Nurse administrator vs nursing director

The differences between nurse administrators and nursing directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a nurse administrator, becoming a nursing director takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a nursing director has an average salary of $87,643, 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 nursing director are patients, term care, and home health.

Nurse administrator vs nursing director overview

	Nurse Administrator	Nursing Director
Yearly salary	$72,224	$87,643
Hourly rate	$34.72	$42.14
Growth rate	6%	28%
Number of jobs	619,218	76,956
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Associate Degree, 44%
Average age	44	47
Years of experience	2	6

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 nursing director do?

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.

Nurse administrator vs nursing director salary

Nurse administrators and nursing directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Nurse Administrator	Nursing Director
Average salary	$72,224	$87,643
Salary range	Between $48,000 And $107,000	Between $64,000 And $118,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Community Health Systems	Oculus
Best paying industry	Government	Health Care

Differences between nurse administrator and nursing director education

There are a few differences between a nurse administrator and a nursing director in terms of educational background:

	Nurse Administrator	Nursing Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Associate Degree, 44%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Nurse administrator vs nursing director demographics

Here are the differences between nurse administrators' and nursing directors' demographics:

	Nurse Administrator	Nursing Director
Average age	44	47
Gender ratio	Male, 16.3% Female, 83.7%	Male, 11.6% Female, 88.4%
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, 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	9%	12%

Differences between nurse administrator and nursing director 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.

Nursing director example responsibilities.

Manage FTE'S of the units.
Manage FTE numbers by following staffing grids.
Lead in the implementation of whole house telemetry.
Manage and provide inpatient nursing care for all aspects of general surgery.
Manage and coordinate all aspects of nursing and ancillary services for successful operation of the SNF.
Complete comprehensive assessments for all LTC residents which include managing falls, pain, skin integrity, and medications.

Nurse administrator vs nursing director skills

Common nurse administrator skills

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

Common nursing director skills

Patients, 16%
Term Care, 8%
Home Health, 7%
Resident Care, 6%
Rehabilitation, 5%
Infection Control, 5%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Nurse Administrator
Nurse Administrator vs Nursing Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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