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Medical surgical staff nurse skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Angela Mund,

Angela Mund

Medical surgical staff nurse example skills

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical medical surgical staff nurse skills. We ranked the top skills for medical surgical staff nurses based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 34.0% of medical surgical staff nurse resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a medical surgical staff nurse needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 medical surgical staff nurse skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use patients:

Assumed charged nurse's roles as directed Responsible for medication administration/patient care/documentation Provided care to patients with varied medical and surgical diagnoses
Coordinated and provide direct patient care for cardiac/telemetry, surgical, orthopedic, respiratory, geriatric and pain management patients.

2. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use cpr:

Served on Code Blue Team and interim Floor Charge Nurse, CPR and ACLS certified.
Experience with teaching CPR and Oncology Certification courses.

3. Acute Care

The branch of secondary healthcare which is responsible for giving short-term care to patients recovering from severe injuries or urgent medical problems is known as acute care. Acute care comprises multiple domains like; emergency care, urgent care, short-term stabilization, pre-hospital care, critical care, and trauma care.

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use acute care:

59-bed long-term acute care hospital providing specialized care for medically complex patients requiring a prolonged hospitalization and rehabilitation.
Analyzed complex needs of acute care patients, provided personalized education, performed successful discharges

4. Acls

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use acls:

Completed ACLS /Advanced Cardiac Life Support Certification
Assisted on Ready Respond Team (RRT) for ACLS patients and assisted in ICU as needed.

5. Direct Patient Care

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use direct patient care:

Provided direct patient care through administering medications, performing dressing changes as well as numerous other nursing responsibilities.
Provide direct patient care including medication administration, treatment, patient/family education and documentation.

6. Telemetry

A telemetry is a process of automatically monitoring and recording vital conditions like the blood pressure, heart rhythm, and oxygen saturation of a patient, particularly those in the Intensive Care Unit or ICU critical condition. It is where the information gathered to report as a basis for a doctor's findings.

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use telemetry:

Provided patient care in the general Medical/Surgical Unit observing patient progress with medications, treatments telemetry monitoring and rehabilitation.
Demonstrated perfect knowledge and understanding of telemetry monitoring and ECG, computerized unified system of telemetry monitoring.

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7. Resuscitation

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use resuscitation:

Participated in and directed massive resuscitation efforts.
Administered rapid response and cardiac arrest care as a part of resuscitation team.

8. ICU

ICU means intensive care units. It also has a name known as the critical care unit or intensive therapy unit. The ICU handles patients experiencing acute diseases or severe injuries that need specialized treatment procedures by specific professionals.

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use icu:

Conducted educational seminars/in-services and streamlined policy and procedure manuals as a member of the ICU Service Council.
Recruited as nurse preceptor to train, orient and mentor new staff hired into the ICU through the Critical Care Fellowship.

9. IV

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use iv:

Administered IV fluids and medications including antibiotics and carefully monitored for side effects and adverse reactions.
Managed post-operative patients, diabetes, pulmonary disorders, IV and catheter insertion/management, pharmacological management

10. Good Interpersonal

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use good interpersonal:

Maintain good interpersonal relationship with co-workers and staff.
Establish good interpersonal relationships with patients, patients' families, visitors, and hospital staffs.

11. Family Education

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use family education:

Provided patient and family education on a variety of topics including medications and treatments.
Provided patient/family education on topics including nutrition, care needs and pain management.

12. Chemotherapy

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use chemotherapy:

Trained newly hired nurses in chemotherapy administration and assisted in the development of new orientation modules for nursing.
Administer chemotherapy, provided education for new chemo patients, and continuous monitoring of infusions.

13. Staff Nurses

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use staff nurses:

Provided leadership to colleagues as charge nurse, float nurse and as a preceptor role as for new staff nurses.
Assist staff nurses when needed to assess patient status and notify physicians of clinical changes.

14. Discharge Planning

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use discharge planning:

Provided necessary teaching to patients and families regarding medication regimen and facilitate discharge planning.
Provided comprehensive care to adult medical-surgical patients including patient education and discharge planning.

15. Medication Administration

Here's how medical surgical staff nurses use medication administration:

Deliver exceptional care to inpatients strictly adhering to outlined plan of care performing medication administration and patient specific treatments.
Protected patients and employees by adhering to infection-control protocols, medication administration procedures, and controlled substance regulations.

