Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between mental health program managers and nursing directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a mental health program manager and a nursing director. Additionally, a nursing director has an average salary of $87,643, which is higher than the $74,778 average annual salary of a mental health program manager.
The top three skills for a mental health program manager include social work, behavioral health and mental health. The most important skills for a nursing director are patients, term care, and home health.
| Mental Health Program Manager | Nursing Director | |
| Yearly salary | $74,778 | $87,643 |
| Hourly rate | $35.95 | $42.14 |
| Growth rate | 28% | 28% |
| Number of jobs | 136,598 | 76,956 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Associate Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A mental health program manager is in charge of creating and overseeing mental health programs in their organization. They are tasked with following up with patients, designing programs, monitoring program progress, working with other health professionals to ensure patient concerns are addressed, and meeting with patients' families to offer emotional and logistical support. They need to develop strict guidelines to help with mental health, develop policies with other company leaders to ensure patient needs are met, and manage the databases and patient charts.
A nursing director's role is to oversee and evaluate all nurse staff in a hospital or organization, ensuring their efficiency at providing care towards patients. A nursing director's responsibilities mainly revolve around administrative tasks such as coordinating with physicians and other consultants, producing reports, conducting assessments, managing the budget and expenditures, and resolving issues. Furthermore, a nursing director must keep and maintain accurate records, ensuring all procedures adhere to the highest health standards and aligns with the hospital's policies and regulations.
Mental health program managers and nursing directors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Mental Health Program Manager | Nursing Director | |
| Average salary | $74,778 | $87,643 |
| Salary range | Between $50,000 And $111,000 | Between $64,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Rosa, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Fraser Ltd | Oculus |
| Best paying industry | Non Profits | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a mental health program manager and a nursing director in terms of educational background:
| Mental Health Program Manager | Nursing Director | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Associate Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Nursing |
| Most common college | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor |
Here are the differences between mental health program managers' and nursing directors' demographics:
| Mental Health Program Manager | Nursing Director | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 28.6% Female, 71.4% | Male, 11.6% Female, 88.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 7.6% White, 60.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 7.5% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 12% |