question: charge nurse vs nurse manager

[IHeartPeds87]

Hi everyone,

I am an aspiring nurse trying to learn about the field of nursing (while taking prereqs!). I have a question, while searching these boards a lot of people talk about a "charge nurse." What's the difference between a charge nurse and a nurse manager? Are the educational credentials different? What is the difference in their roles? Is charge nurse done on a "rotating basis" (at a LTC facility I worked at as an aide we had something called team lead that the aides were put on by a rotating basis, the position paid a whopping quater more an hour lol).

any info would be appreciated, thanks :)

[meandragonbrett]

Charge Nurse=Shift supervisor that's responsible for the hour to hour flow of the unit. Admits, discharges, bed assignments, staffing. It's a lot of administrative work with a lot of clinical work. Think of the charge nurse as the air traffic controller for the shift.

Nurse Manager=The one who manages the unit in the grand scheme of things.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Yes, your ideas are basically correct. A Charge Nurse is the leader of team for the specific shift. A lot of nurses might take turns being the Charge Nurse. They make the minute-by-minute decisions to run the shift and handle problems that come up during that shift. They are not responsible for things that happen on shifts when they are not present. In most cases, they are paid an hourly wage like the other staff nurses (though, they might get a little bonus for being in charge.)

The Nurse Manager is a managerial position, accountable for happens on a 24/7 basis. In other words, they are responsible for higher level decisions and are held accountable for things that happen even when they are not physically present. They are usually paid a salary and do not receive extra pay for working overtime, night shift, etc. They are part of the management team and are not one of the staff nurses.

[RheatherN, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

yeah, our charge is and extra .25 as well...lol.. for me.. NOT worth what needs to be done. esp lately with our floor.!

-H-RN

[diane227, LPN, RN]

The nurse manager usually has one or two units that he/she will have 24/7 responsibility for. They will hire new employees, perform employee evaluations, do the budget for the unit. He/she also may be the person who does the payroll and the schedule depending on the scope of services. They are responsible for assuring that staff is up to date with all educational requirements. They have numerous duties that are too numerous to count here.

The charge nurse is the person who manages the unit on his/her shift. Depending on the set up of the facility, this may be a rotating position or a permanent position. At my facility, I am the permanent charge nurse on the 3-11 shift. The advantage to that system is continuity. You have the same person with the same level of experience to deal with each day which can be reassuring especially if you are working in a unit where you have a number of newer nurses. The charge nurses is responsible for coordination of the activities of his/her shift. On my floor I do not take a patient assignment. I coordinate the staff assignments, oncoming staffing, assignment of new patients coming into the unit, transcription of all orders, monitoring of lab values, assisting all staff with their needs as indicated, troubleshooting all problems that cannot be handled by another staff member, etc. I assist the house supervisor with staffing for the next shift and with any problems that come up between my unit and another unit. I also respond to other units if they request my assistance (starting IV, helping with an ortho patient, etc). But the good thing about my job is that at 23:15 I get to turn it over to someone else.