5 Medical Surgical Staff Nurse resume examples

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What skills help Medical Surgical Staff Nurses find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What type of skills will young medical surgical staff nurses need?

Angela Mund

Vice President, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists

To meet the needs of our current volatile and complex healthcare landscape, all healthcare providers will need to understand the business of healthcare, in addition to providing expert patient care. Starting in 2025, all graduates from nurse anesthesia programs will be awarded a doctoral degree, a doctorate in nursing practice (DNP), or a doctorate in nurse anesthesia practice (DNAP). These degree programs include additional anesthesia experience as well as an understanding of effective leadership, healthcare economics and reimbursement, the use of big data for improving patient outcomes, and evidence-based practice.

What skills stand out on medical surgical staff nurse resumes?

Angela Mund

Vice President, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists

To become a CRNA, the applicant must first be a registered nurse and graduate of a baccalaureate nursing program. A minimum of one year of clinical experience in an intensive care unit (ICU) is required. The application process is rigorous, and many nurse anesthesia programs are seeing higher than typical applicant numbers, perhaps due to the impact of COVID-19 on the ICU nurse workforce.

The most competitive applicants will have an overall GPA >3.5. Basic science courses are heavily weighted with respect to both course grade and type of course. A competitive resumé should include evidence of clinical expertise, leadership, volunteerism, and scholarly work. In addition, all registered nurse applicants should have shadowed a CRNA to learn about the profession prior to application. The interview process may include assessments of critical thinking, decision-making, and emotional intelligence.

What soft skills should all medical surgical staff nurses possess?

Diane Salvador Ph.D.

Executive Director and Professor, Elmhurst University

The most important skill for new nursing graduates is critical thinking. You will be put into varying roles and assume different responsibilities. You must critically think and evaluate situations you find yourself in and make wise nursing decisions. Another important skill that we emphasize in education is communication - this is key to safe, quality care.

What hard/technical skills are most important for medical surgical staff nurses?

Diane Salvador Ph.D.

Executive Director and Professor, Elmhurst University

New nurses should be prepared to demonstrate proficiency in basic nursing care and procedures. It is important to realize that each hospital has its own policy and procedure to follow, so taking advantage of your nurse preceptor and orientation program will ensure you are familiar with these basic procedures.

What medical surgical staff nurse skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Michelle Hampton Ph.D.

Associate Professor, San Jose State University

I think there are always opportunities to work and gain experience once the nurse is licensed. They might need to be creative, flexible, and work where there's a need. That might be a specialty area they hadn't considered or a geographic area that requires some travel. I don't think a gap year is inevitable for all new graduates and there might be opportunities for them to find work, and they can always continue the learning process after you're employed, even if it's not your dream job. The more significant obstacle seems to be for students who are currently still in nursing programs.

Clinical sites weren't accepting students for several months, and now that they are again, they have significantly limited the number of students allowed at one time and the number of hours they can train. When a staff member or patient tests positive, students are pulled from the site for some time, and students are struggling to get the minimum number of hours required to continue progressing in the nursing program. Some schools have even suspended admission for new groups of students instead choosing to focus on getting the current students through the program.

Do you want to know more?

List of medical surgical staff nurse skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a medical surgical staff nurse resume and required skills for a medical surgical staff nurse to have include:

Patients
CPR
Acute Care
Acls
Direct Patient Care
Telemetry
Resuscitation
ICU
IV
Good Interpersonal
Family Education
Chemotherapy
Staff Nurses
Discharge Planning
Medication Administration
Arrhythmia
Critical Care

Vital Signs
Registered Nursing
Catheter
Medical-Surgical Nursing
Advanced Life Support
Patient Care
Patient Education
Nursing Diagnosis
Infection Control
Quality Patient Care
CHF
Disease Processes
EKG
Surgical Procedures
COPD
Hospital Policies
PCA

Pain Management
Physician Orders
Blood Pressure
Tracheostomy
Blood Products
Primary Care
NG
GI
Bedside Procedures
PICC
Provide Emotional Support
Meditech
Patient Teaching
IM
Emotional Support

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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Medical Surgical Staff Nurse Skills

Updated January 8, 2025

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