Nursing director vs director of staff development

The differences between nursing directors and directors of staff development can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a nursing director, becoming a director of staff development takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a nursing director has an average salary of $87,643, which is higher than the $74,316 average annual salary of a director of staff development.

The top three skills for a nursing director include patients, term care and home health. The most important skills for a director of staff development are patients, CPR, and educational programs.

Nursing director vs director of staff development overview

	Nursing Director	Director Of Staff Development
Yearly salary	$87,643	$74,316
Hourly rate	$42.14	$35.73
Growth rate	28%	7%
Number of jobs	76,956	126,875
Job satisfaction	5	5
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age	47	45
Years of experience	6	4

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 a director of staff development do?

Directors of Staff Development schedule and publicize staff development activities as per the established guidelines to promote professional development. They perform personnel functions to achieve budget objectives, enhance personnel productivity, and maintain adequate staffing. Furthermore, these professionals research crucial information to develop new programs matching staff training needs. Also, Directors of Staff Development monitor professional development services to achieve performance results as per the department and budget objectives. They develop plans and programs for the effective utilization of company resources.

Nursing director vs director of staff development salary

Nursing directors and directors of staff development have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Nursing Director	Director Of Staff Development
Average salary	$87,643	$74,316
Salary range	Between $64,000 And $118,000	Between $50,000 And $109,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Oregon
Best paying company	Oculus	Datadog
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between nursing director and director of staff development education

There are a few differences between a nursing director and a director of staff development in terms of educational background:

	Nursing Director	Director Of Staff Development
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	University of Pennsylvania

Nursing director vs director of staff development demographics

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

	Nursing Director	Director Of Staff Development
Average age	47	45
Gender ratio	Male, 11.6% Female, 88.4%	Male, 33.0% Female, 67.0%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 4.2% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	12%	18%

Differences between nursing director and director of staff development 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.

Director of staff development example responsibilities.

Direct all aspects of online training and eLearning creation including conceptualizing and developing content and managing relationships with vendors.
Safeguard corporate and employee interests while proactively averting potential litigation, redirecting and centralizing all payroll reporting including complaints.
Maintain employee files up to date with state requirements such as CPR, RN, LVN and CNA current licenses.
Direct facility management, internal and external communications, employee relations, law counsel, payroll, and document retention.
Organize community education programs, diabetic education and CPR.
Design PowerPoint presentations to communicate new innovative concepts for bi-annual franchise owner conferences.

Nursing director vs director of staff development skills

Common nursing director skills

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

Common director of staff development skills

Patients, 7%
CPR, 7%
Educational Programs, 6%
Home Health, 6%
Resident Care, 6%
In-Service Training, 5%

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Nursing Director
Nursing Director vs Director Of Staff Development

Updated January 8, 2025

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