Scrub Nurse vs Circulating Nurse

A scrub nurse is a nurse who assists doctors and patients during surgery, while a circulating nurse is a registered nurse (RN) who manages the flow of patients and materials in an operating room nurse.

How To Become A Scrub Nurse: What It Is and Career Path

What is a scrub nurse and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Earlene Masi

The average scrub nurse salary is $66,672. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an nursing major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become a scrub nurse. Scrub nurses with a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 195,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Scrub Nurse?

Earlene Masi

Assistant Professor of Exercise Science, Anderson University

Always be true to yourself. In any situation, never be afraid to ask for help. As you enter the workforce, remember communication is critical, always be a team player, and always be open to change. Remember to try and find a job that you enjoy, and that gives you a sense of fulfillment.

ScoreScrub NurseUS Average

Salary

5.2

Avg. Salary $66,672

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

10.0

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 8.86%

Black or African American 11.81%

Hispanic or Latino 9.35%

Unknown 4.29%

White 65.25%

Gender

female 84.64%

male 15.36%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.1

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.8

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a scrub nurse

Explore scrub nurse education requirements

Most common scrub nurse degrees

Bachelor's

41.9 %

Associate

35.0 %

Diploma

14.5 %

Start to develop specific scrub nurse skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	23.36%
Surgery Site	10.93%
Direct Patient Care	6.28%
Surgical Procedures	5.66%
GYN	5.07%

Complete relevant scrub nurse training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New scrub nurses learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a scrub nurse based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real scrub nurse resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed scrub nurse usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed scrub nurse in most of states. 43 states require scrub nurses to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License Url
Alabama	Degree required	State exam required	Registered Nurse (RN)
Alaska	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nurse, Registered
Arkansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Registered Nurse (RN)
California	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nurse, Registered
Colorado	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Registered Nurse

Research scrub nurse duties and responsibilities

Organize and manage regular clinics involving external physicians, including ophthalmology, ENT, Med/Surg, orthopedics, and podiatry professionals.
Assist scrub nurse in the setup, arrangement and count of surgical equipment and sponges.
Maintain and accurately document proper counting of instruments, sponges and needles as per policy.
Include teaching at community outreach seminars and optometry seminars for patients and physicians

Prepare your scrub nurse resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your scrub nurse resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a scrub nurse resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Scrub Nurse Resume templates

Build a professional Scrub Nurse resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Scrub Nurse resume.

Apply for scrub nurse jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a scrub nurse job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do scrub nurses rate their job?

-/5

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1 Star

Scrub Nurse reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020

Pros

Caring for others. The different procedures and experiences I come in contact with daily.

Cons

The hours worked at times. The pay could be greater.

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019

Pros

Ready to be a server in an high-end restaurant. !😰😰

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2019