Meet a Resource Nurse

Resource nurses lessen nurse burnout because they offer staff nurses an extra pair of hands, advice on unfamiliar situations, and breaks from the overwhelm of direct care.

Meet Mandie Greene, RN, a resource nurse at East Alabama Health. She shares what she does in her role, what she loves about her career as a resource nurse, and how her role as a resource nurse shows that her employer listens to its nurses.

I chose a nursing career because I wanted to play a role in helping people at their most fragile moments.

A resource nurse serves as facilitator. The goal is to have the floor function as efficiently as possible to benefit the patients. This role changes daily based on the needs of the floor.

A “helping hand for staff nurses” can be a moment of reprieve for an overwhelmed primary nurse. It can be a small break to redirect, it can be a hand that helps get that “hard stick” IV, or experienced advice on how to handle an unfamiliar situation.

This position allows me to be a part of a solution to the age-old problem of “not enough hands” on the floor.

Also, I’ve been lucky enough in my lifetime to have had experienced nurses help me. This position allows me to pay that forward.

The challenge of this role is that you can’t prepare for the day. You really don’t know what role you will be playing from one day to the next. It’s all about prioritizing the needs of the floor each day.

The reward of this role is feeling like you are making a difference in someone’s day. Whether it be a nurse who is thankful for the assistance or a patient who appreciates that extra care.

My current role is an example of how East Alabama Health supports its employees. They listened to the feedback from their staff and implemented a position that has had a positive effect on the floor.

Be confident in your skills and your knowledge, but never be too afraid to ask questions or ask for help.

The title resource nurse can be used for a few different positions in nursing: nurse educators, charge nurses, and clinical nurse specialists. A resource nurse can also be an experienced nurse on the floor, who serves as an extra pair of hands for the other nurses.

These “extra pairs of hands” do not have typical days because they fill in where their team needs them. They collect labs, admit patients, start IVs, and advise nurses on how to deal with situations the nurses may not usually deal with or may have never dealt with before.

Resource nurses’ duties may vary based on which roles your employer expects their resource nurses to fill. Some of their responsibilities may include:

You can become a resource nurse after gaining nursing experience, such as in acute care nursing. You’ll need at least 2-3 years of experience. Employers look for resource nurses with up to five years of nursing experience to better advise and help their staff nurses. Some employers will require you to have experience with a specific unit.

To get this nursing experience, you’ll need at least an associate degree in nursing (ADN), an active unrestricted registered nurse (RN) license, basic life support certification (BLS), and advanced life support certification (ACLS). You will need to keep your RN license, BLS, and ACLS certifications active after you become a resource nurse because you will provide direct patient care.

Although not required, employers may prefer a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree or a master of science in nursing (MSN). They may also require additional certifications such as critical care for working in the intensive care unit.

The average salary for a resource nurse is $82,720 per year, according to ZipRecruiter data from March 2023. Resource nurses make an average of $40 per hour. Most resource nurses make between $65,500, the 25th percentile, and $93,000, the 75th percentile.

Resource nurses’ salaries vary as much as $50 per hour, according to ZipRecruiter data. This wide salary range suggests opportunities for increased pay based on education, years of experience, and location.

You can make more as a resource nurse if you have a BSN or an MSN. You may earn more if you have more years of experience in acute care nursing or if you have previous experience as a resource nurse. More than half of all the top-paying cities for resource nurses are in California, as per ZipRecruiter data in March 2023. Other states that pay resource nurses more than the national average include: