Surgical nurse resume examples from 2026

A resume summary is your opening statement that highlights your strongest skills and top accomplishments. It is your chance to quickly let recruiters know who you are professionally - and why they should hire you for the surgical nurse role.

Step 1: Start with your professional title, or the one you aspire to.

Step 2: Detail your years of experience in surgical nurse-related roles and your industry experience.

Step 3: What are your biggest professional wins? Here is your opportunity to highlight your strongest accomplishments by placing them at the start of your resume.

Step 4: Don't forget, your goal is to summarize your experience. Keep it short and sweet, so it's easy for recruiters to quickly understand why you're a great hire.

These four steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some surgical nurse interviews.

Your Skills section is an easy way to let recruiters know you have the skills to do the job. Just as importantly, it can help your resume not get filtered out by hiring software. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:

1. Look at the job listing and skills listed. You need to include the exact keywords from the job description to get your resume in front of an actual human. Do you have those skills? Fantastic! Be sure to list them.
2. Include as many relevant hard or technical surgical nurse skills as possible for each job you apply to.
3. Be specific with the skills you have and be sure you are using the most up to date and accurate terms.

These five steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some surgical nurse interviews.

Your work experience should be structured:

1. With your most recent roles first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order.
2. Job title, along with company name and location on the left.
3. Put the corresponding dates of employment on the left side.
4. Keep only relevant jobs on your work experience.

Your resume is not a list of responsibilities or a job description. Instead, it is your chance to show your accomplishments and show why you're good at what you do.

• Use the What, How, and Why format. Answering these questions turns a bland job description into an effective showcase of your abilities.
• What were your responsibilities or goals?
• How did you accomplish them?
• Why were your results important? (How did it impact your company? Can you quantify the results in numbers? )

Here are effective examples from surgical nurse resumes:

Employers are looking for a few things when looking at the Education section of your resume:

• The highest degree you have achieved.
• TWhere you attended school, and the dates (Although if you graduated some time ago, leave the date off to avoid ageism)
• TField of study
• TAny honors, relevant coursework, achievements, or pertinent activities

Here are some examples of good education entries from surgical nurse resumes:

If you have any additional certifications, add them to the certification section.

To list, use the full name of the certification and the organization that issued it, along with the date of achievement.

Here are some of the best certifications to have on surgical nurse resumes:

1. Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA)
2. Trauma Nursing Core Course (TNCC)
3. Family Nurse Practitioner
4. Medical-Surgical Nursing (RN-BC)
5. Certified Nurse Technician (CNT)
6. Certified Case Manager (ACM)
7. Certified in Executive Nursing Practice (CENP)