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Difference between types of ward nurses

Nurse manager (manager)

  • Manage the entire health care unit
  • Acts as voice for nurses and other allied staff that work for their unit to upper management and hospital administration
  • Provide support to nurses and allied staff
  • Oversee budgets and staffing issues and more long term issues
  • Often do not see patients themselves
  • Require higher level of education compared to charge nurse, typically Master of Science in Nursing or some form of extra management training

Charge nurse (manager)

  • Manage shift of nurses for the unit they are working on
  • Oversee admissions and discharges, staffing, training of new nursing staff
  • Provide support to nursing staff
  • Often do see their own patients, and play role in overseeing daily nursing tasks of other nurses
  • Require 3 to 5 years of RN experience, but no additional education beyond BSN typically required

Ward clerk (unit clerk)

  • Handle administrative and clerical tasks of their unit
  • Process paperwork, data entry, updating patient lists
  • Answer phones and emails
  • Perform record keeping and inventory
  • Arrange for patient transport including Ontario Patient Transfer (OPT)

Registered nurse (RN)

  • Lifeline of the hospital!
  • Provide routine care to patients, administer medications and carry out physician orders
  • Compared to RPN, RNs can care for more complex patients