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Nursing director vs assistant director of nursing

The differences between nursing directors and assistant directors of nursing can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a nursing director and an assistant director of nursing. Additionally, a nursing director has an average salary of $87,643, which is higher than the $82,674 average annual salary of an assistant director of nursing.

The top three skills for a nursing director include patients, term care and home health. The most important skills for an assistant director of nursing are patients, term care, and CPR.

Nursing director vs assistant director of nursing overview

Nursing DirectorAssistant Director Of Nursing
Yearly salary$87,643$82,674
Hourly rate$42.14$39.75
Growth rate28%28%
Number of jobs76,956118,347
Job satisfaction54
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 44%Associate Degree, 47%
Average age4747
Years of experience66

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.

What does an assistant director of nursing do?

An assistant director of nursing is responsible for administering quality care services for patients, supervising nursing activities, and ensuring the patients' comfort under the supervision of the director of nursing. Assistant directors of nursing assist with nursing staff training, distributing shift schedules, developing comprehensive nursing care plans, handling expense reports, identifying areas of improvement with the staff performance, and securing patients' medical charts for reference. An assistant director of nursing must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in handling patients' medical needs.

Nursing director vs assistant director of nursing salary

Nursing directors and assistant directors of nursing have different pay scales, as shown below.

Nursing DirectorAssistant Director Of Nursing
Average salary$87,643$82,674
Salary rangeBetween $64,000 And $118,000Between $61,000 And $111,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CAFairfield, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyOculusWaters
Best paying industryHealth CareManufacturing

Differences between nursing director and assistant director of nursing education

There are a few differences between a nursing director and an assistant director of nursing in terms of educational background:

Nursing DirectorAssistant Director Of Nursing
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 44%Associate Degree, 47%
Most common majorNursingNursing
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborUniversity of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Nursing director vs assistant director of nursing demographics

Here are the differences between nursing directors' and assistant directors of nursing' demographics:

Nursing DirectorAssistant Director Of Nursing
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 11.6% Female, 88.4%Male, 11.5% Female, 88.5%
Race ratioBlack 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%Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 7.6% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between nursing director and assistant director of nursing duties and responsibilities

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.
  • Show more

Assistant director of nursing example responsibilities.

  • Manage care for all residents, ICF and SNF.
  • Evaluate operational performance consistently achieving excellent JCAHO accreditation.
  • Assist with managing daily facility operations, including patient care, staff supervision and logistical oversight.
  • Work to ensure regulatory compliance by conduction mock surveys, interviewing patients and randomly assessing medical records.
  • Complete newly-required HCFA MDS, and coordinated/chair all interdisciplinary care plan meetings to maintain HCFA regulatory compliance.
  • Administer BLS training for license staff.
  • Show more

Nursing director vs assistant director of nursing skills

Common nursing director skills
  • Patients, 16%
  • Term Care, 8%
  • Home Health, 7%
  • Resident Care, 6%
  • Rehabilitation, 5%
  • Infection Control, 5%
Common assistant director of nursing skills
  • Patients, 17%
  • Term Care, 11%
  • CPR, 8%
  • Rehabilitation, 7%
  • Quality Care, 5%
  • Resident Care, 5%

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