This nurse job description is written for registered nurse (RN) roles and is free to copy, adapt to your unit and post. The registered nurse job description template covers licensure, shift details and patient care duties in plain terms, with brackets for everything specific to your facility. Below it you'll find what RNs do on a typical shift, 2025 U.S. pay data from O*NET and questions for the first interview.
Registered nurse job description template
What a registered nurse does
A registered nurse's shift starts with handoff: hearing from the outgoing nurse about each patient, then assessing them and building a plan for the next 12 hours. From there, the work is a cycle of assessments, medications, documentation, coordinating with providers, teaching patients and families, and responding to whatever changes. O*NET's task list for Registered Nurses matches this: recording vital signs, administering medications and monitoring for side effects, reporting changes in condition, coordinating care plans with the team and supervising less-skilled staff.
RNs work closely with physicians and advanced practice providers, CNAs and technicians, pharmacists, therapists and case managers. On many units, experienced RNs also take turns as charge nurse, managing assignments and flow for the whole unit.
The setting changes the job more than company size does. A hospital ICU nurse might care for one or two critically ill patients, while a med-surg nurse might care for four to six. Clinic and outpatient nurses see more patients for shorter visits, with more phone triage and patient teaching. A small rural facility may expect nurses to float across units, while a large academic hospital usually has specialized units, formal residency programs and clinical ladders.
Skills and qualifications
O*NET marks licensing or registration as required for Registered Nurses and lists bachelor's degrees, associate's degrees and post-secondary certificates as education paths. To be licensed, candidates take the NCLEX, which NCSBN describes as the licensure exam, and they must meet the requirements of the nursing regulatory body where they plan to practice. Always verify the license through your state board before hire, and decide whether you require a BSN or accept an ADN.
Salary
O*NET's occupation for this role is Registered Nurses (29-1141.00), which covers staff nurses, charge nurses and specialty RNs across settings, so it's a broad benchmark rather than a figure for one unit. According to 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data shown on O*NET, the U.S. median is $46.90 an hour, or $97,550 a year. The 10th percentile is $68,940 a year ($33.14 an hour) and the 90th percentile is $137,470 ($66.09 an hour).
Pay varies widely by state. O*NET's California median for RNs is $140,270 a year. Since most nurses compare offers by hourly rate, post an hourly range and your shift differentials. A growing number of states and cities require employers to include pay ranges in job postings.
Interview questions for registered nurse candidates
- "You get report on five patients. Walk me through how you decide who to see first." Strong answers sort by stability and urgency, account for time-sensitive medications and say the plan changes as the shift does.
- "A patient's condition is changing and the provider doesn't respond to your first page. What do you do?" Listen for following the chain of command and escalating persistently, with a clear, structured report.
- "How do you make sure a patient understands their discharge instructions?" Good candidates mention plain language, teach-back and involving family when appropriate.
- "Tell me about a time you disagreed with a colleague about patient care." Look for a STAR story focused on patient safety and respectful resolution.
Clinical answers should be judged by a licensed nurse who knows your unit and policies. Our nursing interview questions have 20+ questions with what strong answers show, red flags and a 1 to 4 rubric. Hiring support staff too? See our medical assistant interview questions.
Writing tips for this role
- Lead with unit, shift and ratio. Nurses scan for these three things first. A post that hides them gets fewer qualified applicants.
- Be precise about licensure. State which license you accept, including whether a multistate license through the Nurse Licensure Compact works for you. The compact's own site lists 43 member jurisdictions, so many nurses hold one.
- Decide on BSN vs ADN deliberately. Requiring a BSN shrinks the pool. If you'll accept an ADN with a plan to complete a BSN, say so.
- Welcome new graduates where you can. If you run a residency or long orientation, name it. "1+ years required" turns away new grads who would do well with support.
- Use titles nurses search for. Include "RN" and the specialty, like "ICU RN" or "Med-Surg Registered Nurse," not internal titles like "Clinical Care Associate II." Our job description guide has more on titles.
Screening registered nurse candidates with AI
Nurse managers rarely have time for every first-round call. NTRVSTA's AI interviewer can run that first conversation live, as a video avatar or audio only, and candidates finish it whenever their shift schedule allows, even at 3 a.m. after a night shift. It handles non-technical roles, adapts follow-up questions to each answer, uses the STAR method for behavioral questions, and can run in multiple languages. Questions are customized per role, so your unit can add its own prioritization and communication scenarios.
The nurse manager gets a score breakdown, video snippets of key moments and a shareable report, then makes the clinical judgment calls in person. License verification stays with your credentialing team. Read how AI interviews are scored before relying on any score, and see NTRVSTA's published NYC Local Law 144 bias audit on our compliance page.
Questions
What should a registered nurse job description include?
The unit or setting, shift pattern, typical patient ratio, license and certification requirements, core patient care duties, orientation length and an hourly pay range with differentials. Those are the details nurses use to decide whether to apply.
Can I write one nurse job description for several units?
You can share the core duties, but post separate listings per unit. An emergency department RN and a clinic RN have different patients, ratios and certifications, and nurses search by specialty.
Who should interview nurse candidates?
A recruiter or AI first round can screen for communication, reliability and fit. Clinical scenarios should be scored by a licensed nurse from the unit, such as the nurse manager or a charge nurse, against your facility's policies.
Want to see a live AI first-round interview built for non-technical roles like nursing? Book a 20-minute demo, or try a sample interview to experience it as a candidate. More role templates are in our job descriptions hub.
