What does a chief nursing officer do?

A Chief Nursing Officer supervises nurses and nurse managers, recommends strategies to improve services, and establishes goals for a healthcare facility. They ensure that operations comply with established standards and regulations, as well as prepare and supervise business reports, including annual budgets.
Chief nursing officer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real chief nursing officer resumes:
- Achieve regional goals including POS cash collections, registration accuracy, and denials.
- Lead the spread of this work on transforming care through evidenced-base healthcare teamwork strategies and tactics.
- Complete comprehensive assessments for all LTC residents which include managing falls, pain, skin integrity, and medications.
- Incorporate evidence-based care into practice environment to ensure high quality care for patients and their families.
- Restructure and redevelopment of the outpatient wind care program through temporary oversight toward operation of a successful program.
- Provide direct supervision and teaching of RN, LVN, and HHA staff.
- Direct RN, SW, LPN, HHA staff in providing daily services to residents.
- Analyze nursing procedures with accountability for evaluating compliance with OSDH, CMS and TJC regulations and standards.
- Create quality reporting metrics and develop the reporting criteria that will align DLMC for CMS impacts on reimbursement.
- Implement Nurse/Physician council at one of the community hospitals in partnership with the medical staff during CNO vacancy period.
- Develop a free standing cardiac and rehabilitation outpatient center.
- Direct weekly Medicare meeting and ensure timely/accurate completion of MDS and assessments.
- Coordinate ambulance services with different military treatment facilities or civilian organizations for the disposition of patients.
- Participate in monthly QA meetings providing input and identifying concern areas for correction to maintain substantial compliance.
- Share responsibility with the QA department by responding to Medicare/Medicaid's request for information to resolve denials.
Chief nursing officer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Chief Nursing Officers are proficient in Patients, CNO, and Rehabilitation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Interpersonal skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Chief Nursing Officers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 18%
Decreased in Medication Error - formed Medication PI Team resulting in timely delivery of medications to patients and improved documentation.
- CNO, 7%
Assumed interim Chief Nurse responsibility upon resignation of previous CNO.
- Rehabilitation, 6%
Created new standard operating procedures for the inpatient alcohol rehabilitation unit at Jacksonville, NC that improved consistency in processes.
- Patient Safety, 5%
Researched and collaborated with interdisciplinary teams to implement multifaceted programs as recommended Regulatory Agencies to increase patient safety.
- Performance Improvement, 5%
Served as key catalyst in performance improvement by analyzing and trending nursing documentation as part of the Documentation Peer Review Program
- Quality Care, 4%
Maintained quality care delivery within productivity and efficiency guidelines, ensuring clinical quality services hospital-wide.
"patients," "cno," and "rehabilitation" are among the most common skills that chief nursing officers use at work. You can find even more chief nursing officer responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a chief nursing officer to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "medical and health services managers review and evaluate healthcare metrics for ways to improve efficiency and meet goals." Chief nursing officers often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "assess staff's continuing education needs using staff surveys, performance improvement and quality measures data. "
Leadership skills. chief nursing officers are also known for leadership skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to chief nursing officer responsibilities, because "medical and health services managers hire, train, and direct staff." A chief nursing officer resume example shows how leadership skills is used in the workplace: "partnered with hr and learning organization to develop nursing leadership training. "
Technical skills. A big part of what chief nursing officers do relies on "technical skills." You can see how essential it is to chief nursing officer responsibilities because "medical and health services managers must stay up to date with advances in healthcare technology, such as the coding and electronic health record (ehr) systems their facility adopts." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical chief nursing officer tasks: "contained costs and fostered profitability while increasing quality of care through process improvements, including technical enhancements and sound financial oversight. "
Communication skills. Another common skill required for chief nursing officer responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of chief nursing officers all the time, as "medical and health services managers must convey information to their staff, other healthcare workers, and, sometimes, patients and insurance agents." An excerpt from a real chief nursing officer resume shows how this skill is central to what a chief nursing officer does: "created a process to increase nurse/physician communication resulting in more consistent patient care and fewer complaints. "
Detail oriented. While "detail oriented" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to chief nursing officer responsibilities. Much of what a chief nursing officer does relies on this skill, seeing as "medical and health services managers must pay attention to detail." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of chief nursing officers: "managed goal oriented teams for documentation, weight wounds, qi-qa, admissions auditing of medicare and mds charting. "
