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Nurse administrator skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

Angela Mund,

Angela Mund

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical nurse administrator skills. We ranked the top skills for nurse administrators based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 32.7% of nurse administrator resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a nurse administrator needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 nurse administrator skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how nurse administrators use patients:

Directed and coordinated all nursing care for medical/surgical patients based on established clinical nursing practice standards.
Coordinated chemotherapy administration for patients through the ambulatory treatment unit at Chandler Regional Hospital.

2. Acute Care

The branch of secondary healthcare which is responsible for giving short-term care to patients recovering from severe injuries or urgent medical problems is known as acute care. Acute care comprises multiple domains like; emergency care, urgent care, short-term stabilization, pre-hospital care, critical care, and trauma care.

Here's how nurse administrators use acute care:

Direct responsibility of a 96-bed psychiatric bed hospital including chemical dependency, acute care, adult, geriatric and ECT units.
Job Duties: Management of Acute Care Hospital, ICU, Emergency, Riverside Nursing Center and Craig Skilled Nursing Center.

3. Direct Patient Care

Here's how nurse administrators use direct patient care:

Provide direct patient care of 24 developmentally disabled individuals.
Assumed direct patient care duties as well as administrative duties for inpatient unit.

4. Infection Control

Infection control describes the principles and practices used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities to control and minimize the spread of infections with the aim of lowering rates of infection. Infection control refers to the process of detecting and controlling pathogens in order to reduce their spread.

Here's how nurse administrators use infection control:

Review lab reports with communicable disease and identify conditions that require infection control procedures.
Coordinate, monitors and ensures compliance with accreditation regulations and guidelines/infection control standards.

5. Rehabilitation

Here's how nurse administrators use rehabilitation:

Provide nursing assessments and service as the admissions nurse for a 90-bed medical/surgical rehabilitation facility.
Provide nursing supervision for a 150-bed acute rehabilitation hospital during the off shift time periods.

6. Quality Patient Care

Here's how nurse administrators use quality patient care:

Directed daily operations to ensure quality patient care.
Directed RN/LPN staff in the delivery of high quality patient care.

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7. Hospital Policies

Hospital policies are a set of rules and regulations that the hospital staff, management, and incoming patients and attendants need to abide by. These policies are in place to ensure that the hospital does not take any illegal, illogical, irrational, or unethical decisions when caring for the patients.

Here's how nurse administrators use hospital policies:

Update hospital policies, procedures, and protocols.
Assist in implementing and reinforcing hospital policies.

8. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how nurse administrators use cpr:

Managed the staff, i.e., organized their files, ensured they were current with First Aid, CPR.
Instructed employees in first aid, safety, CPR, growth and development of children and nutrition.

9. Home Health

Here's how nurse administrators use home health:

Managed day-to-day home health agency operations.
Job responsibilities include management of 4 case managers and 2 home health aides including scheduling and assignments.

10. Compassion

Here's how nurse administrators use compassion:

Leveraged compassion in facilitating pain management and completing prescribed treatments including dosage changes, blood glucose checks, and ambulation.
Leveraged compassion in facilitating pain management and completing prescribed treatments including dosage changes and monitoring of effectiveness of prescribed medication.

11. Oversight

Having oversight of someone means to monitor a process or a situation. If someone has oversight of something, they are responsible for the completion of the project. Oversight is usually given to experts as they monitor their juniors or newbies as they go through a project.

Here's how nurse administrators use oversight:

Maintained and further developed relationship with primary care physician to enhance quality of nursing/medical care and oversight.
Provided administrative authority, clinical oversight, and supervision of twenty-three personnel.

12. Medication Administration

Here's how nurse administrators use medication administration:

Reviewed medication administration forms and medical charts monthly and PRN to assure accuracy and safe administration of medication.
Nurse delegated medication administration when required.

13. Indirect Supervision

Here's how nurse administrators use indirect supervision:

State of New York, Middletown, New York Direct and indirect supervision of professional and non-professional clinical staff.

14. IV

Here's how nurse administrators use iv:

Provided home care services unique to Option Care using the latest IV medications, expanded patient age groups and disease management.
Provided care to clients who were on ventilators, needed wound care, cardiac monitoring, IV therapy.

15. Surgery

Here's how nurse administrators use surgery:

Developed documents including complete surgery chart and procedure manual.
Coordinated surgery with patient and hospital.

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What skills help Nurse Administrators find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What type of skills will young nurse administrators need?

Angela Mund

Vice President, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists

To meet the needs of our current volatile and complex healthcare landscape, all healthcare providers will need to understand the business of healthcare, in addition to providing expert patient care. Starting in 2025, all graduates from nurse anesthesia programs will be awarded a doctoral degree, a doctorate in nursing practice (DNP), or a doctorate in nurse anesthesia practice (DNAP). These degree programs include additional anesthesia experience as well as an understanding of effective leadership, healthcare economics and reimbursement, the use of big data for improving patient outcomes, and evidence-based practice.

What skills stand out on nurse administrator resumes?

Angela Mund

Vice President, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists

To become a CRNA, the applicant must first be a registered nurse and graduate of a baccalaureate nursing program. A minimum of one year of clinical experience in an intensive care unit (ICU) is required. The application process is rigorous, and many nurse anesthesia programs are seeing higher than typical applicant numbers, perhaps due to the impact of COVID-19 on the ICU nurse workforce.

The most competitive applicants will have an overall GPA >3.5. Basic science courses are heavily weighted with respect to both course grade and type of course. A competitive resumé should include evidence of clinical expertise, leadership, volunteerism, and scholarly work. In addition, all registered nurse applicants should have shadowed a CRNA to learn about the profession prior to application. The interview process may include assessments of critical thinking, decision-making, and emotional intelligence.

What soft skills should all nurse administrators possess?

Diane Salvador Ph.D.

Executive Director and Professor, Elmhurst University

The most important skill for new nursing graduates is critical thinking. You will be put into varying roles and assume different responsibilities. You must critically think and evaluate situations you find yourself in and make wise nursing decisions. Another important skill that we emphasize in education is communication - this is key to safe, quality care.

What hard/technical skills are most important for nurse administrators?

Diane Salvador Ph.D.

Executive Director and Professor, Elmhurst University

New nurses should be prepared to demonstrate proficiency in basic nursing care and procedures. It is important to realize that each hospital has its own policy and procedure to follow, so taking advantage of your nurse preceptor and orientation program will ensure you are familiar with these basic procedures.

What nurse administrator skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Kurt Houser

Lecturer, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

in my opinion people like working with highly educated, high performing professionals who want to improve patient care.
What people dislike, in my opinion are the financial constraints which drive hard decisions.

Do you want to know more?

List of nurse administrator skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a nurse administrator resume and required skills for a nurse administrator to have include:

Patients
Acute Care
Direct Patient Care
Infection Control
Rehabilitation
Quality Patient Care
Hospital Policies
CPR
Home Health
Compassion
Oversight
Medication Administration
Indirect Supervision
IV
Surgery
Discharge Planning
Staff Development

MDS
FTE
HIPAA
ICU
Physician Orders
HR
Patient Education
Conflict Resolution
Advanced Life Support
Payroll
Clinical Operations
Bed Facility
Clinical Services
State Regulations
Performance Evaluations
Vital Signs
Staff Education

Standing Orders
Federal Regulations
Regulatory Compliance
CMS
JCAHO
Staff Training
Collective Bargaining
Chart Audits
Catheter
QAPI
EKG
Medical-Surgical Nursing
QA
Hippa
PICC

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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Nurse Administrator Skills

Updated January 8, 2025

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