What does a Nurse Clinician do?

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. In some establishments, they may also perform administrative support tasks such as answering calls and correspondence, preparing and processing documents, and organizing records. Moreover, a nurse clinician must maintain an active communication line with fellow medical staff to provide optimal services to patients.
Nurse clinician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real nurse clinician resumes:
- Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
- Provide high level nursing care for ER step down and ICU patients prior to transfer to critical care units.
- Instruct ACLS and BLS classes.
- Specialize care for telemetry and orthopedic patients.
- Provide specialized nursing care to ICU medical cardiac patient populations.
- Provide education regarding care of surgical patients as part of orientation to orienting telemetry nurses.
- Collaborate with other disciplines to provide optimal care during patient's first phase of post-surgical rehabilitation.
- Participate in multidisciplinary conferences in an effort to address patients' physical and emotional needs and find adequate adjunct resources.
- Provide education to the professional nursing staff clinical use of physical assessment skills and develop rehabilitation nursing concepts and roles.
- Monitor patients mental health, administer medications, conduct reviews of housing accommodations and provide medication education and referrals as needed.
- Complete unit-based chemotherapy administration education.
- Complete Medicaid/Medicare certifications and re-certifications.
Nurse clinician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 33% of Nurse Clinicians are proficient in Patients, Patient Education, and CPR. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Nurse Clinicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 33%
Monitored patients mental health, administered medications, conducted reviews of housing accommodations and provided medication education and referrals as needed.
- Patient Education, 5%
Case management of home care patients requiring home IV therapy Administration of IV antibiotics, chemotherapy and pain management drugs Patient education
- CPR, 5%
Acquired CPR instructor, PICC placement and Chemotherapy certifications.
- Emergency Situations, 5%
Monitored patients to prevent and assess for pending emergency situations.
- Patient Outcomes, 3%
Worked collaboratively with multidisciplinary health team to optimize team performance and patient outcomes.
- Educational Programs, 3%
Facilitate quarterly education days along with overseeing and facilitating evidence-based educational programs for staff.
Most nurse clinicians use their skills in "patients," "patient education," and "cpr" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential nurse clinician responsibilities here:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a nurse clinician to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "registered nurses must be able to communicate effectively with patients in order to understand their concerns and evaluate their health conditions." Nurse clinicians often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "demonstrated excellent communication and assessment skills while providing telephone triage to all of the above patient populations. "
Compassion. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling nurse clinician duties is compassion. The role rewards competence in this skill because "registered nurses should be caring and empathetic when working with patients." According to a nurse clinician resume, here's how nurse clinicians can utilize compassion in their job responsibilities: "demonstrated clinical competency and compassion in providing care, using technology, administering medications, performing procedures, and managing emergencies. "
Detail oriented. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of nurse clinicians is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday nurse clinician duties, as "registered nurses must be precise because they must ensure that patients get the correct treatments and medicines at the right time." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "provided and managed goal-oriented patient care by utilizing established nursing processes and principles. "
Emotional stability. A big part of what nurse clinicians do relies on "emotional stability." You can see how essential it is to nurse clinician responsibilities because "registered nurses need emotional resilience and the ability to cope with human suffering, emergencies, and other stressors." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical nurse clinician tasks: "provided behavioral/emotional support and supervision for patients with dementia and alzheimer's disease. "
Organizational skills. A commonly-found skill in nurse clinician job descriptions, "organizational skills" is essential to what nurse clinicians do. Nurse clinician responsibilities rely on this skill because "nurses often work with multiple patients who have a variety of health needs." You can also see how nurse clinician duties rely on organizational skills in this resume example: "contributed to organizational growth initiatives as active member of patient education and procedural committees. "
Physical stamina. Lastly, "physical stamina" is an important element of what a nurse clinician does. Nurse clinician responsibilities require this skill because "nurses should be comfortable performing physical tasks, such as lifting patients." This resume example highlights how nurse clinician duties rely on this skill: "evaluated research study participants per study protocol by obtaining histories, performing physical exams and interpreting laboratory tests and ekg's. "
The three companies that hire the most nurse clinicians are:
- UTMB HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS224 nurse clinicians jobs
- University of Texas System116 nurse clinicians jobs
- Northwestern Medicine49 nurse clinicians jobs
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Nurse clinician vs. Contractor-registered nurse
A contractor-registered nurse is responsible for taking care of patients in a medical facility or a similar setting under a contractual arrangement. Their responsibilities are no different from regular registered nurses. They also administer medicines, assist patients and their families, manage schedules, monitor patient conditions, update charts, maintain accurate records, and work full-time. Furthermore, they must coordinate with physicians and other health experts in creating and executing care plans for patients, all while maintaining an active communication line.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between nurse clinicians and contractor-registered nurse. For instance, nurse clinician responsibilities require skills such as "cpr," "emergency situations," "patient outcomes," and "educational programs." Whereas a contractor-registered nurse is skilled in "bls," "acute care," "ccu," and "labor delivery." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Contractor-registered nurses tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $145,371. In contrast, nurse clinicians make the biggest average salary, $73,633, in the education industry.contractor-registered nurses tend to reach similar levels of education than nurse clinicians. In fact, contractor-registered nurses are 4.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Nurse clinician vs. Oncology registered nurse
An oncology registered nurse is in charge of taking care of patients with cancer. Their responsibilities revolve around coordinating with physicians to devise particular care plans for patients, monitoring their daily condition and progress, administering medicine, preparing nutritious meals, and evaluating treatment results, reporting to the physician should there be any issues. Furthermore, as an oncology registered nurse, it is vital to provide physical and emotional support to patients as the treatments tend to be stressful and emotionally tolling.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that nurse clinician responsibilities requires skills like "patient education," "cpr," "emergency situations," and "educational programs." But an oncology registered nurse might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "acute care," "hematology," "ons," and "ocn."
On average, oncology registered nurses earn a higher salary than nurse clinicians. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, oncology registered nurses earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $63,612. Whereas nurse clinicians have higher pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $73,633.oncology registered nurses earn lower levels of education than nurse clinicians in general. They're 6.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Nurse Clinicians in the next 3-5 years?
Associate Dean of the School of Nursing Professor of Nursing, Quinnipiac University
Nurse clinician vs. Licensed practical nurse
Licensed practical nurses are considered leading front liners in the clinic or hospital setting. They assist nurses and doctors in conducting various activities related to sick or injured patients. Licensed practical nurses are primarily expected to provide routine care for patients and assist registered nurses in creating care plans. They maintain and update medical records, prepare patients for medical examinations, help patients dress, bath, or eat, take vital signs, administer and monitor medicine intake, monitor patients and update nurses and doctors on patient status, and assist during medical examinations.
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 clinician is likely to be skilled in "patient outcomes," "educational programs," "acls," and "surgery," while a typical licensed practical nurse is skilled in "quality care," "resident care," "wound care," and "triage."
Licensed practical nurses earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $51,702. Comparatively, nurse clinicians have the highest earning potential in the education industry, with an average salary of $73,633.When it comes to education, licensed practical nurses tend to earn lower degree levels compared to nurse clinicians. In fact, they're 9.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Nurse clinician vs. Senior registered nurse
A senior registered nurse is a superior healthcare professional who provides high-quality palliative care to patients and their families. Senior registered nurses are required to liaise between patients and other healthcare professionals, such as physicians, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists. They lead a team of registered nurses and care assistants to ensure that they follow the hospital's best practice care standards. Senior registered nurses also administer and order medicines as required by patients and the hospital's policies and procedures.
Types of nurse clinician
Updated January 8, 2025