What is a Clinical Nursing Coordinator? (Plus Salary)

By Indeed Editorial Team

Published April 14, 2022

A clinical nursing coordinator supervises the clinical operations of a health care department, along with the work of a group of nurses. If you're interested in pursuing this profession, it's important to review everything it entails. Learning about the job can help you determine whether this career aligns with your skills and long-term goals. In this article, we define the role of a clinical nursing coordinator, list the job's duties, skills, qualifications, salary and job outlook and provide the answers to common questions about the profession.

What is a clinical nursing coordinator?

A clinical nursing coordinator is a person who oversees the work of a team of nurses in their department or unit. Sometimes known as a charge nurse, clinical nurse coordinators provide both clinical and administrative leadership to their nursing team. Clinical nursing coordinators may also provide some level of patient care.

What does a clinical nursing coordinator do?

Apart from supervising a team of nurses and their performance, a clinical nursing coordinator has many administrative duties. These duties help their department function with greater ease. Here are the common duties for a clinical nursing coordinator:

Oversee the daily operations of a health care program or department
Coordinate patient care teams
Serve as a liaison between patients and their families or medical professionals
Evaluate patient care in your unit or department
Draft new policies for your department
Renew medical records for your facility
Maintain cordial relationships with patients, colleagues and the public
Communicate with different medical facility departments
Ensure adequate patient care throughout their department or facility
Develop patient and staff education plans

Required qualifications for clinical nursing coordinators

To pursue a career as a clinical nursing coordinator, you're required to become a registered nurse. This career often requires a bachelor's degree in nursing and a license from the state where you want to practice. As a clinical nursing coordinator, you're required to have many years of nursing experience before you can start in a coordinating position. To open yourself up to even more employment opportunities, consider pursuing a master's degree in public health or nursing.

Common skills for clinical nursing coordinators

Apart from a relevant background and education, it's important for clinical nursing coordinators to have a wide range of skills. Having both hard and soft skills can help you complete your duties with greater success. Here are some common skills for clinical nursing coordinators:

Physical stamina: Since clinical nursing coordinators spend a lot of their time going from patient to patient to evaluate their care, it's important to have a strong sense of physical strength and stamina.
Medical knowledge: As a clinical nursing coordinator, it's crucial to have some understanding of the medical field. This includes understanding subjects like anatomy, physiology and biology.
Administrative skills: Since clinical nursing coordinators have many administrative and clerical tasks, it's essential to know how to do certain things like bookkeeping or have knowledge of medical ethics.
Interpersonal skills: Clinical nursing coordinators work with a variety of professionals, making it important to know how to communicate with many personalities. This skill also helps you get along with different individuals and parties.
Organizational skills: A clinical nursing coordinator uses this skill to manage their wide variety of tasks. It especially helps to have strong organizational skills when conducting bookkeeping.

Average salary for clinical nursing coordinators

Nurse coordinators earn a national average salary of $86,605 per year. Apart from this lucrative salary, you may also earn additional pay via overtime and a variety of other employee benefits. Some of these benefits may include family leave, paid time off, health insurance and tuition reimbursement. The specific employee benefits you receive in this profession depend on your employer.

Job outlook for clinical nursing coordinators

While the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) doesn't report employment data for clinical nursing coordinators, it has data for other similar professions in the health care field. For example, registered nurses can expect an employment growth of 9% from 2020 to 2030. This rate comes about as fast as the average for other occupations in the workforce. Per the BLS, these health care professionals may also see about 194,500 job openings for registered nurses each year from 2020 to 2030.

In contrast, medical and health services managers can expect an employment growth of 32% from 2020 to 2030. This rate comes much faster than the average for all other jobs in the workforce. The BLS also predicts about 51,800 job openings for these professionals each year over this decade. While some of these job openings may come from people transferring to other occupations, others may come from people leaving the workforce altogether.

Frequently asked questions about clinical nursing coordinators

Here are some frequently asked questions about clinical nursing coordinators:

What roles are similar to that of a clinical nursing coordinator?

Here are some roles related to that of a clinical nursing coordinator:

Clinical care coordinator
Clinical educator
Clinical research nurse
Clinical liaison
Health care coordinator

What is the work environment like for clinical nursing coordinators?

Clinical nursing coordinators work in a variety of medical facilities, such as hospitals, research centers or physician offices. For example, they may work for in an office for a dermatologist or orthodontist. No matter their work location, you can typically find them in an office environment where they perform their administrative duties.

What is the work schedule like for a clinical nursing coordinator?

Clinical nursing coordinators usually work full time at a medical facility. Since they supervise different nursing teams, they may have shifts during different parts of the day. For example, a clinical nursing coordinator may work during the morning, afternoon or at night.