Nurse managers function as a link between patient care and hospital administration. With both clinical expertise and leadership skills, they are responsible for supervising nursing staff in healthcare establishments, creating work schedules, and coordinating bedside care. They make decisions regarding the budget as well, promote or hire personnel, and perform other managerial duties.
Nurse managers are energetic and mission-driven professionals who have a huge capacity for empathy not only for patients but for staff members as well, while being able to keep clear emotional boundaries. Balancing on this thin line, they walk at least 5 miles every day, taking their almost two-millennia-old profession to the next level.
Demand for competent nurse managers is on the rise, as around 500,000 registered nurses are predicted to retire over the next ten years. As a nurse manager, you will make $79,725 per year on average, with salaries reaching up to $108,478 in higher paced intensive care units.
How to Become a Nurse Manager
What is a Nurse Manager
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Nurse Manager. For example, did you know that they make an average of $40.51 an hour? That's $84,260 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 18% and produce 71,600 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Nurse Manager Do
There are certain skills that many Nurse Managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed Analytical skills, Interpersonal skills and Leadership skills.
How To Become a Nurse Manager
If you're interested in becoming a Nurse Manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 44.7% of Nurse Managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 13.8% of Nurse Managers have master's degrees. Even though most Nurse Managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Nurse Manager. When we researched the most common majors for a Nurse Manager, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Associate Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Nurse Manager resumes include Master's Degree degrees or Diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Nurse Manager. In fact, many Nurse Manager jobs require experience in a role such as Staff Nurse. Meanwhile, many Nurse Managers also have previous career experience in roles such as Registered Nurse or Licensed Practical Nurse.
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And if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Nurse Manager Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of Nursing Director you might progress to a role such as Wellness Director eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title Wellness Director.
Nurse Manager Jobs You Might Like
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Average Salary for a Nurse Manager
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12 Nurse Manager Resume Examples
Build a professional nurse manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your nurse manager resume.
Betty Bradley Nurse Manager |
Keith Miller Nurse Manager Experience Nurse Manager2015 - Present Aaron's•Rochester, NY
Registered Nurse Supervisor2013 - 2015 HCR Home Care•Rochester, NY
Registered Nurse2003 - 2013 Good Samaritan•Phoenix, AZ
Oncology Registered Nurse1999 - 2002 St. LUKE Med Cent•Chandler, AZ
Skills Fragile ChildrenRNHealth CareDONLife CareLife SupportDisease ManagementTreatment PlansProfessional StandardsAcute Care Education Master's Degree Nursing2002 - 2003 Grand Canyon University•Phoenix, AZ Bachelor's Degree Business1996 - 1999 American InterContinental University•Chandler, AZ |
Learn How To Write a Nurse Manager Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Nurse Manager resumes and compiled some information about how to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Nurse Manager Resume Examples And TemplatesAnd if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Choose From 10+ Customizable Nurse Manager Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Nurse Manager templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Nurse Manager resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Nurse Manager Demographics
Nurse Manager Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among Nurse Managers, 86.5% of them are women, while 13.5% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among Nurse Managers is White, which makes up 67.4% of all Nurse Managers.
- The most common foreign language among Nurse Managers is Spanish at 65.5%.
Find the best Nurse Manager job for you
Nurse Manager Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Nurse Manager Jobs - $120K and Up
- Work From Home Nurse Manager Jobs
- Entry Level Nurse Manager Jobs
- Part Time Nurse Manager Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Nurse Manager Jobs
Top Colleges for Nurse Managers
1. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
3. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
4. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
5. University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA • Private
6. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
7. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Private
8. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
9. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
10. University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT • Private
Find the best Nurse Manager job for you
Nurse Manager Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Nurse Manager Jobs - $120K and Up
- Work From Home Nurse Manager Jobs
- Entry Level Nurse Manager Jobs
- Part Time Nurse Manager Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Nurse Manager Jobs
Online Courses For Nurse Manager That You May Like
The Vohra Wound Care Certification program was developed by Vohra Wound Physicians. Vohra is the largest group of wound physicians in the United States, with more than 20 years of clinical experience providing wound care services to more than 3000 skilled nursing facilities in 30 states, with thousands of patients treated every month. We believe every patient, family, nurse, and caregiver can be empowered through education. Hundreds of thousands of people have already benefited from this course...
Nursing programs partner with a variety of clinical practice settings to provide student nurses expert clinical training. This essential partnership assures students are prepared to provide quality patient care. Within these practice sites, staff registered nurses (RNs) provide nursing students rich clinical learning experiences within a safe yet challenging learning environment. These RNs are identified as Nurse Preceptors. While many clinical practice sites have programs that prepare staff...
Vohra’s expert physicians developed this advanced wound care program to help you deliver excellent healthcare: Understand the latest, most innovative wound care techniques and treatment options Identify the different types of wounds and recommended treatment plan for non-healing wounds Review the primary wound dressing options and wound care products Treat wound patients confidently, leading to improved medical outcomes Benefit from an enhanced knowledge share from Vohra´s healthcare...
Top Skills For a Nurse Manager
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 14.9% of Nurse Managers listed RN on their resume, but soft skills such as Analytical skills and Interpersonal skills are important as well.
Best States For a Nurse Manager
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a Nurse Manager. The best states for people in this position are Rhode Island, Vermont, New York, and Connecticut. Nurse Managers make the most in Rhode Island with an average salary of $105,255. Whereas in Vermont and New York, they would average $100,485 and $98,979, respectively. While Nurse Managers would only make an average of $98,406 in Connecticut, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Vermont
$100,485
Avg. Salary
2. Delaware
$97,041
Avg. Salary
3. Connecticut
$98,406
Avg. Salary
How Do Nurse Manager Rate Their Jobs?
Top Nurse Manager Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ Nurse Managers and discovered their number of Nurse Manager opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that DaVita was the best, especially with an average salary of $89,378. Kaiser Permanente follows up with an average salary of $102,461, and then comes PeaceHealth with an average of $101,564. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a Nurse Manager. The employers include Humana, DaVita, and Meridian
Nurse Manager Videos
Becoming a Nurse Manager FAQs
How do I become a nurse manager?
To become a nurse manager, you typically need a college degree, certification, and experience. Most employers ask for a bachelor's degree in nursing. It would be advantageous to also take business courses. Also, you must pass the NCLEX-RN exam to earn your nurse license.
How long does it take to become a nurse manager?
It takes about six to seven years to become a nurse manager.
Typically, you need a bachelor's degree in nursing and pass the NCLEX-RN exam to become a registered nurse before you can be considered for a managerial position. That time is usually about four years. Also, you need to gain clinical nursing experience, usually at least three years, before you're qualified.
How much do nursing managers get paid?
Nursing managers get paid around $80,000 per year or about $38.51 hourly.
On the lower end of the salary range, they may only make around $61,000. On the higher end, they can earn an average salary of $104,000. As most jobs go, factors like location, company, and experience can determine your pay.
What is the difference between a charge nurse and a nurse manager?
The difference between a charge nurse and a nurse manager is the level of responsibility and leadership.
Nurse managers are the liaisons between upper management and nurses on the floor. They coordinate not only nurses but others in their unit, such as doctors and support staff. They may also handle more administrative duties such as overseeing budgets and handling internal communications across departments.
Who is above a nurse manager?
Upper management nurses like directors and chief officers are above nurse managers.
At the top of the typical hierarchy in nursing is the chief nursing officer (CNO) or also known as the chief nursing executive (CNE). This person is responsible for all nursing services across the hospital or healthcare unit and reports to the CEO.