What does a nurse administrator do?
Nurse Administrators are responsible for the coordination of all operational and administrative tasks relating to the nursing team. They are responsible for the retention, hiring, and firing of nursing staff, creating budgets, authorizing spending, ensuring regulatory guidelines compliance, implementing staff mentorship sessions, and accomplishing patient satisfaction, safety, cost savings, and efficiency objectives. Other duties include preparing reports, attending meetings, supervising fundraising projects, and forming partnerships with the academic and medical community.
Nurse administrator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real nurse administrator resumes:
- Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
- Instruct employees in first aid, safety, CPR, growth and development of children and nutrition.
- Care planning and coordinating with the MDS team on restraints, psychoactive medications, infections, falls and restraints.
- Make referrals for medical treatment: and follow-up with psychiatric rehabilitation programs, treating physicians, pharmacies and other treatment collaterals.
- Make referrals for medical treatment and follow-up with psychiatric rehabilitation programs.
- Administer intravenous medications for conscious sedation and monitor patients during in office procedures per protocol.
- Experience in monitoring ventilator dependent patient and intensive critical patient in a step-down ICU unit.
- Direct and coordinate all nursing care for medical/surgical patients base on establish clinical nursing practice standards.
- Interview residents and analysis of information for MDS assessments and appropriate care planning using electronic record systems.
- Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
- Follow and ensure compliance on HIPPA rules and regulations with other staff and client inquiries.
- Provide wound, trach, colostomy and NG tube care.
- Provide behavior/emotional and supervision for those with dementia and Alzheimer's.
- Assist residents with activities of daily living-operate mechanical lifts-care for Alzheimer's and dementia residents
Nurse administrator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 33% of Nurse Administrators are proficient in Patients, Acute Care, and Direct Patient Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Emotional stability, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Nurse Administrators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 33%
Directed and coordinated all nursing care for medical/surgical patients based on established clinical nursing practice standards.
- Acute Care, 9%
Direct responsibility of a 96-bed psychiatric bed hospital including chemical dependency, acute care, adult, geriatric and ECT units.
- Direct Patient Care, 6%
Provide direct patient care of 24 developmentally disabled individuals.
- Infection Control, 4%
Review lab reports with communicable disease and identify conditions that require infection control procedures.
- Rehabilitation, 3%
Provide nursing assessments and service as the admissions nurse for a 90-bed medical/surgical rehabilitation facility.
- Quality Patient Care, 3%
Directed daily operations to ensure quality patient care.
"patients," "acute care," and "direct patient care" are among the most common skills that nurse administrators use at work. You can find even more nurse administrator responsibilities below, including:
Compassion. One of the key soft skills for a nurse administrator to have is compassion. You can see how this relates to what nurse administrators do because "registered nurses should be caring and empathetic when working with patients." Additionally, a nurse administrator resume shows how nurse administrators use compassion: "strengthened patient to physician relationship by establishing rapport, and interacting with compassion, empathy, and strong communication skills. "
Emotional stability. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling nurse administrator duties is emotional stability. The role rewards competence in this skill because "registered nurses need emotional resilience and the ability to cope with human suffering, emergencies, and other stressors." According to a nurse administrator resume, here's how nurse administrators can utilize emotional stability in their job responsibilities: "connect patients with to community resources that can help support them medically, socially and emotionally. "
Organizational skills. nurse administrators are also known for organizational skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to nurse administrator responsibilities, because "nurses often work with multiple patients who have a variety of health needs." A nurse administrator resume example shows how organizational skills is used in the workplace: "developed and implemented a new organizational triage system increasing efficiency and communication across departments and amongst staff members. "
Physical stamina. For certain nurse administrator responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "physical stamina." The day-to-day duties of a nurse administrator rely on this skill, as "nurses should be comfortable performing physical tasks, such as lifting patients." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what nurse administrators do: "supervised a team of nurses, physical therapists, social workers, dietitians, speech therapists and home health aides. "
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in nurse administrator job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what nurse administrators do. Nurse administrator responsibilities rely on this skill because "registered nurses must be able to communicate effectively with patients in order to understand their concerns and evaluate their health conditions." You can also see how nurse administrator duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "coordinate communication with other departments in order to make sure the patients and employees are satisfied. "
