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Can many people boast they make sure no gator is left inside a patient (on a daily basis)? Only a select few, and you’re one of them. Is it a good enough statement for your operating room nurse resume, though? Probably not. 

So what do you include that’s just as impressive, and also equally compelling? How do you showcase your outstanding skills and secure the job you desire? You’re about to find out.

This guide will show you: 

  • An operating nurse resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
  • How to write an operating nurse resume that will land you more interviews.
  • Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on an operating nurse resume.
  • How to describe your experience on a resume for an operating nurse to get any job you want.

Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.

Create your resume now

Sample Operating Room Nurse resume—See more resume examples here.

Targeting other medicine, or healthcare jobs? See one of our dedicated guides:

Operating Room Nurse Resume Sample

Josephine Benavides, BSN, RNFA

josephine.b@gmail.com

602-317-1553

Objective

Conscientious and practical operating room nurse with 10+ years of professional experience. Eager to join the Holy Family Hospital Centre to provide its patients with impeccable care and attention, and support the hospital staff. In previous roles selected as a mentor to new nursing staff and students.

Work Experience

OR Nurse
Peter Steele Hospital, New Jersey, NJ

2012–

  • Prepared surgical suite according to surgery and surgeon preference.
  • Collaborated with the surgical team to ensure the highest safety and surgical standards for the patient.
  • Initiated corrective actions upon adverse information from monitoring equipment.
  • Collaborated with physicians and other health care providers to develop a care plan for the patient during surgery.
  • Adhered to AORN standards of perioperative practice.
  • Stocked supplies, prepared operating rooms, and managed post-operative patient care.

Key achievement:

  • Functioned as a mentor and resource to incoming nursing staff, students and LPN/PCA staff.

OR Nurse

Virgin Mary Hospital, New Jersey, NJ

2008–2012

  • Maintained a safe surgical environment.
  • Assisted in preparing surgery schedules and planning perioperative care for surgical patients.
  • Assisted physicians with examinations, procedures, and other patient care activities.
  • Monitored patients for complications and conducted pre- and post-operative teaching to the patient and family members.

Education

Bachelor of Science, Nursing

Adelphi University, New York, NY

2008 

Licenses and Certifications

  • Registered Nurse—License #24973947
  • CNOR
  • RNFA
  • ACLS

Key Skills

  • General OR
  • Outpatient
  • Trauma
  • Laparoscopic general surgeries
  • Isolation precautions
  • Infection prevention
  • Patient rights
  • Collaboration
  • Problem-solving
  • Analytical skills 

Languages

  • Spanish—Bilingual

Here’s how to write your OR nurse resume that shows you’re instrumental:

1. Choose the Best Format for Your Operating Room Nurse Resume

An operating room and your resume have a lot in common.

Both must be perfectly organized, for one.

Here’s how to format your operating nurse resume:

  • Make sure the resume header has all your contact information.
  • Add large reader-friendly headings to each resume section.
  • Pick out the best resume format for your needs. Most often, the chronological format is preferred as it puts your experience and achievements in the limelight.
  • Choose an elegant and legible resume font.
  • Don’t be afraid of white space. Stuffing your resume with irrelevant information won't work to your advantage.
  • Save your resume as a PDF or MS Word file. In most cases, PDF is preferred. Unless they specifically ask the candidates to send an MS Word format file.

2. Write an Operating Room Nurse Resume Objective or Summary

A resume objective and summary are collectively referred to as a resume profile.

Consider it an abbreviated version of your entire OR resume.

Since it’s one of the first things the hiring manager will see on your resume, it should immediately show you’re second to none.

If you’re an experienced nurse with 2+ years of experience, go for a resume summary. This is a brief paragraph summarising your work history and key achievements.

A resume objective is more suitable for entry-level candidates and freshers. In contrast to the resume summary, it highlights the skills you learned to show you’ve got potential.

Pro Tip: Write your resume profile as the last step of making your resume. It will be much easier to abbreviate your resume once you have the full-length version.

3. Create the Perfect Operating Room Nurse Job Description for a Resume


If your resume profile is the first incision, the work experience section is where the operation is well underway.

It’s the part that must show the recruiter you have it all. So, make sure you bring up the best you can offer.

