Nurse administrator vs family nurse practitioner

The differences between nurse administrators and family nurse practitioners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a nurse administrator and a family nurse practitioner. Additionally, a family nurse practitioner has an average salary of $100,541, which is higher than the $72,224 average annual salary of a nurse administrator.

The top three skills for a nurse administrator include patients, acute care and direct patient care. The most important skills for a family nurse practitioner are patients, diagnosis, and EMR.

Nurse administrator vs family nurse practitioner overview

	Nurse Administrator	Family Nurse Practitioner
Yearly salary	$72,224	$100,541
Hourly rate	$34.72	$48.34
Growth rate	6%	40%
Number of jobs	619,218	41,710
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Master's Degree, 43%
Average age	44	43
Years of experience	2	2

What does a nurse administrator do?

Nurse Administrators are responsible for the coordination of all operational and administrative tasks relating to the nursing team. They are responsible for the retention, hiring, and firing of nursing staff, creating budgets, authorizing spending, ensuring regulatory guidelines compliance, implementing staff mentorship sessions, and accomplishing patient satisfaction, safety, cost savings, and efficiency objectives. Other duties include preparing reports, attending meetings, supervising fundraising projects, and forming partnerships with the academic and medical community.

What does a family nurse practitioner do?

A family nurse practitioner is a registered nurse with advanced practice in family-focused care. Nurse practitioners can provide patient care to both children and adults. They have a higher degree in training than registered nurses; thus, they are qualified to diagnose and provide treatment to complex body conditions. Their duties include developing treatment plans, performing diagnostic tests, screening evaluations, and prescribing medications. Also, they educate and guide patients on disease prevention and healthy lifestyle habits. Their advanced education and training allowed them to practice as a clinic and hospital administrators as well as policy-makers. Family nurse practitioners have to get a bachelor's degree in nursing, then take and passed NCLEX-RN to become a registered nurse then proceed to take a Master's degree to get a job as a family nurse practitioner.

Nurse administrator vs family nurse practitioner salary

Nurse administrators and family nurse practitioners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Nurse Administrator	Family Nurse Practitioner
Average salary	$72,224	$100,541
Salary range	Between $48,000 And $107,000	Between $62,000 And $161,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Alaska
Best paying company	Community Health Systems	Fairview Health Services
Best paying industry	Government	Health Care

Differences between nurse administrator and family nurse practitioner education

There are a few differences between a nurse administrator and a family nurse practitioner in terms of educational background:

	Nurse Administrator	Family Nurse Practitioner
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Master's Degree, 43%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Duke University

Nurse administrator vs family nurse practitioner demographics

Here are the differences between nurse administrators' and family nurse practitioners' demographics:

	Nurse Administrator	Family Nurse Practitioner
Average age	44	43
Gender ratio	Male, 16.3% Female, 83.7%	Male, 12.6% Female, 87.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 6.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 77.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	12%

Differences between nurse administrator and family nurse practitioner duties and responsibilities

Nurse administrator example responsibilities.

Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
Instruct employees in first aid, safety, CPR, growth and development of children and nutrition.
Care planning and coordinating with the MDS team on restraints, psychoactive medications, infections, falls and restraints.
Make referrals for medical treatment: and follow-up with psychiatric rehabilitation programs, treating physicians, pharmacies and other treatment collaterals.
Make referrals for medical treatment and follow-up with psychiatric rehabilitation programs.
Administer intravenous medications for conscious sedation and monitor patients during in office procedures per protocol.

Family nurse practitioner example responsibilities.

Manage chronic conditions such as diabetes hypothyroidism and hypertension by following evidence base and clinical guidelines for these conditions.
Manage acute illness and chronic health conditions including diabetes, hypertension, obesity and depression through a patient-centered, evidenced-base approach.
Manage appropriate changes to individualize care plan to ensure cost and time efficacy in an outpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation office.
Refer patients to specialists to provide additional care to patients whose diseases and conditions are outside the scope of FNP practice.
Full prescriptive rights with DEA certification.
Educate patients on side effects, complications and further planning with chemotherapy.

Nurse administrator vs family nurse practitioner skills

Common nurse administrator skills

Patients, 33%
Acute Care, 9%
Direct Patient Care, 6%
Infection Control, 4%
Rehabilitation, 3%
Quality Patient Care, 3%

Common family nurse practitioner skills

Patients, 30%
Diagnosis, 7%
EMR, 5%
Diagnostic Tests, 4%
Physical Exams, 4%
FNP, 3%

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Nurse Administrator
Nurse Administrator vs Family Nurse Practitioner

Updated January 8, 2025

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