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The differences between nursing attendants and operating room assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both a nursing attendant and an operating room assistant. Additionally, an operating room assistant has an average salary of $34,177, which is higher than the $30,630 average annual salary of a nursing attendant.
The top three skills for a nursing attendant include patients, vital signs and blood pressure. The most important skills for an operating room assistant are patients, surgery, and anesthesia.
| Nursing Attendant | Operating Room Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $30,630 | $34,177 |
| Hourly rate | $14.73 | $16.43 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 192,622 | 218,839 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 32% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
Also called a nursing aide, a nursing attendant provides fundamental patient care in residents and hospitals of long-term care facilities. Nursing attendants are supervised by registered nurses and follow physician or registered nurses' care instructions. The attendants monitor important signs and dispense medication, which depends on the experience level and the environment. They should have a good foundation of clinical knowledge and skills. Among the other skills for this job include attention to detail, good teamwork, work schedules and duties flexibility, and great verbal and written communication.
An operating room assistant works alongside the surgeons in maintaining the orderly and sterile nature of operating rooms. The assistant ensures that all surgical equipment is clean and hygienic, all monitoring equipment is functional, and everything needed by the doctor is present inside the operating room. The assistant position is vital during an operation. The surgeon may become too focused on the operation at hand that helpful assistants must ensure an operation's smooth flow.
Nursing attendants and operating room assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Nursing Attendant | Operating Room Assistant | |
| Average salary | $30,630 | $34,177 |
| Salary range | Between $19,000 And $47,000 | Between $26,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Santa Monica, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | - | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a nursing attendant and an operating room assistant in terms of educational background:
| Nursing Attendant | Operating Room Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 32% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between nursing attendants' and operating room assistants' demographics:
| Nursing Attendant | Operating Room Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.8% Female, 75.2% | Male, 46.8% Female, 53.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 6.9% White, 56.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 7.1% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |