Clinical Nurse Coordinator: Role, Salary, and So Much More

If you’ve been following along, you know that I went from working in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) to my first outpatient position: Transplant Coordinator! I love this role for so many reasons, but I would be lying if I said I could find a ton of resources on my job description as a clinical care coordinator before I started this role. I was even more confused to learn that there are different types of nurse coordinators, and my role as a transplant coordinator is TOTALLY different than that of a clinical nurse coordinator. *Pro tip: Turns out that clinical CARE coordinators and clinical NURSE coordinators can be two very different jobs! So what exactly is a clinical nurse coordinator? Read on to find out more.

What is a clinical nurse coordinator?

Those of you who like sports are in for a treat, because I can best describe clinical nurse coordinators with sports references. Think of clinical nurse coordinators as:

• The quarterback in football
• The point guard in basketball
• The relay race anchor in swimming (or maybe the first person up in the relay? Whatever. Whichever one you consider more of a team leader)
• The baseball team captain

Are you picking up what I’m putting down? Clinical nurse coordinators are basically the middle man. They help run the show and make sure operations run smoothly. They are the liason between the bedside staff, administration, management, policy-makers, and patients / their families. Think of a Clinical Nurse Specialist, a Nurse Manager, a Charge Nurse. Wrap these roles into one and you get a brief overview of what a clinical nurse coordinator does!

Clinical nurse coordinators essentially have one foot in the leadership pool and the other foot in the hands-on, bedside pool. I guess they’re just doing the splits all the time really.

Clinical nurse coordinator job requirements

To be competitive applicants for clinical nurse coordinator roles, candidates generally must:

• Be licensed as a Registered Nurse (RN).
• Possess a Bachelors Degree in Nursing (BSN) or higher. These include a Masters Degree in Nursing (MSN) or an Advanced Practice Nursing Degree such as a DNP, PhD, or CNS. Some also have a degree in nursing administration or nursing leadership.
• Have AT LEAST 3  years of clinical experience. Most clinical nurse coordinators are not new grad nurses, because it takes time to gain the skills and insight that being a leader in this role requires. To my baby nurses: You’ll get there, I promise!
• Possess AT LEAST 2 years of leadership experience. This can be as a preceptor, a charge nurse, a team or pod leader, or a manager.
• A certain skillset that includes: Time management skills, the ability to connect with members of their team , emotional intelligence, a deep knowledge and understanding of the unit / area they are acting as the clinical nurse coordinator for, and impeccable written and verbal communication skills.
• (At least a) basic understanding of medical terminology and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems.
• Be trained in CPR (but depending on the job setting, ACLS or PALS is a good idea as well).

Clinical nurse coordinator job description

Indeed.com has a great list of some of the job duties and responsibilities required of a clinical nurse coordinator. They include (but are not limited to):

• Designing budgets
• Replenishing the facility’s medical supplies
• Attending and contributing to departmental meetings
• Screening and evaluating personnel in the facility
• Implementing procedures across the facility
• Participating in the recruitment and enrollment process of new medical staff members

The beauty of this job description is that there are basically clinical nurse coordinator jobs available everywhere, because they are used in many different kinds of settings. These positions are vital to many different types of organizations, including hospitals, doctors offices, clinics, and educational institutions. Climb.com has a great overview of clinical nurse coordinators, whose essential job duties basically span a few different areas:

• Patient care (focus on patient safety, changing problematic processes, or determining what patient care practices need to be improved upon)
• Staff knowledge (educating staff through in-services, assessing staff needs, maintaining knowledgeable preceptors and pairing them with new employees)
• Policy and quality improvement

As you can see, clinical nurse coordinators wear many hats. So what’s the difference between being a clinical nurse coordinator or having another role such as a charge nurse or a nurse manager? How come nurse managers are sometimes referred to as clinical coordinators? It’s all very confusing, so I’m breaking it down for you as simply as I can below.  For the sake of saving your eyes, I’ll abbreviate clinical nurse coordinator to CNC and nurse manager to NM

Clinical nurse coordinator vs nurse manager

How they differ

• Runs the day-to-day operations of their specific unit (including keeping track of unit staff’s documentation and learning needs)
  • CNC: No (if in a hospital setting)
  • NM: Yes
• Oversees entire healthcare facility
  • CNC: Yes
  • NM: No
• Involved in staffing (including training new staff, firing, hiring, and staffing the unit appropriately)
  • CNC: Not usually (if in a hospital setting)
  • NM: Yes
•  Salary
  • Generally higher for NM than CNC (depending on the setting, experience, and location)
  • According to Indeed.com, the average nurse manager salary is about $86,000+/year, while it is about $64,000+/year for a CNC. Again, this is an average and will vary widely.

Shared traits

• Sit in meetings  / work with other departments and hospital leadership
• Are involved in policy changes related to staffing and patient safety
• Need Bachlors Degree in Nursing (BSN) or higher
• Jobs located in hospitals, nursing homes, community health clinics, educational institutions
• Require many of the same personality traits and skills (organized, good at time management, good with people, excellent verbal and written communication skills, etc.)
• Involved in budgeting decisions

It’s kind of like a top-down approach, especially if you’re thinking of a large hospital system. The CNC is floating around the hospital. The NM does a little bit of floating but is mostly involved in their unit. The charge nurse is in the trenches of the unit for the whole day. Here’s an easy way to think of it: Imagine a person standing in the rain.

• The CNC is the massive umbrella they’re holding
• The NM is the person
• The charge nurse is the dress the person is wearing

Not sure what the difference is between a charge nurse vs a nurse manager? Read about that HERE.

Clinical nurse coordinator salary

Like we said before, salary is going to vary widely based on so many different factors, so all I can do is give you my best guess! Glassdoor.com estimates:

The estimated total pay for a Clinical Nurse Coordinator is $89,676 per year in the United States area, with an average salary of $85,332 per year.

The estimated total pay for a Nurse Manager is $115,264 per year in the United States area, with an average salary of $106,924 per year.

While nurse managers generally make more, that does not mean that clinical nurse coordinators don’t make a great salary! Don’t forget that there is always room to grow in any position.

I hope this information on what clinical nurse coordinators do motivates you to become one! I know you’ll do amazing things.