Detail oriented. Lastly, "detail oriented" is an important element of what a nurse administrator does. Nurse administrator responsibilities require this skill because "registered nurses must be precise because they must ensure that patients get the correct treatments and medicines at the right time." This resume example highlights how nurse administrator duties rely on this skill: "oriented and supervised staff on emr system, policies, procedures, and yearly training of staff on osha and hipaa. "
The three companies that hire the most nurse administrators are:
- Discovery Behavioral Health54 nurse administrators jobs
- CHRISTUS Health24 nurse administrators jobs
- Mount Sinai Health System16 nurse administrators jobs
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Compare different nurse administrators
Nurse administrator vs. Psychiatric nurse
A Psychiatric Nurses role is to supervise the medication and treatment of patients diagnosed with mental disabilities, illnesses, or distresses. They have an essential role in the administration of psychiatric treatment and care.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between nurse administrators and psychiatric nurse. For instance, nurse administrator responsibilities require skills such as "acute care," "infection control," "quality patient care," and "hospital policies." Whereas a psychiatric nurse is skilled in "mental illness," "therapeutic interventions," "psychiatric care," and "chemical dependency." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Psychiatric nurses really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $63,449. Comparatively, nurse administrators tend to make the most money in the government industry with an average salary of $82,397.On average, psychiatric nurses reach similar levels of education than nurse administrators. Psychiatric nurses are 3.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Nurse administrator vs. Consultant nurse
A Consultant Nurse is responsible for providing healthcare consultations and technical advice to patients. This job also involves consulting with nursing groups about professional and educational problems.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that nurse administrator responsibilities requires skills like "direct patient care," "quality patient care," "hospital policies," and "compassion." But a consultant nurse might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "excellent interpersonal," "customer service," "patient care," and "long-term care."
On average, consultants nurse earn a lower salary than nurse administrators. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, consultants nurse earn the most pay in the pharmaceutical industry with an average salary of $75,199. Whereas nurse administrators have higher pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $82,397.In general, consultants nurse achieve similar levels of education than nurse administrators. They're 2.6% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for nurse administrators in the next 3-5 years?
Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.
Associate Dean of the School of Nursing Professor of Nursing, Quinnipiac University
Nurse administrator vs. Clinical liaison
A clinical liaison's role is to promote health care and rehabilitation facilities to patients and their families. Their responsibilities revolve around devising strategies to reach sales targets, reviewing patient cases, having an in-depth understanding of the facilities and potential patients, assisting clients in filling up paperwork, maintaining records and data of all transactions, and addressing inquiries and concerns. Furthermore, a clinical liaison may perform clerical tasks such as producing reports, answering calls and correspondence, and arranging meetings and appointments with clients. Should there be any issues, it is essential to report to the managers or supervisors promptly.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a nurse administrator is likely to be skilled in "acute care," "direct patient care," "infection control," and "quality patient care," while a typical clinical liaison is skilled in "patient care," "social work," "customer service," and "admission process."
Clinical liaisons earn the highest salary when working in the manufacturing industry, where they receive an average salary of $79,480. Comparatively, nurse administrators have the highest earning potential in the government industry, with an average salary of $82,397.When it comes to education, clinical liaisons tend to earn similar degree levels compared to nurse administrators. In fact, they're 2.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Nurse administrator vs. Registered nurse charge nurse
A registered charge nurse is responsible for supervising nurses' workflow in a particular department or area, ensuring every patient gets the proper care that they need. A registered charge nurse has the discretion to direct tasks, arrange schedules, and monitor patients, such as in the aspects of admission and discharge. Furthermore, a registered charge nurse must maintain an active line of communication and coordination among nurses, physicians, and other personnel involved as the conditions in a hospital can be unpredictable.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between nurse administrators and registered nurses charge nurses, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a nurse administrator might have more use for skills like "hospital policies," "home health," "oversight," and "surgery." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of registered nurses charge nurses require skills like "bls," "acls," "resident care," and "critical care. "
Registered nurses charge nurses enjoy the best pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $68,929. For comparison, nurse administrators earn the highest salary in the government industry.registered nurses charge nurses reach lower levels of education compared to nurse administrators, in general. The difference is that they're 7.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of nurse administrator
Updated January 8, 2025
