Charge Nurse Job Description Template

Charge Nurse

[Intro Paragraph] Your charge nurse job description should begin with a short paragraph or a bulleted list aimed at selling your hospital or medical facility to potential candidates. By focusing on what makes your setting special, you will increase your chances of appealing to an RN who is looking for the opportunity you are providing.

Charge Nurse Job Responsibilities:

• Promotes and restores patients’ health by overseeing the management and planning of patient care for the duration of their shift.
• Directs, mentors, and schedules staff, including communicating job expectations and providing input to nursing supervisors on staff performance reviews.
• Collaborates with physicians and multidisciplinary professional staff to implement patient care.
• Provides physical and psychological support for patients, friends, and families.
• Meets nursing operational standards by contributing information to strategic plans and reviews; implementing production, productivity, quality, and customer-service standards; resolving problems; and identifying system improvements.
• Identifies patient service requirements by establishing a personal rapport with potential and actual patients and other persons in a position to understand service requirements.
• Maintains nursing guidelines by making sure that their direct reports adhere to staff policies and procedures.
• Assures quality of care by developing and interpreting the hospital and nursing division’s philosophies and standards of care, enforcing adherence to the state board of nursing and state nurse practice act requirements and other governing agency regulations, measuring health outcomes against standards, and making or recommending adjustments.
• Completes patient care requirements by assigning nursing and staff and following up on test results.
• Establishes a compassionate environment by providing emotional, psychological, and spiritual support to patients, friends, and families.
• Promotes patients’ independence by establishing patient care goals, and teaching and counseling patients, friends, and family to reinforce their understanding of the disease, medications, and self-care skills.
• Provides information to patients and the healthcare team by answering questions and requests.
• Resolves patients’ needs by utilizing multidisciplinary team strategies.
• Maintains a safe and clean working environment by implementing procedures, rules, and regulations, and by calling for assistance from other healthcare professionals.
• Protects patients and employees by developing and interpreting infection-control policies and protocols and by enforcing medication administration, storage procedures, and controlled substance regulations.
• Maintains documentation of patient care services, ensures patient confidence, and protects operations by monitoring confidential information processing.
• Ensures that all medical and administrative equipment works properly by verifying emergency equipment availability, completing preventive maintenance requirements, following manufacturer’s instructions, troubleshooting malfunctions, requesting repairs, maintaining equipment inventories, and evaluating new equipment and techniques.
• Maintains the nursing supplies inventory by studying usage reports, identifying trends, anticipating needed supplies, and approving requisitions and cost allocations.
• Develops professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops, reviewing professional publications, and participating in professional societies.
• Builds a cooperative relationship among healthcare teams by communicating information, responding to requests, and participating in team problem-solving.

[Work Hours & Benefits] Use this section of your charge nurse job description to sell the position the way your opening paragraph sold your workplace. Using a salary tool that allows you to input job title and location, you can either provide a competitive and appropriate salary range or confidently state that the salary is generous for your area. You’ll want to provide information about shifts and patient-to-nurse ratios, and highlight attractive perks, such as signing bonuses, paid relocation, student loan repayment, low- or no-deductible medical benefits, 401(k), and opportunities for professional development.

Charge Nurse Skills and Qualifications: Use these sections of your charge nurse job description to share the necessary and preferred requirements so candidates know whether they’ll be considered qualified.

• Clinical skills
• Bedside manner
• Leadership and mentorship
• Infection control
• Physiological knowledge
• Administering medication
• Teambuilding skills
• Organizational and multitasking skills
• Listening and verbal communication skills
• Health promotion and maintenance
• Pain management
• Patient focus
• Safety focus

Education, Experience, and Licensing Requirements:

• Registered Nurse (RN)
• Active applicable state licensure
• American Heart Association issued Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
• 3-5 years experience as a staff nurse in a clinical setting, prior supervisory experience a plus

[Call to Action] End your charge nurse job description with a call to action (CTA) that encourages interested applicants to fill out an online application or submit a resume and cover letter.