Here’s how to nail your operating room nurse job description:

  • Start with listing your most recent position and then move on to the previous ones.
  • Include your job title, company name, and dates worked in each section.
  • Use bullet-point lists to present your duties and achievements. 6–7 bullets are enough for each position.
  • Concentrate on the experience relevant to the job. Always tailor your resume.
  • Use action verbs in your bullet points. For example, prepared, collaborated, stocked, conducted, etc.
  • Quantify whatever you can. Numbers speak louder than words.

Pro Tip: There's a larger skills gap in healthcare than in overall economy now, so let your experience section display both: your technical expertise and soft skills.

4. Make Your Operating Room Nurse Resume Education Section Indispensable

Your OR resume won’t be fully operational without a proper education section.

Here’s how to list your operating room nurse education:

  • If you have more than 5 years of experience. Simply list your degree, school name, location, and graduation year.
  • Less than 5 years of experience? Add info on your GPA (if above 3.5), relevant coursework academic achievements, extracurricular activities.
  • List your professional certifications and licenses in a separate section or subsection.

5. Highlight Your Operating Room Nurse Skills

Here’s a list of operating room nurse skills you might want to use as a source of inspiration.

Operating Room Nurse Resume Sample—Skills

Technical Skills:

  • Thyroidectomy
  • Scrub general surgery
  • Malignant hyperthermia protocol
  • Administering and monitoring moderate sedation
  • Universal protocol for wrong site surgery
  • National patient safety goals/core measures
  • Fall risk assessment/prevention
  • CVOR
  • Abdominal perineal resection
  • Appendectomy/cholecystectomy
  • Breast biopsy
  • Colon resection/surgery
  • Gastrectomy
  • Pressure ulcer risk assessment/prevention
  • Restraints/use of least restrictive device
  • Age-specific/population-based care

Transferable and Soft Skills:

Remember: Focus on the hard skills and soft skills relevant to the position. Do not list everything.

Here’s how to identify relevant OR nurse skills:

  • Start off with listing all your job skills (incl. soft skills & hard skills, and technical skills.)
  • Consult the job ad to see what skills are identified by name. Note them down.
  • Now compare both skills sets, see where they overlap. The overlapping skills are the skills you’ll want to highlight on your resume.
  • Sprinkle your entire resume with skills. Don’t just put them on a list in your key skills section.

One last thing: show only your strongest skills and limit yourself to listing up to 10. This way you’ll avoid the so-called presenter’s paradox.

Based on an analysis of 11 million resumes created using our builder, we discovered that:

  • Nurses usually list 14.2 skills on their resumes.
  • The most common skills for Nurses are patient education, medication and IV administration, care plan implementation, emergency care, and patient assessment.
  • Resumes for Nurses are, on average, 2.2 pages long.

Creating a resume with our builder is incredibly simple. Follow our step-by-step guide and use content from Certified Professional Resume Writers to have a resume ready in minutes.

When you’re done, our free resume builder will score your resume and our resume checker will tell you exactly how to make it better.


6. Add Other Sections to Your Operating Room Nurse Resume

If you want to stand out from the crowd by far, consider including several additional sections:

7. Attach a Cover Letter to Your Operating Room Nurse Resume

Contrary to popular belief—


Cover letters are still going strong.

Suffice it to say 50% of recruiters still expect you to send a cover letter. Use these 4 simple tips to get your cover letter just right in no time:

Pro Tip: Follow up on your job application. Send an thank-you email or make a phone call. It doesn’t cost much effort but can help you a lot.

Your operating room nurse resume is ready.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Are you writing an operating room nurse resume for the first time? Or perhaps you’re a seasoned pro eager to help the rookies out? We’d love to hear from you, leave your comment below!

Perhaps you're interested in writing a resume for a slightly different position? See these guides:

About Zety’s Editorial Process

This article has been reviewed by our editorial team to make sure it follows Zety's editorial guidelines. We’re committed to sharing our expertise and giving you trustworthy career advice tailored to your needs. High-quality content is what brings over 40 million readers to our site every year. But we don't stop there. Our team conducts original research to understand the job market better, and we pride ourselves on being quoted by top universities and prime media outlets from around the world.

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Maciej Duszyński, CPRW
Maciej is a career expert and Certified Professional Resume Writer with a solid background in the education management industry. He's worked with people at all stages of their career paths: from interns to directors to C-suite members, he now helps you find your dream job.
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