How To Become A Circulator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a circulator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a circulator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $29.16 an hour? That's $60,663 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 19% and produce 150,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCirculatorUS Average

Salary

4.7

Avg. Salary $60,663

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate 19%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.14%

Asian 9.55%

Black or African American 5.33%

Hispanic or Latino 12.75%

Unknown 5.04%

White 67.20%

Gender

female 72.10%

male 27.90%

Age - 34

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 34

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a circulator

Explore circulator education requirements

Most common circulator degrees

Associate

40.8 %

Bachelor's

35.4 %

Diploma

9.7 %

Start to develop specific circulator skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	26.93%
BLS	22.46%
Patient Care	14.82%
Acls	9.01%
Surgical Procedures	4.34%

Complete relevant circulator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New circulators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a circulator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real circulator resumes.

Research circulator duties and responsibilities

Achieve departmental goals and objectives by instituting SGNA standards and processes for inpatient and outpatient care.
Transport patient to PACU and reports off to recovery nurse.
Implement, write, and enforce department policies in accordance with AORN standards.
Circulate all specialties to include ENT, cataracts, spine, total knees, orthopedics, plastics and general

Prepare your circulator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your circulator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a circulator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable circulator resume templates

Build a professional circulator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your circulator resume.