Charge Nurse Job Description

[Va]

Do any of you have a charge nurse job description that you would like to share?

Or just explain what your duties are if you are a charge nurse? Thanks! Va

[Q.]

As a charge nurse my duties basically include:

1. Coordinating staffing for present shift and next shift - determinining staffing needs. This is done by utilizing our staffing office, making requests, begging for help, deciding to call in our on-call nurse, etc. On our unit this is an ever changing decision.

2. Determining patient acuity. This is r/t to the staffing decisions.

3. Act as a resource, which means, getting involved in just about every patient - especially if an emergency, and most especially if there are alot of new nurses on the floor.

4. Take my own patient assignment.

5. Count narcotics.

6. Give shift report, and then charge-nurse report to the oncoming staff.

7. Trying to avoid at all possible having your staff stay mandatory overtime.

I don't get any additional pay for being in charge - also, charge is done on a rotational basis between a small group of nurses.

[Va]

Thanks. I have never worked as a permanent charge nurse. They do make more at our facility than the staff nurses.