ICU Nurse Resume Examples and Templates
20 Best Medical-Surgical Nurse Resume Examples and Templates for 2025
By Andrew Stoner
, Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach
Andrew Stoner
Read More
Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach
Last Updated:
December 7, 2025
For an effective medical-surgical nurse resume, focus on your relevant skills like care coordination, patient education, or post-operative monitoring. Also give detailed examples of your success as a medical-surgical nurse or in similar health care roles. This guide provides expert tips to help you create a resume showing your best medical-surgical nurse qualifications.
Key takeaways:
- Brainstorm details about your work history on a separate document or blank sheet of paper. Then, identify the most relevant ones to feature in your experience section – this helps you focus your resume on the role of medical-surgical nurse.
- Spell out the results of your past work as a medical-surgical nurse. Describe how your efforts helped patients, team members, or the wider facility.
- Follow the combination resume format to provide all required information while positioning yourself for medical-surgical nurse jobs that interest you.
Most Popular Medical-Surgical Nurse Resumes
Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical-surgical registered nurse resume example is strong:
Alex’s resume balances strong technical skills with measurable accomplishments like reducing patient falls. The concise format lets hiring managers easily see experience across multiple facilities and specialty units.
Key Tip:
Want to highlight your long-term value to employers? Use action verbs and data like Alex did to quantify your impact. Learn more about using metrics effectively in this guide to resume accomplishments.
Medical Surgical Oncology Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical oncology nurse resume example is strong:
Jordan’s resume clearly shows their ability to deliver comprehensive, patient-focused care in a sensitive and demanding specialty. By highlighting oncology-specific certifications and emotional care, they stand out from generalist applicants.
Key Tip:
If your nursing role involves a unique patient population, make it central in your resume. Explore more tips on how to tailor your resume summary in this article on resume profiles.
Medical Surgical Telemetry Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical telemetry nurse resume example is strong:
Morgan’s resume uses concrete metrics and high-acuity examples to show capability in a telemetry setting. Emphasis on quick decision-making and equipment knowledge sets this candidate apart.
Key Tip:
Telemetry nurses should showcase their comfort with high-pressure clinical situations. Explore resume keywords that align with telemetry and critical care.
Experienced Medical Surgical Nurse Resume Example
Why this experienced medical surgical nurse resume example is strong:
Casey’s resume demonstrates deep experience and leadership within med-surg units. The inclusion of process improvements and mentorship activities shows value beyond bedside care.
Key Tip:
If you’ve been in the field for a while, emphasize how you’ve contributed to unit improvement. Learn more about showing career progression in this guide on how far your resume should go.
General Medical Surgical Nursing Resume Example
Why this general medical surgical nursing resume example is strong:
Jamie’s resume highlights a well-rounded background, making them a flexible candidate for most hospital units. The experience across different patient types and floating roles adds depth.
Key Tip:
Not sure how to show versatility in your resume? Structure your skills and bullet points to reflect a wide range of experience. This article on what to put on your resume offers helpful examples.
Medical Surgical ICU Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical ICU nurse resume example is strong:
Cameron’s resume communicates ICU capabilities while tying them to med-surg foundations. This blend is ideal for hospitals hiring nurses in flex or step-down units.
Key Tip:
Want to bridge two specialties in your resume? Use skill overlap to your advantage. Learn how to blend roles clearly in this guide on resume job descriptions.
Medical Surgical Ortho Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical ortho nurse resume example is strong:
Drew’s resume showcases niche expertise in orthopedic nursing while emphasizing patient-centered outcomes. It reflects both technical skill and compassion—key in post-op ortho care.
Key Tip:
Specializing in one type of surgery? Be specific in your resume summary and bullet points. For more tips on narrowing your focus, see this article on job title examples for resumes.
Medical Surgical Student Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical student nurse resume example is strong:
Riley’s resume clearly outlines clinical rotation experience, relevant skills, and enthusiasm for the field. It provides a strong foundation for entry-level nursing roles.
