How to hire a nursing services manager

How to hire a nursing services manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step nursing services manager hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a nursing services manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new nursing services manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a nursing services manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your nursing services manager job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a nursing services manager for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A nursing services manager's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, nursing services managers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of nursing services manager salaries for various roles:

   Type of Nursing Services Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Nursing Services Manager	Medical and health services managers, also called healthcare executives or healthcare administrators, plan, direct, and coordinate medical and health services. They might manage an entire facility, a specific clinical area or department, or a medical practice for a group of physicians... Show more	$30-64
   Medical Director	A medical director is responsible for handling the overall supervision of different medical departments, managing the coordination between medical teams to ensure smooth operations and achieve high-quality care services for the patients. Medical directors enforce strict guidelines and safety measures for everyone's adherence... Show more	$68-177
   Clinical Director	A clinical director is a managing professional who manages the work of healthcare providers to ensure quality patient care is achieved. Clinical directors are responsible for organizational tasks such as adjusting staff schedules, explaining insurance benefits to the patients, and managing financial reports... Show more	$30-69

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Acute Care
   • Surgery
   • Quality Patient Care
   • Patient Safety
   • CPR
   • Home Health
   • Rehabilitation
   • Health System
   • Infection Control
   • Quality Improvement
   • Patient Care
   • Staff Development
   • Process Improvement

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Complete comprehensive assessments for all LTC residents which include managing falls, pain, skin integrity, and medications.
   • Monitor inpatient charts for JCAHO standards.
   • Assume all responsibilities of directing complete payroll department.
   • Transfer patients to vehicles following procedures via ambulating assistance or via wheelchair.
   • Provide education to field personnel about payroll and tax information for personnel living overseas.
   • Implement emergency department fast track system reducing length of stay for patients with lower acuity illness/injury.

   More nursing services manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your nursing services manager job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A nursing services manager can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, nursing services managers' average salary in arkansas is 39% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level nursing services managers 53% less than senior-level nursing services managers.
   • Certifications. A nursing services manager with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a nursing services manager's salary.

   Average nursing services manager salary

   $93,338yearly

   $44.87 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level nursing services manager salary

   $64,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

   Average nursing services manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$106,644	$51
   2	Massachusetts	$104,302	$50
   3	Nevada	$101,873	$49
   4	New York	$101,391	$49
   5	New Hampshire	$100,581	$48
   6	Minnesota	$98,574	$47
   7	Tennessee	$93,566	$45
   8	Oregon	$93,030	$45
   9	New Jersey	$93,018	$45
   10	Arizona	$90,499	$44
   11	Texas	$90,097	$43
   12	Georgia	$90,009	$43
   13	Iowa	$82,754	$40
   14	Maryland	$82,295	$40
   15	Colorado	$82,282	$40
   16	North Carolina	$79,707	$38
   17	Indiana	$74,914	$36
   18	Illinois	$73,267	$35
   19	Florida	$70,847	$34
   20	Montana	$69,758	$34

   Average nursing services manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Mayo Clinic	$158,578	$76.24	25
   2	Maine Health/maine Mental Health Partners	$127,004	$61.06	26
   3	Tenet Healthcare	$112,847	$54.25	132
   4	Medstar Health	$110,800	$53.27	5
   5	Kaiser Permanente	$110,613	$53.18	152
   6	Duke University Health System	$106,843	$51.37	19
   7	University of Maryland Medical System	$105,966	$50.95	12
   8	Highmark	$105,332	$50.64	295
   9	University Hospitals	$105,172	$50.56	21
   10	Memorial Healthcare System	$104,770	$50.37	1
   11	Boston Medical Center	$104,343	$50.16	27
   12	Denton Regional Medical Center (subsidiary Hospital Of Hca)	$103,383	$49.70
   13	Sutter Health	$103,221	$49.63	84
   14	Mohawk Valley Health System	$103,089	$49.56
   15	Cedars-Sinai	$101,944	$49.01	40
   16	St. Peter's Health	$101,804	$48.94
   17	Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego	$101,233	$48.67
   18	Carson Tahoe Health	$101,193	$48.65
   19	Texas Health Resources	$101,055	$48.58	33
   20	Change Healthcare	$100,513	$48.32

4. Writing a nursing services manager job description

   A job description for a nursing services manager role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a nursing services manager job description:

   Nursing services manager job description example

   Position Title: Nurse Manager, Emergency Services
   Company Name: Rochester Regional Health System
   Sector: Hospital
   Min Education: BA/BS/Undergraduate
   Min Experience: 7-10 Years
   Required Travel: None
   
   SUMMARY:
   
   Rochester General Hospital is seeking a Nurse Manager to lead the Adult Emergency Department. As a Nursing Manager, you are responsible for developing and sustaining an environment that supports excellence in clinical practice and patient care on the designated unit. Your demonstrated leadership and customer service ability is important to departmental success.
   
   The Emergency Department at Rochester General Hospital is a 53 bed ED serving over 125,000 patients annually.
   
   STATUS : Full Time
   DEPARTMENT : Adult Emergency Department
   
   KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
   Develops and sustains an environment that supports excellence in clinical practice and promotes quality patient care with a focus on safety. Develops programs and strategies to monitor the quality of patient care and patient outcomes. Promotes collaboration with medical and administrative colleagues in establishing the unit's patient care goals and daily operations. Ensures that the philosophy, standards and policies of the organization are translated into action on the patient care unit. Develops, justifies and implements, in collaboration with the Director, the long-term staffing pattern, personnel complement needs and recruitment plan for the patient care unit. Allocates resources to achieve clinical care and financial goals by preparing, monitoring, and maintaining approved salary and non-salary budgets. Selects and develops staff to meet patient care goals. Monitors and evaluates operations for compliance with licensure, accreditation and regulatory standards. Supports and facilitates staff professional development and participation in research programs. Demonstrates leadership and influences others in both the internal and external environments to promote optimal care to individual patients and optimal health care services to the public. Pursues a continuing program of self-development in order to maintain, strengthen and broaden own concepts, philosophy and abilities. Performs quality responsibilities on one or more key processes assigned. This may include but is not limited to quality, regulatory and risk management functions or parts thereof. Perform other duties as assigned.
   
   ATTRIBUTES:
   BSN required Active NYS RN license required
   PI192046542
   
   PI193781509

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find nursing services managers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your nursing services manager job on Zippia to find and recruit nursing services manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting nursing services managers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new nursing services manager

   Once you've selected the best nursing services manager candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a nursing services manager?