Most nurse managers list "patients," "home health," and "cpr" as skills on their resumes. We go into more details on the most important nurse manager responsibilities here:
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 representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.
- 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.
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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.
The three companies that hire the most prestigious nurse managers are:
- WakeMed277 Nurse Managers Jobs
- The Rehabilitation Hospital of Wisconsin
111 Nurse Managers Jobs
- HealthTrust81 Nurse Managers Jobs
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What Registered Nurses Do
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.
We looked at the average nurse manager annual salary and compared it with the average of a registered nurse. Generally speaking, registered nurses receive $10,335 lower pay than nurse managers per year.
Even though nurse managers and registered nurses have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require patients, home health, and cpr in the day-to-day roles.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A nurse manager responsibility is more likely to require skills like "customer service," "performance improvement," "quality patient care," and "oversight." Whereas a registered nurse requires skills like "bls," "acute care," "acls," and "quality care." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.
Registered nurses receive the highest salaries in the health care industry coming in with an average yearly salary of $64,500. But 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.
What Are The Duties Of a 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.
Now we're going to look at the staff nurse profession. On average, staff nurses earn a $15,342 lower salary than nurse managers a year.
A similarity between the two careers of nurse managers and staff nurses are a few of the skills associated with both roles. We used resumes from both professions to find that both use skills like "patients," "cpr," and "surgery. "
But both careers also use 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," some staff nurses use skills like "bls," "acls," "acute care," and "family education."
It's been discovered that staff nurses earn lower salaries compared to nurse managers, but we wanted to find out where staff nurses earned the most pay. The answer? The health care industry. The average salary in the industry is $58,739. Additionally, nurse managers earn the highest paychecks in the health care with an average salary of $90,775.
On the topic of education, 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.
How a Head Nurse Compares
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 head nurse profession generally makes a lower amount of money when compared to the average salary of nurse managers. The difference in salaries is head nurses making $3,511 lower than nurse managers.
Using nurse managers and head nurses resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "patients," "cpr," and "surgery," but the other skills required are very different.
As mentioned, these two careers differ between other skills that are required for performing the work exceedingly well. For example, gathering from nurse managers resumes, they are more likely to have skills like "home health," "customer service," "performance improvement," and "oversight." But a head nurse might have skills like "bls," "acute care," "acls," and "patient care."
Additionally, head nurses earn a higher salary in the education industry compared to other industries. In this industry, they receive an average salary of $80,362. Additionally, nurse managers earn an average salary of $90,775 in the health care industry.
Head nurses are known to earn lower educational levels when compared to nurse managers. Additionally, they're 5.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.
Description Of a Patient Account Manager
Now, we'll look at patient account managers, who generally average a lower pay when compared to nurse managers annual salary. In fact, the difference is about $12,907 per year.
According to resumes from both nurse managers and patient account managers, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "patients," "customer service," and "surgery. "
While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "home health," "cpr," "performance improvement," and "quality patient care" are skills that have shown up on nurse managers resumes. Additionally, patient account manager uses skills like patient accounts, revenue cycle, patient care, and patient registration on their resumes.
Patient account managers reach similar levels of education when compared to nurse managers. The difference is that they're 5.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree less, and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.
Types Of Nurse Manager
Registered Nurse Case Manager
Average Salary: $72,815
Associate Degree
Available Jobs: 37,572
How To Become a Registered Nurse Case Manager
Unit Manager
Average Salary: $60,561
Bachelor's Degree
Available Jobs: 17,955
How To Become a Unit Manager
Practice Manager
Average Salary: $107,374
Bachelor's Degree
Available Jobs: 15,347
How To Become a Practice Manager
Clinical Manager
Average Salary: $84,066
Bachelor's Degree
Available Jobs: 14,636
How To Become a Clinical Manager
Pharmacist Manager
Average Salary: $93,996
Bachelor's Degree
Available Jobs: 13,773
How To Become a Pharmacist Manager
Patient Care Manager
Average Salary: $65,369
Bachelor's Degree
Available Jobs: 13,077
How To Become a Patient Care Manager
What a Nurse Manager Does FAQs
Charge Nurse Vs. Nurse Manager
A charge nurse provides patient care and also has administrative responsibilities, while a nurse manager focuses more on administrative duties.
A charge nurse is a registered nurse who oversees a department of nurses. They require clinical and managerial skills to care for patients while also providing guidance and leadership to other nurses who are working with patients. This can be a static, full-time position in some health care facilities, or it may rotate among nurses by shift.
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.
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.
Have more questions? See all answers to common executive management questions.