Nurse administrator vs staff nurse

The differences between nurse administrators and staff nurses 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 staff nurse. Additionally, a nurse administrator has an average salary of $72,224, which is higher than the $68,342 average annual salary of a staff nurse.

The top three skills for a nurse administrator include patients, acute care and direct patient care. The most important skills for a staff nurse are patients, BLS, and CPR.

Nurse administrator vs staff nurse overview

	Nurse Administrator	Staff Nurse
Yearly salary	$72,224	$68,342
Hourly rate	$34.72	$32.86
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	619,218	699,636
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	44	44
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 staff nurse do?

Staff nurses are registered nurses who are usually assigned to work in a care home, a company, or in a clinical setting. They advise the physical assessments of patients, employees, and residents. They also handle the checking of vital signs, providing basic medical procedures, giving first aid, and, if possible, providing over the counter medication. Staff nurses provide medical attention to the people in their place of assignment. They help pave the path to their patients' full recovery. Staff nurses are expected to be patient and have good interpersonal skills.

Nurse administrator vs staff nurse salary

Nurse administrators and staff nurses have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Nurse Administrator	Staff Nurse
Average salary	$72,224	$68,342
Salary range	Between $48,000 And $107,000	Between $42,000 And $109,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Burlingame, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Community Health Systems	Washington Hospital Healthcare System
Best paying industry	Government	Health Care

Differences between nurse administrator and staff nurse education

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

	Nurse Administrator	Staff Nurse
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Duke University

Nurse administrator vs staff nurse demographics

Here are the differences between nurse administrators' and staff nurses' demographics:

	Nurse Administrator	Staff Nurse
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 16.3% Female, 83.7%	Male, 12.3% Female, 87.7%
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, 11.8% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between nurse administrator and staff nurse 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.

Staff nurse example responsibilities.

Manage and further help stabilize elective and urgent care surgical patients in their post-operative/post PACU admission to the floor.
Accomplish extensive critical care course with EKG interpretation and yearly critical care medication exam.
Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
Participate in discharge planning including teaching family members and patients wind care and medication administration process after discharge.
Provide direct nursing care to patients in a variety of settings with an emphasis in critical care and PACU settings.
Prepare patients for surgery and endoscopy procedures including initiating intravenous lines, physical assessments and administering medications.

Nurse administrator vs staff nurse skills

Common nurse administrator skills

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

Common staff nurse skills

Patients, 28%
BLS, 9%
CPR, 6%
Acls, 5%
Acute Care, 4%
Direct Patient Care, 3%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Nurse Administrator
Nurse Administrator vs Staff Nurse

Updated January 8, 2025

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