Coordinates and provides care utilizing the critical thinking framework known as the nursing process. The nursing process forms the foundation of the nurse's decision making to help partner with patients/families to attain, maintain and restore health whenever possible. Blends caring, compassion, knowledge and integrity to provide safe quality care that preserves patient autonomy, dignity and rights. Assists manager by providing clinical leadership for nursing employees on an assigned unit to maintain continuity of nursing care in conjunction with the hospital/nursing mission, goals, policies and procedures. Works in collaboration with the Manager/Director/CNO to ensure goal attainment. Performs other duties as assigned.
Responsibilities
+ Assesses the patient
+ Develops the plan of care.
+ Implements the plan of care.
+ Evaluates the plan of care.
+ Administers medications as prescribed.
+ Provides patient, family, and/or significant other health teaching/education.
+ Participates in activities designed to improve health care delivery.
+ Communicates/collaborates with others in providing patient care.
+ Provides clinical leadership
+ Supports life long learning
+ Completes assigned goals
Requirements, Preferences and Experience
Experience
Minimum: Minimum of 2 years experience on current unit or in like setting/specialty area.
Licensure, Registration, Certification
Minimum: RN
Special Skills
Minimum: Computer literacy
About Baptist Memorial Health Care
At Baptist, we owe our success to our colleagues, who have both technical expertise and a compassionate attitude. Every day they carry out Christ's three-fold ministry-healing, preaching and teaching. And, we reward their efforts with compensation and benefits packages that are highly competitive in the Mid-South health care community. For two consecutive years, Baptist has won a Best in Benefits award for offering the best benefit plans compared with their peer groups. Winners are chosen based on plan designs, premiums and the results of a Benefits Benchmarking Survey.
At Baptist, We Offer:
+ Competitive salaries
+ Paid vacation/time off
+ Continuing education opportunities
+ Generous retirement plan
+ Health insurance, including dental and vision
+ Sick leave
+ Service awards
+ Free parking
+ Short-term disability
+ Life insurance
+ Health care and dependent care spending accounts
+ Education assistance/continuing education
+ Employee referral program
Job Summary:
Position: 12006 - RN-Head Nurse
Facility: BMH-Crittenden Hospital
Department: CR Emergency Room BMH Crittenden
Category: Nurse RN
Type: Clinical Nurse
Work Type: Full Time
Work Schedule: Nights
Location: US:AR:West Memphis
Located in the Memphis metro area REQNUMBER: 2042
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How to hire a head nurse
Head nurse hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring head nurses in the United States:
- The median cost to hire a head nurse is $1,633.
- It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
- HR departments typically allocate 15% of their budget towards recruitment efforts.
- Small businesses spend $1,105 per head nurse on training each year, while large companies spend $658.
- It takes approximately 12 weeks for a new employee to reach full productivity levels.
- There are a total of 1,984,895 head nurses in the US, and there are currently 649,127 job openings in this field.
- New York, NY, has the highest demand for head nurses, with 13 job openings.
How to hire a head nurse, step by step
To hire a head nurse, consider the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Follow these steps to hire a head nurse:
Here's a step-by-step head nurse hiring guide:
- Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
- Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
- Step 3: Make a budget
- Step 4: Write a head nurse job description
- Step 5: Post your job
- Step 6: Interview candidates
- Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new head nurse
- Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist
Post a head nurse job for free, promote it for a fee
Identify your hiring needs
Before you post your head nurse job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a head nurse for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.
Determine employee vs contractor statusIs the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?A head nurse's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, head nurses 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 head nurses and their corresponding salaries.
Type of Head Nurse Description Hourly rate Head Nurse 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. $23-63 Nurse Coordinator A nurse coordinator is primarily in charge of overseeing all nurses and their activities in a hospital or clinic. Their responsibilities include managing and rotating schedules, assessing nurse performance, organizing nursing programs, and developing strategies to optimize procedures... Show more $29-49 Nurse Clinician A nurse clinician is a health expert who provides care and assistance to patients in hospitals, clinics, or similar establishments. Among their responsibilities include preparing equipment and documents, administering medication, monitoring the patient's condition, maintaining charts, and regularly reporting to physicians... Show more $23-42 Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:- Patients
- BLS
- Compassion
- Acute Care
- Acls
- CPR
- Oncology
- Surgery
- Patient Education
- Triage
- ICU
- Patient Care
- Direct Patient Care
- Discharge Planning
Responsibilities:- Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
- Receive intensive training for critical care skill development upon transferring to the medical ICU.
- Perform advanced nursing care to acute/chronic medical/surgical, cardiac, thoracic surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedic and oncology/ hematology patients.
- Certify staff in CPR and blood glucose monitoring.
- Develop and implement an intensive care class for the staff; implement ACLS class for all staff.
- Develop process improvement plan with bundles for sedation and ventilation.
Make a budget
Including a salary range in your head nurse job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A head nurse can vary based on:
- Location. For example, head nurses' average salary in vermont is 73% less than in california.
- Seniority. Entry-level head nurses 64% less than senior-level head nurses.
- Certifications. A head nurse 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 head nurse's salary.
Average head nurse salary
$80,173yearly
$38.54 hourly rateEntry-level head nurse salary$48,000 yearly salaryUpdated December 17, 2025Average head nurse salary by state
Rank State Avg. salary Hourly rate 1 Minnesota $98,396 $47 2 New Jersey $91,608 $44 3 New York $86,380 $42 4 Delaware $83,669 $40 5 Texas $81,081 $39 6 Mississippi $71,988 $35 7 Maryland $71,720 $34 8 Illinois $71,127 $34 9 Virginia $70,783 $34 10 Connecticut $67,906 $33 11 North Carolina $65,499 $31 12 South Carolina $65,370 $31 Average head nurse salary by company
Rank Company Average salary Hourly rate Job openings 1 AstraZeneca $99,274 $47.73 3 2 Univ. Of Texas Cancer Ctr. $86,658 $41.66 26 3 Health Alliance $85,207 $40.96 117 4 WakeMed $84,667 $40.71 5 5 Lakeland Regional Health $79,320 $38.13 1 6 Broome Delaware Tioga BOCES - Practical Nursing Program $73,329 $35.25 7 One Brooklyn Health $72,691 $34.95 2 8 Bridgeport Hospital $70,575 $33.93 3 9 State of Connecticut $69,978 $33.64 31 10 Texas Tech University $64,967 $31.23 51 11 New Brunswick Public Schools $64,950 $31.23 3 12 S.C. Department of Commerce $61,362 $29.50 13 START Treatment & Recovery Centers $61,261 $29.45 14 Alamance Community College $60,386 $29.03 15 Appalachian Regional Healthcare $58,952 $28.34 70 16 Green Janet Lynne $57,792 $27.78 17 Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center $50,689 $24.37 69 18 Tidelands Health $45,820 $22.03 38 19 Westminster-Canterbury of the Blue Ridge $34,006 $16.35 4 20 Allina Health $28,114 $13.52 83 Writing a head nurse job description
A head nurse job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a head nurse job description:
Head nurse job description example
Post your job
To find the right head nurse for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:
- Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
- Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with head nurses they would recommend.
- Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit head nurses who meet your education requirements.
- Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.
- Post your head nurse job on Zippia to find and recruit head nurse candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
Recruiting head nurses 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.
It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you 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.
Send a job offer and onboard your new head nurse
Once you've found the head nurse 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.
You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.
Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new head nurse. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.
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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How much does it cost to hire a head nurse?
Before you start to hire head nurses, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire head nurses pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.
Head nurses earn a median yearly salary is $80,173 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find head nurses for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $23 and $63.
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Updated December 17, 2025