Nurse Manager Jobs in the United States

Nurse Manager Jobs Overview

Whether you’re a patient or a healthcare practitioner, chances are that you’ve seen things in the healthcare system that you’d like to change. If you want to oversee the administration of a healthcare facility, you can make a direct impact as a nurse manager. Nurse manager jobs often combine patient care and administrative tasks, which gives you unique oversight over an organization’s processes.

Nurse managers oversee administrative tasks in the nursing department as well as the patient care performed by nurses. Tasks could include staffing, scheduling, recruiting, case management, patient satisfaction, and more. As a nurse manager, you’ll have a career in one of the fastest-growing sectors, with projected job growth of about 28% over the next few years.

These positions can be listed as “nurse manager jobs” or use a similar title like nurse supervisor or head nurse. Higher up in the chain of command are executive managers such as chief nurse officers. You can also search for other jobs in management, for example:

• healthcare manager jobs
• public health administrator jobs
• healthcare administration jobs

Education and Skills for Nurse Managers

To become a nurse manager, you’ll first need to become a nurse and preferably a registered nurse. These are the typical steps:

1. Obtain a nursing degree. The minimum requirement is an associate degree in nursing (ADN), but it’s wise to get at least a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) when you’re aiming for a manager position. This is also required in some states to become a registered nurse (RN).
2. Consider obtaining a master’s degree as some jobs require this. Another option is to enroll in an RN-to-MSN program to earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree.
3. Apply for an RN license. You’ll need to pass the NCLEX-RN test to do this.
4. Gain solid experience working as a nurse, so you’ll understand the procedures and processes.

Nurse managers need to have a good combination of soft and hard skills. Excellent clinical knowledge and organizational skills are important to supervise patient care. Communication and social skills are fundamental for interacting directly with patients and nurses. You’ll also need to be a natural leader skilled at motivating, training, and guiding your staff.

For more information on job requirements, read our nurse manager job description template.

Give Your Nursing Manager Resume Professional Care

Give your resume a boost with Monster’s resume writing tips and recommendations for writing the best cover letter.

You can also get some industry-specific suggestions from our resume sample for nurse managers and our nursing cover letter sample. Since nurse managers are part nurse, part manager, make sure to balance the descriptions of your qualifications for both of these roles in your application.

Interviewing for a Nurse Manager Job

Nurse managers have a lot of responsibilities, so expect a rigid job interview with questions on your soft skills, leadership experience, clinical details, and hypothetical situations. These are some examples of questions an interviewer might ask:

• What would you like to change in the healthcare system?
• What are some strategies you use to motivate employees?
• How do you handle difficult patients?
• Describe your strategy for when you disagree with a physician on patient care.

Read our article on nurse interview questions for more examples of common questions for nursing manager interviews.

How Much Do Nurse Manager Jobs Pay?

There are different types of nurse managers and salaries vary accordingly, but the median salary of a nurse manager is $85,072. Use our Salary Tools with regional data to find out how much you could make in your city.

Learn More in Our Company Profiles

Do you already know what healthcare company you want to work for? Search for it in our company profiles. Here you can find information that can help you evaluate if the employer is right for you, as well as target your job application to the company. The profiles can include information on:

• company history
• areas of practice
• facility locations

Manage Your Job Search by Creating a Monster Profile

Monster has the prescription for your job search. We recommend a daily dose of job searching on our site, where you can apply directly to nurse manager jobs after you create a profile. You can also chart your progress by keeping track of your job applications from your profile and get alerts whenever new jobs for nurse managers are posted.