Nurse manager vs nurse case manager

The differences between nurse managers and nurse case managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a nurse manager, becoming a nurse case manager takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a nurse manager has an average salary of $83,684, which is higher than the $68,461 average annual salary of a nurse case manager.

The top three skills for a nurse manager include patients, home health and CPR. The most important skills for a nurse case manager are care management, discharge planning, and patients.

Nurse manager vs nurse case manager overview

	Nurse Manager	Nurse Case Manager
Yearly salary	$83,684	$68,461
Hourly rate	$40.23	$32.91
Growth rate	28%	6%
Number of jobs	380,264	83,480
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Average age	47	44
Years of experience	6	2

What does a nurse manager do?

The primary role of nurse managers is to supervise the nursing staff in a clinical or hospital setting. They are the ones who are in charge of patient care, setting work schedules, and making budgetary and management decisions. They are also responsible for making personnel decisions, coordinating meetings, and creating safe environments that promote patient engagement and aid the healthcare team's work. Their role is vital in promoting a culture in which team members contribute to professional growth and patient outcomes.

What does a nurse case manager do?

A nurse case manager's role focuses on providing advice and medication to patients in an outpatient clinic or hospital. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around conducting extensive assessments, discussing essential matters to patients and families, devising efficient health care plans, coordinating with health care experts to share patients' progress, determining the needed care, and performing follow-up services. There are also instances when a nurse case manager must adjust medication or treatment as needed, refer patients to programs that will support them on their financial and other needs, and implement policies and regulations.

Nurse manager vs nurse case manager salary

Nurse managers and nurse case managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Nurse Manager	Nurse Case Manager
Average salary	$83,684	$68,461
Salary range	Between $60,000 And $115,000	Between $48,000 And $97,000
Highest paying City	Las Vegas, NV	San Mateo, CA
Highest paying state	Nevada	Hawaii
Best paying company	BD	CNA Insurance
Best paying industry	Health Care	Government

Differences between nurse manager and nurse case manager education

There are a few differences between a nurse manager and a nurse case manager in terms of educational background:

	Nurse Manager	Nurse Case Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	Duke University

Nurse manager vs nurse case manager demographics

Here are the differences between nurse managers' and nurse case managers' demographics:

	Nurse Manager	Nurse Case Manager
Average age	47	44
Gender ratio	Male, 13.5% Female, 86.5%	Male, 9.6% Female, 90.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 7.6% White, 60.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	12%	9%

Differences between nurse manager and nurse case manager duties and responsibilities

Nurse manager example responsibilities.

Case manage workers compensation cases, administer drug testing, surveillance testing, minor 1st aid and CPR instruction.
Assess and manage various allergic and life threatening reactions of chemotherapy medications.
Manage staff of medical personnel providing care for telemetry, geriatric and general medicine patients.
Involve in utilization review and chart audits for all appropriate documentation for medicaid, Medicare and manage care organizations.
Manage surgical recovery patients including vascular, ENT, GI urological and neurological cases, coronary bypass surgery patients.
Maintain current ACLS and BLS certifications.

Nurse case manager example responsibilities.

Develop and manage plan of care for symptom management for patients/families in home, ALF, and SNF arena.
Maintain communication with commercial insurance payers, manage Medicare and Medicaid sources and conduct daily clinical updates to insurance companies.
Coordinate surgery schedules with doctor, hospital, medical equipment representative and patients.
General assessment and care/case management of Medicare patients including wind care, diabetes, cardiac complications, respiratory treatments.
Deliver independent private duty nursing to pediatric patients in need of holistic care, including oxygen-dependent, ventilator-dependent, tracheostomy patients.
Interview and assess patients, documenting findings and input into EMR system.

Nurse manager vs nurse case manager skills

Common nurse manager skills

Patients, 22%
Home Health, 8%
CPR, 4%
Customer Service, 4%
Performance Improvement, 3%
Surgery, 3%

Common nurse case manager skills

Care Management, 25%
Discharge Planning, 17%
Patients, 11%
Home Health, 8%
Rehabilitation, 3%
Medical Care, 3%

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Nurse Manager
Nurse Manager vs Nurse Case Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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