Head Nurse

Head nurses are healthcare professionals who fulfill both nursing and managerial duties.
Often, staff nurses who demonstrate experience and a high skill level earn a promotion to this more management-oriented position.
Head nurses direct the nursing staff and serve as the primary point of communication between the nurses and the doctors, administration and other professionals in their healthcare facility.Head nurses can work in many types of healthcare facilities with a large enough staff to require someone to oversee and coordinate these employees.
These facilities include hospitals, nursing homes and other treatment centers.What does a head nurse do?Head nurses perform many duties throughout the facility in which they work.
As nurses, they accomplish typical day-to-day nursing responsibilities for patients.
As managers, their responsibilities involve supervision, administration and communication.Some of a head nurse's daily responsibilities are:
Assisting with and coordinating patient care Allocating nursing and healthcare resources where needed Organizing nurses' notes regarding patients Providing patient paperwork to doctors Coordinating patient payments with payments department or process payments on their own Participating in the hiring of new nursing staff and training new hires Creating schedules for nursing staff Resolving employee conflicts Resolving patient issues Creating reports for facility management Placing orders for equipment and suppliesImportant skills for a head nurseIn order to complete their daily tasks, head nurses require a combination of abilities related to office administration, interpersonal skillsand managerial proficiency.The skills most helpful for head nurses include:
Leadership:
Head nurses use strong leadership skillsto ensure their nursing staff performs their jobs correctly and safely.- Communication:
It's important for head nurses to communicate patient needs, nursing instructions and other medically important information clearly and efficiently.- Organization:
Coordinating the nursing staff, managing patient records and monitoring patient treatment all rely heavily on the head nurse's organization skills.- Customer service:
Head nurses often work together with vendors to place and fulfill orders for supplies and equipment.
Also, though they don't view patients as customers, customer service skills are helpful when interacting with patients, listening to their needs and fulfilling their requests.- Empathy and compassion:
Head nurses use empathy and compassion when working with patients so that they can better understand their patients' needs, which helps them better address their patients' medical issues.- Analytical skills:
Since head nurses often diagnose patients, analyzing test results or studying patient files can help them understand what the medical issue may be.
Also, analyzing hospital records can help with their administrative duties.- Conflict resolution:
As the manager of the nursing staff, head nurses must often resolve any conflicts the staff may have with each other or with their patients to help facilitate a positive and productive environment for all.- Ability to multitask:
Medical facilities are often fast-paced work environments with many tasks in need of completion.
As a manager, head nurses take responsibility for completing many of these tasks in addition to typical nursing duties.- Responsibility:
As the head of the nursing staff, much of the responsibility for patient care belongs to the head nurse.
Employers expect their head nurses to welcome this responsibility and prioritize patient health and safety.Related:
Skills in Nursing:
Definition and Examples
• Education requirements for a head nurseMost employers expect their head nurses to have a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree as a minimum.Common areas of study can include:
Nursing Biology Premedicine Social work Nutrition sciencesLike other nurses, head nurses complete an LPN or RN program before they are able to begin working as a nurse.
Head nurses typically hold an RN license.Some head nurses hold a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN).
Before choosing to pursue this credential, you may wish to research the job descriptions for this role at medical facilities in your desired geographic area to see if this is a common hiring requirement at the locations where you'd like to work.Job Types:
Full-time, ContractContract length:
24 monthsSalary:
Up to ریال10,000.00 per month
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