High School

If you want to become a nurse manager you will first need to become a registered nurse. To prepare for this career, you should take high school mathematics and science courses, including biology, chemistry, and physics. Health courses will also be helpful. English, speech, and foreign language courses should not be neglected because you must be able to communicate well with patients.

Postsecondary Training

All nurse managers begin their careers as registered nurses. The two most common ways to become a registered nurse are to get a bachelor's degree in nursing from an accredited four-year program or to get an associate's degree in nursing from an accredited two-year program. Bachelor's or advanced degrees may be required for some nurse manager positions. Nurse managers need to have considerable clinical nursing experience and previous management experience.

Some nurses combine their nursing degree with a business degree, or they take business studies or health care management courses to advance to higher management positions such as directors, health care executives, or administrators.

Certification or Licensing

All states and the District of Columbia require nurses to have a license to practice nursing. To obtain a license, graduates of approved nursing schools must pass a national examination. Nurses may be licensed by more than one state. In some states, continuing education is a condition for license renewal. Different titles require different education and training levels.

In advancing to the level of nurse manager, the American Organization of Nurse Executives sponsors the Certified in Executive Nursing Practice (CENP) and the Certified Nurse Manager and Leader (CNML)—premier credentials in nursing leadership.

Nurse managers should have proven track records of being good people managers and working with all levels of employees and management, as well as patients and their families. In addition to well-honed clinical skills, they should possess excellent organizational and leadership capabilities and be able to make intelligent decisions in a fast-paced environment. Their backgrounds should include selecting, mentoring, directing, and motivating staff members as well as implementing quality improvement and educational programs.

Nurse managers should have experience in setting and executing policies and in seeing that they are followed and documented. They should be adept at ensuring that goals and objectives of services performed meet health care requirements and that quality care is provided to patients.

Nurse managers should be exemplary health care provider role models for subordinates. They should be compassionate as well as assertive in demanding professionalism from staff members and in insisting that procedures are done correctly and quickly.

These managers should have experience in developing budgets and other financial responsibilities, such as approving and monitoring purchases that are in compliance with budgetary guidelines.

Since new medical technologies and patient treatments are constantly being developed and implemented, nurse managers should have demonstrated backgrounds in staying current with new information and practices in the medical field as well as in insurance and government regulations and reporting requirements.