The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the highest-level management position in a hospital or hospital system. Hospital CEO's must possess the qualifications and skills to manage and direct the complexities of a modern patient care facility.
A Chief Medical Officer, or Chief Medical Director, oversees the daily operations of hospitals and medical centers.
What is the highest doctor position in a hospital? The highest position a doctor can attain is medical director. Medical directors supervise staff, enforce policy, and manage the services provided by the facility. They have the most authority and responsibility within a hospital.
The hierarchy at hospitals can vary at each location but generally consist of the general manager and medical directors at the top and medical assistants at the bottom.
Essentially, the hospital CEO is the organization's top administrator. These executives are responsible for delivering strong financial performance by building an ethical and profitable business, as well as guiding it to success.
Executive Directors
This is the operational head who manages the services and business of the hospital and implements the decisions of the board. Many will have started as a junior hospital manager; some are doctors or nurses.
Chief Nursing Officer (CNO): The CNO, sometimes referred to as the chief nursing executive (CNE), is at the top of the pyramid. This position usually works under the CEO of the hospital or agency and has administrative and supervisory roles.
Chief Nursing Officer (CNO)
Chief nursing officers are nursing administrators who work within the leadership team of a healthcare organization. They are considered the highest level of nursing leadership.
What is the highest level of nurse? The highest level of clinical nursing is an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), which is a nurse-midwife, nurse practitioner, certified registered nurse anesthetist, or clinical nurse specialist.
The chain of command in its simplest definition is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed within the nursing department, the hospital, and between different units. Nurses who ignore the chain of command may lose their jobs, and in some cases their licenses.
A healthcare administration Chief Nursing Officer oversees nursing activities in a group of departments or entire service line. The Chief Nursing Officer is the top-ranking nursing management professional in any healthcare organization. It typically takes seven to 10 years of experience to get to this executive level.
Reporting Structure
All other executive team members will report to the CEO. The specific makeup of an executive team can vary from one hospital to the next, but will often include a CFO, COO, CMO, and CNO. In a hospital system, the individual hospital CEO may report to a regional or system president or CEO.
A CEO comes after the Board of Directors in the organizational structure. A Managing Director comes under the authority of the CEO. A Chief Executive Officer is not responsible for the organization's day-to-day affairs. A Managing Director is responsible for the daily business of the organization.
The typical career path for a hospital CEO
Hospital CEOs often begin their careers in healthcare administration or healthcare management, ultimately spending some time as a chief operating officer of a hospital. Most hospital CEOs don't have a medical background.
In basic terms, a nurse practitioner is a registered nurse (RN) with advanced education and clinical training. A physician assistant is a medical professional with advanced education who is trained in the same way physicians are.
Doctors have a higher salary than the nurses, mainly because of their education, title, and license. While this may be indulging disparity, that is how the world have went on in the past, and will always be in the future.
The five identified levels are novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert (Benner, 1984). As a learner moves through these five skill levels, changes occur in three specific areas of performance (Benner, 1984).
The chief executive officer is the top boss responsible for everything that goes on in a hospital. However, hospitals usually have chief nursing officers, chief medical officers, chief information officers, chief financial officers and sometimes chief operating officers, who also carry a lot of weight.
What Are the Levels of Nursing? There are five levels of nursing: Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Registered Nurse (RN), Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).
There are two levels of regulated nurses in Australia – Registered Nurses (RNs) and Enrolled Nurses (ENs). Enrolled Nurses have completed a Certificate IV or a Diploma in Nursing from a registered Vocational Education and Training Provider (VET).
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) earn a nationwide average of $202,470 per year according to the BLS; this makes CRNAs the highest-paying type nursing job by a significant margin.