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Clinician vs registered nurse

The differences between clinicians and registered nurses can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a clinician, becoming a registered nurse takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a registered nurse has an average salary of $73,349, which is higher than the $60,150 average annual salary of a clinician.

The top three skills for a clinician include social work, patients and patient care. The most important skills for a registered nurse are patients, BLS, and CPR.

Clinician vs registered nurse overview

ClinicianRegistered Nurse
Yearly salary$60,150$73,349
Hourly rate$28.92$35.26
Growth rate9%6%
Number of jobs105,023646,159
Job satisfaction-2.75
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 49%Associate Degree, 46%
Average age4544
Years of experience42

What does a clinician do?

A clinician specializes in providing diagnosis, treatment, and direct care to patients with different illnesses. A clinician's duties mainly revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis, providing medical care through various therapies, and improving one's overall health condition. Furthermore, a clinician must obtain and analyze a patient's complete medical history, provide diagnostic tests, always monitor the effects of treatment on a patient, provide prognosis and consider the overall impact on a patient's health and well-being.

What does a registered nurse do?

The primary responsibilities of a registered nurse involve caring for a variety of patients, from ill and injured to those who are healthy and wanting to stay that way. Nurses have different specialization and work with particular patients, such as newborn babies or those who are suffering from particular medical conditions. They work on different settings which includes hospital, outpatient facility, rehabilitation center, nursing home, dialysis center, home healthcare agency, and other offices. They can administer medications, wound care, and other aids or treatment plan. They also conduct medical tests, interpret the results, and monitor patients' recovery and progress.

Clinician vs registered nurse salary

Clinicians and registered nurses have different pay scales, as shown below.

ClinicianRegistered Nurse
Average salary$60,150$73,349
Salary rangeBetween $34,000 And $103,000Between $45,000 And $117,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNevadaCalifornia
Best paying companyPace UniversityNORCAL Ambulance
Best paying industry-Health Care

Differences between clinician and registered nurse education

There are a few differences between a clinician and a registered nurse in terms of educational background:

ClinicianRegistered Nurse
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 49%Associate Degree, 46%
Most common majorPsychologyNursing
Most common collegeCalifornia State University - Long BeachDuke University

Clinician vs registered nurse demographics

Here are the differences between clinicians' and registered nurses' demographics:

ClinicianRegistered Nurse
Average age4544
Gender ratioMale, 24.3% Female, 75.7%Male, 12.3% Female, 87.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 3.1% White, 74.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 9.0% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage15%9%

Differences between clinician and registered nurse duties and responsibilities

Clinician example responsibilities.

  • Perform thorough substance abuse assessments incorporating instruments such as ASAM, SASSI and urine drug screens; provide individual therapy.
  • Spearhead the development of rehabilitation programs serving adults with chemical dependency and mental health diagnoses with the manager.
  • Follow all ethical CARF standards when treating the residential client.
  • Facilitate stabilization, assessment, care and compassion for those in critical need.
  • Provide CBT and motivational interviewing for individual and group therapy to clients' who are on methadone.
  • Used motivational interviewing to lead recovery and therapy groups for IOP and PHP programs in the evenings and on weekends.
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Registered nurse example responsibilities.

  • Manage patient care for individuals with multiple diagnoses including COPD, diabetes, stroke and cardiac issues.
  • Organize and manage regular clinics involving external physicians, including ophthalmology, ENT, Med/Surg, orthopedics, and podiatry professionals.
  • Manage surgical recovery patients including vascular, ENT, GI urological and neurological cases, coronary bypass surgery patients.
  • Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
  • Provide care for cardiac patients in arrhythmia critical care unit, providing patient education and monitoring telemetry
  • Re-Cover surgical patients immediately after heart and vascular surgery until transfer out of ICU.
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Clinician vs registered nurse skills

Common clinician skills
  • Social Work, 26%
  • Patients, 14%
  • Patient Care, 4%
  • Individual Therapy, 4%
  • Mental Health, 4%
  • Mental Illness, 3%
Common registered nurse skills
  • Patients, 24%
  • BLS, 10%
  • CPR, 6%
  • Acute Care, 5%
  • Acls, 5%
  • Home Health, 4%

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