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.
Nurse manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real nurse manager resumes:
- 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.
- Track and monitor patients' outcomes, using other measurement standards to facilitate continuous quality improvement teams.
- Conduct interviews for potential hires, both RN's and ANM's.
- Complete daily chart checks to ensure proper transcription of orders.
- Educate nursing staff in medical emergencies in the role of BLS instructor.
- Transition into ANM role and participate in the initial designs for a renovation and redesign of the NSCU.
- Obtain ACLS certification, then initiate and begin instruction of other staff in CPR and ACLS training and implementation.
- Create a task force to reduce transfer time from ICU to other units (reduce from 4-6 hours to 2 hours )
- Develop and ensure standard operating procedures integrating JCAHO, HIPAA, OSHA and all necessary State/Federal safety guidelines and relate issues.
- Skil in bedside monitoring , 12-lead EKG, ventilator, chest tube removal, ACLS, internal and external pacemaker monitoring.
Nurse manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Nurse Managers are proficient in Patients, Home Health, and CPR. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Interpersonal skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Nurse Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 22%
Increase ability of patients and care coordinators to establish effective relationships using the technology including trouble-shooting for staff whenever needed.
- Home Health, 8%
Facilitated communication between home health staff and hospital leadership to ensure compliance with all regulatory agencies.
- CPR, 4%
Obtained ACLS certification, then initiated and began instruction of other staff in CPR and ACLS training and implementation.
- Customer Service, 4%
Chaired the organizational Customer Service Improvement committee; resulting in the development and implementation of an organizational customer service training program.
- Performance Improvement, 3%
Interview, hiring and manage personnel to include establishing performance expectation, completing performance appraisals and performance improvement procedures when necessary.
- Surgery, 3%
Collaborated with cardiac surgeons, anesthesiologists and nursing administration to increase cardiac surgery program to 2,500 open heart surgical procedures annually.
Most nurse managers use their skills in "patients," "home health," and "cpr" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential nurse manager responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a nurse manager to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what nurse managers do because "medical and health services managers review and evaluate healthcare metrics for ways to improve efficiency and meet goals." Additionally, a nurse manager resume shows how nurse managers use analytical skills: "participated in a root cause analysis that resulted in improving patient safety through policy and procedure for securing patient belongings. "
Leadership skills. nurse managers are also known for leadership skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to nurse manager responsibilities, because "medical and health services managers hire, train, and direct staff." A nurse manager resume example shows how leadership skills is used in the workplace: "delivered proficient leadership in medical teamwork, medication administration, and adult health. "
Technical skills. nurse manager responsibilities often require "technical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "medical and health services managers must stay up to date with advances in healthcare technology, such as the coding and electronic health record (ehr) systems their facility adopts." This resume example shows what nurse managers do with technical skills on a typical day: "provided program oversight and technical support to the hiv/std program. "
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a nurse manager to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what nurse managers relies on this skill, since "medical and health services managers must convey information to their staff, other healthcare workers, and, sometimes, patients and insurance agents." How this skill relates to nurse manager duties can be seen in an example from a nurse manager resume snippet: "focused on enhancing nurse - clinician communication in order to assist with patient progression of care as well as patient safety. "
Detail oriented. While "detail oriented" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to nurse manager responsibilities. Much of what a nurse manager does relies on this skill, seeing as "medical and health services managers must pay attention to detail." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of nurse managers: "recruited, oriented, trained and certified medical assistants and nurses. "
The three companies that hire the most nurse managers are:
- WakeMed277 nurse managers jobs
- The Rehabilitation Hospital of Wisconsin111 nurse managers jobs
- HealthTrust81 nurse managers jobs
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Compare different nurse managers
Nurse manager vs. Registered nurse
The primary responsibilities of a registered nurse involve caring for a variety of patients, from ill and injured to those who are healthy and wanting to stay that way. Nurses have different specialization and work with particular patients, such as newborn babies or those who are suffering from particular medical conditions. They work on different settings which includes hospital, outpatient facility, rehabilitation center, nursing home, dialysis center, home healthcare agency, and other offices. They can administer medications, wound care, and other aids or treatment plan. They also conduct medical tests, interpret the results, and monitor patients' recovery and progress.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a nurse manager are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "performance improvement," "quality patient care," and "oversight." On the other hand, a job as a registered nurse requires skills like "bls," "acute care," "acls," and "quality care." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Registered nurses earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $64,500. On the other hand, nurse managers are paid more in the health care industry with an average salary of $90,775.On average, registered nurses reach lower levels of education than nurse managers. Registered nurses are 9.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Nurse manager vs. Staff nurse
Staff nurses are registered nurses who are usually assigned to work in a care home, a company, or in a clinical setting. They advise the physical assessments of patients, employees, and residents. They also handle the checking of vital signs, providing basic medical procedures, giving first aid, and, if possible, providing over the counter medication. Staff nurses provide medical attention to the people in their place of assignment. They help pave the path to their patients' full recovery. Staff nurses are expected to be patient and have good interpersonal skills.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real nurse manager resumes. While nurse manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "home health," "customer service," "performance improvement," and "quality patient care," staff nurses use skills like "bls," "acls," "acute care," and "family education."
Staff nurses earn a lower average salary than nurse managers. But staff nurses earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $58,739. Additionally, nurse managers earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $90,775 annually.staff nurses earn lower levels of education than nurse managers in general. They're 8.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for nurse managers in the next 3-5 years?
Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.
Associate Dean of the School of Nursing Professor of Nursing, Quinnipiac University
Nurse manager vs. Head nurse
A patient account manager is responsible for supervising patient accounts, processing claims and payments, and resolving insurance discrepancies. Patient account managers coordinate with insurance companies to verify claims records and update patients' information in the database. They also handle the budget for the department and join the senior management in strategizing techniques to improve account operations and processes. A patient account manager must have excellent organizational and leadership skills, especially in managing disputes and assisting the patient account representatives with their inquiries and concerns.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, nurse managers are more likely to have skills like "home health," "customer service," "performance improvement," and "oversight." But a head nurse is more likely to have skills like "bls," "acute care," "acls," and "patient care."
Head nurses earn the highest salary when working in the education industry, where they receive an average salary of $80,362. Comparatively, nurse managers have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $90,775.head nurses typically earn lower educational levels compared to nurse managers. Specifically, they're 5.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Nurse manager vs. Patient account manager
Types of nurse manager
Updated January 8, 2025
