patient. At Blaxland Ridge Hospital I care for four to five acute surgical and orthopaedic patients per shift, including joint replacements on an enhanced recovery pathway and patients with epidurals and PCA, and I escalate through the Between the Flags criteria to the rapid response team. I take the in-charge shift two or three times a fortnight, allocating staff and working with the bed manager on admissions. I co-led the ward's pressure injury group, which introduced a two-hourly repositioning round and a skin check at admission; hospital-acquired pressure injuries fell to their lowest level in three years.

The criteria also ask for a commitment to supporting graduates. I precept graduate nurses on the surgical rotation; all eight I have precepted completed it and three stayed on the ward. At St Finbar's Private Hospital I wrote the day surgery discharge checklist the hospital adopted and sat on the deteriorating patient committee, auditing observation charts each month. My Advanced Life Support is current, I chart in Cerner, and I hold a NSW Working with Children Check.

My CV is attached with my AHPRA registration details and two referees, one of them my current NUM. I would be happy to visit the ward before interview, and I am available for interview at any time from 12 October. Thank you for considering my application.

Kind regards,

Lauren Tavendale

Start yours from this letter

Opens this letter in the editor, in one of the templates below. Swap in your details and the employer's, then fit it to each vacancy in about two minutes.

Use this letter

How this registered nurse cover letter is built

  1. The opening confirms registration, classification and the current ward

    A NUM reads for AHPRA registration before anything else, so the letter gives it in the second sentence with the classification and the years, then the ward she nurses now. The first sentence names the position and says the selection criteria responses are attached, which is what the public recruitment portal requires and what the NUM will score.

  2. The second paragraph follows the selection criteria in their own order

    The advert's first two criteria are clinical, so the letter answers them first with the patient load, the pathway, the escalation route and the in-charge shifts, each a number or a named system from the registered nurse CV. The pressure injury work closes the paragraph with a quality measure a NUM is held to.

  3. The third paragraph takes the people criterion and the credentials

    Supporting graduates is a criterion on most ward positions, and the letter gives it a checkable fact: eight precepted, all completed, three retained. The private hospital work shows a checklist the hospital adopted. ALS, Cerner and the Working with Children Check go in one sentence because they are the things the NUM would otherwise have to arrange or verify.

  4. The closing names the CV and the referees and offers a visit

    Australian public hospitals expect referees to be named, and one of them should be your current manager, so the letter says both. The offer to visit the ward is welcome and often taken up. Availability from a date and a single line of thanks finish it.

  5. "Kind regards" is the normal Australian close

    A letter to a named NUM can end "Kind regards" or "Yours sincerely" in Australia; both read correctly, and "Kind regards" is what most nurses use. "Yours faithfully" is kept for a letter that opens "Dear Sir or Madam", which should be rare once you have rung the ward for the manager's name.

Templates for the registered nurse cover letter

All cover letter templates

Each one matches a resume template of the same name, so the letter and the CV go out in one look. Every template exports on A4; the editor sets the page size when you export.

Mistakes that cost registered nurse interviews

  1. Leaving the selection criteria to the separate document

    On a public health careers portal the criteria responses are scored, but the NUM reads the letter first and forms a view. Answer the two or three criteria you meet best in the letter, with the same evidence you give in the responses, and keep the long version for the attachment.

  2. Describing yourself as compassionate instead of showing a shift

    Every nursing letter claims compassion and patient-centred care. A NUM believes the one that describes the shift: four to five post-operative patients, an epidural to manage, a patient deteriorating at two in the morning and the call you made. The quality is in the detail, not the adjective.

  3. Omitting the classification and the registration status

    A NUM budgeting for an RN Year 6 needs to know that is what you are, and cannot shortlist a nurse whose AHPRA status is unclear. Say the classification and that you are registered without conditions in the first paragraph, and that the registration number is on the CV.

  4. Sending a public hospital letter to a private one

    A private hospital reads for elective pathways, same-day discharge and patient experience, and rarely scores against written criteria. Lead with the day surgery work and the discharge checklist for a private employer; lead with the acute criteria and the in-charge shifts for a public one. The sample is for a public ward, so the elective work is one sentence.

  5. Forgetting the referees

    Australian employers expect two referees, one of them your current or most recent manager, and the application form will ask for them. Saying in the letter that they are on the CV, and that one is your NUM, tells the reader you expect the call to be made.

  6. Going over one page

    A NUM shortlisting between shifts reads one page and skims the second. Four paragraphs and about 350 words, on A4, with the criteria responses as a separate attachment where the portal asks for them. Anything longer belongs in the responses, not the letter.

Questions about the registered nurse cover letter

How long should a Registered Nurse cover letter be in Australia?

One page: three or four paragraphs and 300 to 380 words. The sample is a little over 300 words and answers three criteria in that space. The separate selection criteria responses, where the portal asks for them, can run to a page or two more.

Do I still write a cover letter when the application asks for selection criteria responses?

Yes, a short one. The responses are what the panel scores; the letter is what the NUM reads first and where you name the ward, your classification and your availability. Keep the evidence consistent across both, in the same order as the criteria.

Who do I address the letter to?

The Nurse Unit Manager, whose name is usually on the advert as the enquiries contact. If it is not, ring the ward and ask; the ward clerk will tell you. "Dear Ms Trewartha" with "Kind regards" is the usual pair; "Dear Hiring Manager" is acceptable for a large health service where no name is given.

Should I put my AHPRA registration number in the letter?

Say that you are registered as a Registered Nurse with no conditions and that the number is on the CV. The employer will check the register before offering. If you are a graduate awaiting registration, say the expected date and that your university has confirmed completion.

How do I write the letter for a ward I have not worked on?

Lead with the criteria every ward shares, such as the deteriorating patient, medication safety and in-charge shifts, then name the specialty skills you have and the ones you would need to learn, with the course or competency package you have already looked at. A NUM would rather hear that from you than find it out in the first week.

Is the letter different for an overseas-trained nurse?

Add one sentence on your AHPRA pathway and your visa status so the NUM is not left to guess, and give your Australian experience first if you have any, even agency shifts. The rest of the letter is the same: the ward, the patient load and the criteria. The editor keeps the CV in Australian English and on A4 when it tailors it to a vacancy; the letter should match.

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