Charge Nurse Essentials | May 23, 2025
This course is designed to equip nurses with the essential leadership and management skills required to excel in the role of a charge nurse. It provides practical guidance on overseeing unit operations, making informed decisions, and fostering a collaborative work environment to ensure high-quality patient care.
Target Audience
This course is open to experienced nurses at UPMC St. Margaret who have been identified by unit leadership as ready to be trained as a charge nurse.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this activity/session/course, participants should be able to:
- Identify characteristics and behaviors of an effective charge nurse to foster a supportive and efficient team environment.
- Describe the components of an efficient charge report to ensure clear communication and smooth transitions between shifts.
- Summarize tasks that need to be completed during a shift to prioritize responsibilities and maintain unit operations.
- Demonstrate making appropriate staff assignments based on patient acuity, nurse competencies, and workload balance.
- Utilize leadership strategies to navigate team dynamics, conflict resolution, and crisis situations effectively.
- Apply knowledge of hospital workflows to facilitate patient flow, admissions, discharges, and resource management.
Lauren Bertolino, BSN, RN, CMSRN
Senior Clinician
UPMC St. Margaret
Cristle Lobaugh, MSN, RN, CMSRN
Unit Director
UPMC St. Margaret
In support of improving patient care, the University of Pittsburgh is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
This activity is approved for the following credit: ANCC. Other healthcare professionals will receive a certificate of attendance confirming the number of contact hours commensurate with the extent of participation in this activity.
The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 3 contact hours.
Available Credit
- 3.00 ANCCUPMC Provider Unit is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation
- 3.00 Attendance