The three companies that hire the most chief nursing officers are:
- LifePoint Health19 chief nursing officers jobs
- Ascension Michigan17 chief nursing officers jobs
- HealthTrust13 chief nursing officers jobs
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Chief nursing officer vs. Interim director
An interim director is responsible for supporting business operations, organizing training, as well as specific department programs for staff to maximize their productivity and improve optimal performance to meet project deliverables and achieve client satisfaction. Interim directors coordinate with the management and board executives on corporate decisions, implementing company guidelines and procedures, and identifying business opportunities to generate more revenues and profitability. They also analyze financial statements and business transactions, developing strategies to reduce expenses and minimize loss without sacrificing the organization's quality services.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a chief nursing officer are more likely to require skills like "patients," "rehabilitation," "performance improvement," and "quality care." On the other hand, a job as an interim director requires skills like "healthcare," "financial management," "federal regulations," and "payroll." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Interim directors tend to make the most money working in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $110,000. In contrast, chief nursing officers make the biggest average salary, $97,019, in the health care industry.The education levels that interim directors earn slightly differ from chief nursing officers. In particular, interim directors are 3.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a chief nursing officer. Additionally, they're 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Chief nursing officer vs. Managed care director
A managed care director is responsible for providing quality care services for the patients by supervising clinical operations and managing medical staff. Managed care directors review all the medical activities in the institution and disseminate communications across the organization. They coordinate with health care providers, negotiate contracts with suppliers and medical organizations, verify insurance details, analyze financial transactions, and implement policies for strict compliance. A managed care director must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in handling the department's performance and strategizing to improve services.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real chief nursing officer resumes. While chief nursing officer responsibilities can utilize skills like "cno," "patient safety," "employee engagement," and "executive leadership," managed care directors use skills like "social work," "care management," "resident care," and "state regulations."
Managed care directors earn a lower average salary than chief nursing officers. But managed care directors earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $68,515. Additionally, chief nursing officers earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $97,019 annually.managed care directors earn similar levels of education than chief nursing officers in general. They're 3.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Chief nursing officer vs. Practice administrator
A Practice Administrator is responsible for the daily activities of a medical facility. They prepare prescriptions for patients, provide leadership in developing and implementing business plans, and oversee the billing and collection processes of departments.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, chief nursing officers are more likely to have skills like "cno," "rehabilitation," "patient safety," and "performance improvement." But a practice administrator is more likely to have skills like "payroll," "practice management," "practice operations," and "patient satisfaction."
Practice administrators earn the best pay in the professional industry, where they command an average salary of $87,971. Chief nursing officers earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $97,019.Most practice administrators achieve a lower degree level compared to chief nursing officers. For example, they're 6.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Chief nursing officer vs. Practice manager
A practice manager is responsible for supervising daily operations, especially on the side of the medical industry. Practice managers monitor staffing needs, train new employees, and evaluate the employees' productivity and performance. They also enforce strict guidelines and procedures, ensuring that the processes adhere to the legal standards and regulatory requirements. Practice managers also maintain budget goals, creating cost estimates and expense reports. A practice manager must have strong communication, analytical, and critical-thinking skills, as well as comprehensive knowledge of the medical industry practices.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between chief nursing officers and practice managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a chief nursing officer might have more use for skills like "cno," "rehabilitation," "patient safety," and "performance improvement." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of practice managers require skills like "pet," "practice management," "payroll," and "patient satisfaction. "
In general, practice managers earn the most working in the technology industry, with an average salary of $97,698. The highest-paying industry for a chief nursing officer is the health care industry.The average resume of practice managers showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to chief nursing officers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 10.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.0%.Types of chief nursing officer
Updated January 8, 2025