Key Tip:
Don’t downplay your clinicals—structure them like jobs with dates, locations, and bullet points. For more advice, read how to write your first job resume.
Medical Surgical Float Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical float nurse resume example is strong:
Pat’s resume emphasizes flexibility and competence in different med-surg specialties, making them a valuable team player. Great for hospitals needing multi-unit coverage.
Key Tip:
Float roles can feel scattered—organize them clearly and highlight adaptability. Learn how to structure diverse experience in this resume format guide.
Medical Surgical Travel Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical travel nurse resume example is strong:
Alex’s resume makes the most of travel nursing by showing adaptability and consistent excellence. The multiple systems and locations show high-level versatility.
Key Tip:
Travel nurses should name-drop states, systems, and specialties. Make it easy for recruiters to see your adaptability. Learn more in this guide to how to build a professional resume.
Medical Surgical Pre-Op Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical pre-op nurse resume example is strong:
Cameron’s resume focuses on process efficiency and patient-centered preparation, two critical areas in pre-op nursing. The impact of a custom checklist shows initiative.
Key Tip:
Looking to improve your professional presentation? Build a resume that balances soft skills with outcomes. Learn more in this article on how to build a resume for free.
Medical Surgical Night Shift Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical night shift nurse resume example is strong:
Jordan’s resume is clearly focused on overnight care and clinical vigilance. The bullet points show independence and trustworthiness during less supervised shifts.
Key Tip:
If you’re a night nurse, highlight traits like independence and strong assessment skills. For more insight, check out resume personal statement examples.
Medical Surgical Nurse Educator Resume Example
Why this medical surgical nurse educator resume example is strong:
Morgan’s resume shows a clear career progression from clinician to educator. It highlights both hands-on experience and the ability to train others effectively.
Key Tip:
If you’re transitioning into education, show how your clinical experience informs your teaching. Check out how to list education on a resume to make your credentials shine.
Medical Surgical Charge Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical charge nurse resume example is strong:
Riley’s resume blends clinical care and team leadership. Specific outcomes and leadership impact make this candidate stand out for supervisory roles.
Key Tip:
Looking to step into leadership? Use your resume to show both bedside skill and team management. Learn how in this resume outline guide.
Medical Surgical Step-Down Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical step-down nurse resume example is strong:
Pat’s resume emphasizes transitional care expertise and shows how they operate in the space between ICU and med-surg. Their ability to recognize deterioration early adds measurable value.
Key Tip:
If your role sits between two specialties, clarify that on your resume and show how you bridge both. Learn more about writing cross-functional resumes in this piece on transferable skills.
Medical Surgical Float Pool Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical float pool nurse resume example is strong:
Alex’s resume provides a clear example of float flexibility, with specifics about how they adapt and train quickly. That makes this resume highly attractive to large health systems.
Key Tip:
Working in float pools? Be sure to describe your speed in adjusting and communicating. See more resume tactics for multi-role professionals in career advice for leadership resumes.
Medical Surgical Rehabilitation Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical rehabilitation nurse resume example is strong:
Drew’s resume combines technical post-surgical knowledge with a long-view rehabilitation perspective. This demonstrates commitment to full-cycle care.
Key Tip:
If your patient outcomes extend beyond acute care, show the long-term impact. Learn how in this guide to resume accomplishments.
Medical Surgical New Graduate Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical new graduate nurse resume example is strong:
Casey’s resume presents clinical rotations as real experience, formatted with bullet points and action verbs. It shows readiness for an entry-level role.
Key Tip:
If you’re just starting out, structure student experience like a job. This article on how to make a resume with no experience has more ideas.
Medical Surgical Postpartum Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical postpartum nurse resume example is strong:
Jamie’s resume is niche yet impactful. It clearly highlights both surgical and maternal care skills, offering strong dual value to women’s health departments.
Key Tip:
Specialty med-surg roles (like postpartum) deserve specific attention. Show how your skills bridge categories in your resume. More examples here: resume skills to include.
