Charge Nurse (Male Nurse) Duties and Responsibilities

Charge nurses supervise and support a nursing staff while also treating a limited number of
patients. Charge nurses are responsible for maintaining a high level of patient care, evaluating
other nurses and acting as an educational resource for nurses.

Managerial Duties and Responsibilities

Charge nurses are experienced registered nurses who have displayed leadership, management
and communication skills. They are responsible for managing, supervising and assisting the
nursing staff, providing administrative support and patient care. A hospital, clinic or health care
facility may have several charge nurses, each responsible for a different shift, department or
specialized unit.
Regular duties include directing the admission, discharge and general flow of patients, and
assigning nurses and support staff to patients. While daily goals must be met, effective charge
nurses are flexible and are able to prioritize and adapt during emergencies.
Charge nurses provide guidance on administering care to new patients or those with special
needs and answering questions regarding protocol. Charge nurses frequently work with other
nurses and patients to create a plan of care that is individualized to a patient's needs. Charge
nurses develop and implement training courses and organize seminars to help educate and train
new nurses and staff.
As shift supervisors, charge nurses document the performance of nurses, perform evaluations and
counsel nurses on unsatisfactory performance. In addition, they meet with upper management to
discuss personnel and administrative issues and address and solve problems among staff.

Administrative Duties and Responsibilities

Aside from managerial responsibilities, charge nurses perform administrative duties including
creating schedules, maintaining adequate supplies and informing staff of changes to protocol. In
some settings, charge nurses plan budgets for the nursing staff and may provide clerical
assistance to the hospital staff.

Nursing Duties and Responsibilities

While most duties and responsibilities are managerial and administrative, charge nurses also
provide some patient care. Although the number of patients and relative difficulty of each case
may vary depending on the shift, department and type of facility, charge nurses assess and
monitor patients. Other duties include monitoring vital signs, conferring with doctors on a
patient's progress and reporting special circumstances.