How to hire a surgical nurse

How to hire a surgical nurse, step by step

Here's a step-by-step surgical nurse hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a surgical nurse job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new surgical nurse
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a surgical nurse do?

Post a surgical nurse job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your surgical nurse job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a surgical nurse for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a surgical nurse to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a surgical nurse that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of surgical nurse salaries for various roles:

   Type of Surgical Nurse	Description	Hourly rate
   Surgical Nurse	Registered nurses (RNs) provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members.	$18-49
   Nurse Clinician	A nurse clinician is a health expert who provides care and assistance to patients in hospitals, clinics, or similar establishments. Among their responsibilities include preparing equipment and documents, administering medication, monitoring the patient's condition, maintaining charts, and regularly reporting to physicians... Show more	$23-42
   Nurse Educator	A nurse educator is responsible for teaching aspiring professional nurses, designing courses according to the curriculum, and organizing activities to practice and enhance the students' knowledge. Nurse educators manage clinical activities and observe the students' performance in actual training... Show more	$22-46

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • BLS
   • Acute Care
   • Acls
   • Rehabilitation
   • Quality Care
   • Patient Outcomes
   • Oncology
   • Telemetry
   • Patient Safety
   • Orthopedics
   • CPR
   • Surgical Procedures
   • Compassion

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage GI bleeds, asthmatics, bowel resections, fractures, patients with chest and feeding tubes.
   • Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
   • Maintain BLS, NRP, ACLS
   • Prepare patients for procedures, initiate and maintain intravenous therapy, and obtain 12-lead EKG.
   • Establish care plans and perform care for ICU, CCU, cardiac, and neurological patients.
   • Serve as a BLS/ ACLS instructor.

   More surgical nurse duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your surgical nurse job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A surgical nurse salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a surgical nurse in Pennsylvania may be lower than in Hawaii, and an entry-level surgical nurse usually earns less than a senior-level surgical nurse. Additionally, a surgical nurse with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average surgical nurse salary

   $64,025yearly

   $30.78 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level surgical nurse salary

   $39,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average surgical nurse salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$104,813	$50
   2	Oregon	$77,677	$37
   3	Washington	$75,582	$36
   4	Nevada	$75,296	$36
   5	Arizona	$71,312	$34
   6	Colorado	$67,521	$32
   7	Texas	$67,002	$32
   8	Idaho	$64,671	$31
   9	Louisiana	$60,906	$29
   10	Arkansas	$59,956	$29
   11	Kansas	$59,709	$29
   12	Nebraska	$57,209	$28
   13	Missouri	$56,595	$27
   14	North Carolina	$55,887	$27
   15	Iowa	$53,315	$26
   16	Maryland	$43,644	$21
   17	New York	$40,541	$19
   18	Massachusetts	$33,502	$16
   19	Maine	$26,992	$13

   Average surgical nurse salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	University of California-Berkeley	$110,078	$52.92	2
   2	Dignity Health	$97,919	$47.08	1,064
   3	University of California	$92,260	$44.36	122
   4	Maxim Healthcare Group	$91,226	$43.86	1,469
   5	Soliant	$90,889	$43.70	39
   6	Tenet Healthcare	$90,778	$43.64	1,227
   7	Johns Hopkins Medicine	$86,671	$41.67	391
   8	Legacy Health	$86,540	$41.61	65
   9	UC Santa Barbara	$85,351	$41.03
   10	WakeMed	$82,642	$39.73	5
   11	HCA Healthcare	$81,670	$39.26	7,769
   12	Kaiser Permanente	$78,828	$37.90	738
   13	UCHealth	$78,698	$37.84	210
   14	CHI Mercy Health	$77,361	$37.19	36
   15	Cleveland Clinic	$76,306	$36.69	1,404
   16	Erlanger Health System	$76,173	$36.62	179
   17	St Luke Family of Caring	$75,583	$36.34
   18	Methodist Hospital Of Henderson, Kentucky	$75,209	$36.16	159
   19	UC Merced	$75,179	$36.14
   20	Kaleida Health	$74,916	$36.02	86

4. Writing a surgical nurse job description

   A surgical nurse job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a surgical nurse job description:

   Surgical nurse job description example

   $20,000 Sign-on Bonus for RNs and up to $10,000 Relocation assistance We offer the following benefits to support you and your family: • Health/Dental/Vision Insurance
   • Free Premium Membership to with preloaded credits for children and dependent adults
   • Care for Caregivers: Resilience Through Adversity is a series of sessions designed to help caregivers build their resilience and advance their mental well-being during these difficult times
   • Flexible spending accounts
   • Voluntary Protection: Group Accident, Critical Illness, and Identity Theft
   • Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for you and your family
   • Paid Time Off (PTO)
   • Tuition Assistance for career growth and development
   • Matching Retirement Programs
   • Wellness Programs Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center is an 881-bed quaternary care academic medical center that is a joint venture between Baylor College of Medicine and CHI St. Luke's Health. Located in the Texas Medical Center, the hospital is the home of the Texas Heart Institute, a cardiovascular research and education institution founded in 1962 by Denton A. Cooley, MD. The hospital was the first facility in Texas and the Southwest designated a Magnet hospital for Nursing Excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, receiving the award five consecutive times. Baylor St. Luke's also has three community emergency centers offering adult and pediatric care for the Greater Houston area. CommonSpirit Health was formed by the alignment of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Dignity Health. With more than 700 care sites across the U.S. & from clinics and hospitals to home-based care and virtual care services CommonSpirit is accessible to nearly one out of every four U.S. residents. Our world needs compassion like never before. Our communities need caring and our families need protection. With our combined resources CommonSpirit is committed to building healthy communities advocating for those who are poor and vulnerable and innovating how and where healing can happen both inside our hospitals and out in the community.
   Responsibilities
   As a Registered Nurse you will be responsible for the delivery of excellence in patient care through assessing, formulating nursing diagnoses and establishing goals, planning and implementing intervention and evaluating patient care outcomes. With the staff nurse's professional practice he/she responsible for participating in and maintaining quality, cost effectiveness and guest relations. Provide patient care in compliance with hospital policies and procedures and the standards of professional nursing practice as defined by the Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas. Our world needs compassion like never before. Our communities need caring, and our families need protection. With our combined resources, we are committed to building healthy communities, advocating for those who are poor and vulnerable, and innovating how and where healing can happen, both inside our hospitals and out in the community. This role will allow you to give back to our community and broaden your healthcare skills.
   Qualifications
   Requirements: Current BSN from an accredited nursing program or BSN within 2 years of hire. One (1) or more years of experience in Acute Care setting Current Registered Nurse (RN) license active in the Texas Basic Life Support (BLS)

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right surgical nurse for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with surgical nurses they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit surgical nurses who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your surgical nurse job on Zippia to find and attract quality surgical nurse candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit surgical nurses, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new surgical nurse

   Once you've decided on a perfect surgical nurse candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a surgical nurse?