Medical Surgical Float Charge Nurse Resume Example
Why this medical surgical float charge nurse resume example is strong:
Morgan’s resume blends leadership and adaptability, two highly sought-after traits. Their resume shows initiative and ownership in both routine and complex care environments.
Key Tip:
Balancing multiple roles? Show leadership outcomes in each. Find out how in this expert resume guide.
Medical-Surgical Nurse Text-Only Resume Examples and Templates
How To Write a Medical-Surgical Nurse Resume
Your medical-surgical nurse resume should usually include these sections:
- Contact information
- Profile
- Key skills
- Professional experience
- Education and certifications
Below are tips and samples to help you organize each resume section.
1. Share your contact information
Give your full name, phone number, email address, location, and links to any online professional profiles. Ensure your contact information is current so recruiters and nurse managers can reach you for an interview.
Template:
Your Name
(123) 456-7890 | [email protected] | City, ST | LinkedIn
2. Write a dynamic profile summarizing your qualifications
You can impress hiring managers at the top of your resume by giving the three to five primary reasons you’ll excel as their next medical-surgical nurse. These key selling points may include your:
- Years of related clinical experience
- Work style or approach (efficient, diligent, collaborative…)
- Advanced degree or certification(s) in your field
(Note: Most job seekers find it easier to write their profile last.)
Example:
Medical-surgical nurse with nine years of experience in acute care settings, specializing in post-operative recovery, wound care, and pain management. Known for delivering patient-centered care in fast-paced hospital units and coordinating multidisciplinary plans to reduce readmission rates and improve healing outcomes.
3. Add a compelling section featuring your medical-surgical nurse experience
View the experience section as a chance to give examples of your past work and success. For each job in your recent work history, first brainstorm your duties and achievements on a separate document or sheet of paper. Then, choose the most relevant details to feature as bullet points on your resume. This two-step process helps you write full descriptions of your medical-surgical jobs, but also figure out and describe the value of any jobs you’ve held outside that field.
Example:
Medical-Surgical Nurse
City Hospital | Austin, TX | March 2021 to July 2025
- Managed care for up to six patients per shift on a 36-bed surgical unit, including post-op monitoring, wound care, and medication administration
- Implemented new safety rounding protocol that reduced patient falls by 15%
- Served as preceptor for newly hired nurses and nursing students, providing training on documentation, time management, and care standards
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to create individualized discharge plans, improving patient satisfaction scores by 8%
Resume writer’s tip: Quantify your experience
When possible, use relevant performance data to measure the impact you’ve had as a medical-surgical nurse.
Do:
- “Monitored up to six patients per shift, reducing readmission rates by 10% through proactive care and discharge education”
Don’t:
- “Responsible for monitoring post-operative patients and helping them recover”
Resume writer’s tip: Tailor your resume to each position type
Before sending your resume, review it carefully against the job posting. Delete any details that don’t speak to the requirements, and consider using that space for more information about your relevant experience. This process takes extra time, obviously. But it can shorten your overall job search by giving you an edge over the many applicants who send a more general, less convincing resume.
What if you have no experience as a medical-surgical nurse?
As long as the job posting doesn’t require it, you don’t need direct work experience to write an effective resume. The trick is focusing on your transferable skills, which can come from various areas such as your other past nursing jobs, volunteer positions, or college courses. By detailing these areas in full on your resume, you can ensure it helps you get interviews.
4. Include your formal education and nurse credentials
Following are templates to help you organize this information on your resume (note, years are optional).
