How To Become A Recovery Room Nurse: What It Is and Career Path

What is a recovery room nurse and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.,

Kim Raines

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a recovery room nurse. For example, did you know that they make an average of $36.38 an hour? That's $75,667 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 195,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a recovery room nurse?

Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.

Associate Dean of the School of Nursing Professor of Nursing, Quinnipiac University

One of the suggestions for new graduates is the importance of self-care. We have long known of the demanding nature of the nursing practice. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the nursing role's critical importance and the unique contributions made by nursing professionals. As the healthcare environment is extremely complex and challenging, nurses must remember to advocate for themselves and prioritize self-care.

ScoreRecovery Room NurseUS Average

Salary

5.9

Avg. Salary $75,667

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 8.95%

Black or African American 11.71%

Hispanic or Latino 8.65%

Unknown 4.23%

White 66.02%

Gender

female 89.39%

male 10.61%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.1

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a recovery room nurse

Explore recovery room nurse education requirements

Most common recovery room nurse degrees

Bachelor's

48.8 %

Associate

35.0 %

Diploma

6.3 %

Start to develop specific recovery room nurse skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	28.66%
BLS	8.84%
Acls	6.21%
PACU	4.78%
Direct Patient Care	4.69%

Complete relevant recovery room nurse training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New recovery room nurses 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 recovery room nurse based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real recovery room nurse resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed recovery room nurse usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed recovery room nurse in most of states. 43 states require recovery room nurses to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	Degree required	State exam required	Registered Nurse (RN)
Alaska	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nurse, Registered
Arkansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Registered Nurse (RN)
California	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nurse, Registered
Colorado	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Registered Nurse

Research recovery room nurse duties and responsibilities

Achieve departmental goals and objectives by instituting SGNA standards and processes for inpatient and outpatient care.
Care for patients in ICU's, telemetry stepdown units, medical/surgical units.
Perform admission assessment, monitoring, and discharge planning for adult and pediatric patients undergoing various outpatient surgical procedures.
Work as a clinical RN in ICU setting for adults.

Prepare your recovery room nurse resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your recovery room nurse 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 recovery room nurse resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable recovery room nurse resume templates

Build a professional recovery room nurse 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 recovery room nurse resume.