Difference between Nurse Supervisor and Unit Manager?

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I know this is probably a very silly question but I don't understand the differences between these two positions. I hear them used interchangeably and I don't know if they are the same thing or different. Or different based on what hospital you work at.

Does anyone know the difference between a nurse supervisor and a unit manager?

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

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usually.....in my experience.....a nursing supervisor is the off shift administrator that sees to the entire house (hospital) operations/staffing/issues. The Unit manager manages a particular area and sees to the day to day operations and budget of the area.

If this was a homework question...you're welcome...;).....:roflmao:

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All nurse managers supervise, but all supervisors do not do unit-level management.

They who used to be called "head nurses" with three-shift responsibility to run a floor are often called "nurse managers" now.

A supervisor may watch the house on off-shifts, or, in a big hospital, a part of it, or may be the middle-level management between the director of nursing and the floor management, overseeing and acting as resource for the nursing management on several floors on any shift.

Clear as mud?

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Thank you for your answers/help! No this wasn't a homework question but rather curiosity.

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Clear as mud?

Like most things I've encountered in nursing school so far. :banghead: Thanks for your help. :)

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Medicine, nor nursing, is not an exact science.

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