Education
Template:
[Degree Name], [School Name], [City, ST] | [Graduation Year]
[Relevant honors, coursework, or activities]
Example:
Bachelor of Science in Nursing, University of Texas, Austin, TX
Certifications
Template:
[Certification Name], [Awarding Organization] | [Completion Year]
[Description if the credential is lesser-known but relevant]
Example:
Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification (CMSRN), Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board | 2023
5. List your medical-surgical nurse-related skills
A skills section lets you quickly show the (possibly various) ways you can apply yourself at a hospital or other health facility. Below, you’ll find some key terms and skills to consider for this section:
| Key skills | |
|---|---|
| Acute patient care | Care coordination |
| Electronic health record (EHR) systems | Intravenous (IV) therapy |
| Medication administration | Pain management |
| Patient assessments | Patient discharge planning |
| Patient and family education | Post-operative monitoring |
| Pressure ulcer prevention | Surgical wound care |
| Task prioritization | Team collaboration |
| Telemetry monitoring | Time management |
Resume writer’s tip: Use common action verbs
Start each bullet point with a strong action verb. Dynamic verbs help you keep the nurse manager’s attention and tell a compelling story about your experience.
The following list can help you find a good mix of action verbs for your medical-surgical nurse resume:
| Action verbs | |
|---|---|
| Addressed | Administered |
| Advocated | Assessed |
| Collaborated | Coordinated |
| Created | Decreased |
| Delivered | Documented |
| Earned | Educated |
| Encouraged | Enhanced |
| Evaluated | Fostered |
| Generated | Improved |
| Increased | Introduced |
| Lowered | Managed |
| Monitored | Performed |
| Prevented | Provided |
| Ranked | Reduced |
| Reported | Responded |
| Reversed | Streamlined |
| Supported | Trained |
| Updated | Won |
How To Pick the Best Medical-Surgical Nurse Resume Template
Choose a template that’s clear and straightforward, and avoid any template with elaborate graphics or various colors and font styles. Simple resume design helps a nurse manager scan for relevant information. It also helps you tailor the document to each job application and update your work history going forward. (Tip: When you can, save and submit your resume as a pdf file to preserve formatting across screens and systems.)
Frequently Asked Questions: Medical-Surgical Nurse Resume Examples and Advice
How do you align your resume with a medical-surgical nurse job posting?
Focus on editing your skills section. With just a few quick changes to this section, you can further hone your resume and help it get past screenings by applicant tracking systems (ATS).
First, take a close look at the job posting and highlight any skills required. Then, compare those highlighted terms against your resume's existing skills section. Delete any skills from your list that don't appear in the job posting, and add any missing skills of yours that do.
Say the job posting calls for experience in training new hires, which you have. Add the phrase "New hire training" to your skills section so ATS and human readers can see you have the leadership ability they're looking for.
What is the best medical-surgical nurse resume format?
The combination (or hybrid) format, because it lets you present yourself both clearly and strategically. According to job search experts Wendy Enelow and Louise Kursmark, this format "gives you many opportunities to share your specific successes.... It offers immense flexibility in an easy-to-follow structure."
A combination resume has these two features:
- An introduction to your strengths. Typically, the resume intro consists of a profile paragraph and skills list, as in the examples on this page. But there are variations. Depending on your job search, you may choose to omit one or both of these sections in favor of a brief professional headline. Whatever approach you choose, make sure your introduction tells why you're great for the job.
- One or more experience sections. Hiring managers want to know your latest career activities. The combination format lets you provide that information with sections for your recent years' work, practicum, education, or other experience. For most job seekers, the bulk of their combination resume will be a "Professional Experience" section with detailed job descriptions in reverse order.
Expert advice:
include a cover letter with your medical-surgical nurse resume
A good cover letter sharpens your job application by answering the question, Why are you interested in this particular nursing job? As with starting your resume, brainstorm your thoughts on a separate document or paper and then choose the most compelling ones as your foundation.
When possible, quote or paraphrase text from the job posting and explain why it caught your attention. For example, if the listing says “We’re looking for a med-surg nurse who thrives in a fast-paced, team-based environment,” you might write, “I was especially drawn to your emphasis on team-based care. In my previous role, I collaborated daily with physical therapists and discharge planners to reduce readmissions on our surgical floor.”
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Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach
Andrew Stoner is an executive career coach and resume writer with 17 years of experience as a hiring manager and operations leader at two Fortune 500 Financial Services companies, and as the career services director at two major university business schools.
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