Overview of a Charge Nurse Job Duties

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A charge nurse is in charge of the management and operations of a hospital department or the entire facility. Charge Nurses usually performs regular nursing duties that include overall patient care and a myriad of administrative tasks. Charge nurses can be Licensed Practical Nurses or Registered Nurses, and one of the many requirements to become a charge nurse is to have many years of nursing experience.

What You Do

Pursuing a career in the health care industry as a charge nurse is one of the most in demand professions today. However, since this particular field in health care is multi-faceted, there are several career options to choose from. Depending on how fast a student wants to finish his or her degree, opting for LPN programs is among the most popular choices of aspiring charge nurses who want to become part of the medical workforce and not be limited to just becoming a licensed practical nurse. To better understand the basics of being a charge nurse here are some basic pointers about charge nurse job duties.

Typically, charge nurses take care of the needs of patients that are ill or injured under the supervision of RNs or registered nurses and doctors. The skills needed for this very important responsibility can be learned through any of the LPN and RN degree programs, in addition to being in charge of looking after the patients, charge nurses will also need to have more than just the basic nursing skills that include monitoring the patient’s vital signs, preparation of medication and other minor responsibilities.

Responsibilities and Duties

When performing administrative tasks, various responsibilities often include admitting and discharging patients, supervising the on duty nursing staff as well as maintaining the inventories of supplies and medicines. Charge nurses are also tasked to maintain and organize patient records along with providing key inputs in developing vital hospital – patient health care programs. A charge nurse is also responsible for monitoring and answering field complaints and queries from patients and the hospital staff.

As a charge nurse, you may be tasked to perform various positions related to medical practice in the administration level such as hospital administrator, financial officers, department supervisor, and other related job postings. An associate degree for healthcare management is basically an introductory course, but a student who wants to pursue a more advanced level of education for healthcare management, he or she should consider a bachelor’s degree in health care management program, which provide a much deeper and more comprehensive training and skill building in health care administration.

This will enable aspiring charge nurses to learn key issues like proper financial management, statistical analysis in the field of health care, basic understanding of various health concerns, develop an aptitude in making independent yet crucial decisions, and other related aspects of health care. Getting additional degree often help improve your chances of becoming a charge nurse because more often than not, comprehensive working experience is not enough to move up the ladder within your chosen profession.