How to hire a critical care unit manager

How to hire a critical care unit manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step critical care unit manager hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a critical care unit manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new critical care unit manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a critical care unit manager, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A critical care unit manager's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, critical care unit managers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of critical care unit managers and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Critical Care Unit Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Critical Care Unit Manager	Registered nurses (RNs) provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members.	$19-87
   Unit Supervisor	A unit supervisor oversees and supervises employees, ensuring that work operations adhere to standards, guidelines, timelines, and budget. Although the extent of their responsibilities depends on their industry or company of employment, they are typically in charge of conducting regular inspections and assessments, setting objectives and guidelines, delegating responsibilities among staff, and producing progress reports, submitting them to higher-ranking managers... Show more	$14-37
   Intensive Care Unit Nurse	An Intensive Care Unit Nurse is specialized in providing care in intensive care units of hospitals. They assist in the treatment of acutely ill patients with life-threatening conditions.	$23-62

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Acls
   • ICU
   • Quality Patient Care
   • Patient Satisfaction
   • Quality Improvement
   • Patient Outcomes
   • EKG
   • Professional Growth
   • CCRN
   • Social Work
   • Resuscitation
   • Direct Patient Care
   • Clinical Operations

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage skil unit, audits, staff education, patient/family education, risk management, QA, MDS assessments
   • Minnesota-Base start-up organization commit to the design and manufacture of resuscitation systems for cardiac arrest patients.
   • Serve as an inter-mediator for any physician concerns involving patient care in the ICU.
   • Perform tracheotomy and intubation care.
   • Conduct follow-up phone interviews on recently discharge patients.
   • Participate in preparation and successful rehabilitation specialty certification initiative.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your critical care unit manager job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A critical care unit manager can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, critical care unit managers' average salary in nebraska is 58% less than in delaware.
   • Seniority. Entry-level critical care unit managers 78% less than senior-level critical care unit managers.
   • Certifications. A critical care unit manager with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a critical care unit manager's salary.

   Average critical care unit manager salary

   $85,860yearly

   $41.28 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level critical care unit manager salary

   $40,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

4. Writing a critical care unit manager job description

   A job description for a critical care unit manager role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a critical care unit manager job description:

   Critical care unit manager job description example

   The Nursing Manager will be responsible for the clinical and financial outcomes of designated clinical unit/units. Acts as a representative of the Director of Nursing and Administration. Collaborates with Director of Nursing and Nursing Unit Supervisor in ensuring competent, cost effective patient care
   
   You will ensure accuracy and completeness of paperwork for patient and employee incident reports and medication error report. Forward paperwork to DON/designee within 24 hours of incident.
   You will ensure completion of Performance Improvement reports on a monthly/quarterly basis.
   You will facilitate involvement of staff in Performance Improvement activities.
   You will assist with development of unit budget. Ensure accurate and complete Patient Services.
   You will collaborate with Nursing Unit Supervisor in resolving system problems.
   You will interpret hospital and personnel policies to physicians, nursing staff, patients, visitors, and other health care providers.
   You will provide input for interviewing and hiring of new employees.
   You will approve unit schedules according to staff guidelines.
   You will provide input for personnel performance appraisals including goals and objectives.
   You will attend/conduct staff meetings on each shift to share, receive, and information.
   You will provide follow up with physician and patient/family issues.
   You will ensure compliance with nursing standards of care. *********Days 7-10 Hrs/Wkdays Only**********
   Qualifications Advanced Cardiac Life Support
   Basic Cardiac Life Support
   NIH Stroke Scale must be obtained within 90 days of employment start date
   Registered Nurse
   Bachelor’s Degree
   Must be an experienced manager, with high energy, ready to move into a Director role in 1-2 years. This position is a day shift role with 4 Supervisors and a total team of 50. They will be a generalist in the ICU- neuro, heart & some site-specific devices they’ll learn once hired. They need to be physician-facing, a patient advocate & have the ability to drive quality metrics. Salary max 113,921.60 based on years of experience Powered by JazzHR M8beE4Y5Lw

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find critical care unit managers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   To find critical care unit manager candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting critical care unit managers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new critical care unit manager

   Once you've found the critical care unit manager candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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