7 Medical Surgical Nurse Resume Examples for 2024

Crafting a resume as a medical-surgical nurse requires highlighting your clinical skills and patient care expertise. This guide offers proven examples and strategic pointers to help you showcase your experience in a clear, concise way. Expect tips on presenting your certifications, like BLS or ACLS, and tailoring your accomplishments to the nuanced demands of medical-surgical nursing roles.

  Compiled and approved by Diana Price
  Last updated on See history of changes

  Next update scheduled for

At a Glance

Here's what we see in top medical surgical nurse resumes.

  • Showcasing Impact With Numbers: The best resumes show clear impact using specific metrics like patient load management, medication administration accuracy, wound care success rates, and patient recovery time improvement.

  • Matching Skills To Job Description: Include skills you have that are also in the job description. Some important ones are patient assessment, IV therapy, wound dressing, post-operative care, and infection control.

  • Insight Into Industry Trends: Resumes now often highlight experience with electronic health records due to the trend towards digital documentation in healthcare.

Where to place education

On your resume, show your education section after your experience if you have been working as a nurse for a while. This tells the hiring manager about your hands-on skills first. If you are new to medical surgical nursing or just finished a new degree or certification, put your education at the top. It shows why you may not have recent work history and highlights your new skills.

Targeting a nursing career

In medical surgical nursing, show your clinical skills and certifications clearly. These are critical in this field. Mention hands-on experience with patient care and any specialized surgical procedures you know. This information helps you stand out to employers as they look for nurses with specific surgical skills.

Ideal resume length

Keep your resume to one page if you have less than 10 years of nursing experience. This makes it easy for the hiring manager to see your skills quickly. If you are a medical nurse with a long history of work, you may use two pages. Make sure every detail adds value and relates to the job you want.

Highlighting specialized training

For this nursing specialty, include any certifications aside from basic licensing, like a Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification (MSNC). Also, detail any training with new medical technologies or equipment specific to surgical nursing. This shows employers you are ready to work with their tools and methods.

Beat the resume bots

When you apply for a medical-surgical nursing position, your resume may first be reviewed by an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) before a human sees it. To make sure your resume stands out, follow these tips:

  • Include keywords from the job description, such as 'patient care,' 'medication administration,' or 'wound dressing,' to ensure the ATS recognizes your relevant experience.
  • Use a simple format with clear headings like 'work experience,' 'education,' and 'skills.' This helps the ATS and the hiring manager easily find important information.
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