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Nursing director vs nursing home administrator

The differences between nursing directors and nursing home administrators 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 a nursing home administrator. Additionally, a nursing director has an average salary of $87,643, which is higher than the $80,880 average annual salary of a nursing home administrator.

The top three skills for a nursing director include patients, term care and home health. The most important skills for a nursing home administrator are nursing home, long-term care, and healthcare.

Nursing director vs nursing home administrator overview

Nursing DirectorNursing Home Administrator
Yearly salary$87,643$80,880
Hourly rate$42.14$38.88
Growth rate28%28%
Number of jobs76,956137,786
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 44%Bachelor's Degree, 60%
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 a nursing home administrator do?

A nursing home administrator is responsible for managing and running a nursing home facility and supervising staff. Your typical duties will include managing the budget and making critical decisions, overseeing the recruitment, training, and dismissal of staff members, conducting employee performance reviews, and communicating with prospective and existing residents and their families. Additionally, you are expected to advocate for nursing home residents, develop rules, procedures, and policies for the facility, and oversee residents' billings for services. As a nursing home administrator, you are also responsible for conducting safety training for all staff.

Nursing director vs nursing home administrator salary

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

Nursing DirectorNursing Home Administrator
Average salary$87,643$80,880
Salary rangeBetween $64,000 And $118,000Between $56,000 And $116,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CAWilmington, DE
Highest paying stateCaliforniaOregon
Best paying companyOculusSenior Living Properties
Best paying industryHealth CareHealth Care

Differences between nursing director and nursing home administrator education

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

Nursing DirectorNursing Home Administrator
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 44%Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common majorNursingBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborUniversity of Pennsylvania

Nursing director vs nursing home administrator demographics

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

Nursing DirectorNursing Home Administrator
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 11.6% Female, 88.4%Male, 39.1% Female, 60.9%
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, 10.9% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 7.6% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between nursing director and nursing home administrator 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

Nursing home administrator example responsibilities.

  • Manage the day to day operations of a LTC facility.
  • Achieve and maintain a 5 star quality facility as per CMS guidelines.
  • Lead a team in developing and implementing a new EMR system for patient registration.
  • Lead quality improvement initiatives and practices in change concepts and measurement strategies for improve health outcomes for long term care patients
  • Manage global security in WebSphere using LDAP authentication.
  • Manage billing procedures and negotiate third-party contracts including a federal Medicare and state Medicaid contracts.
  • Show more

Nursing director vs nursing home administrator skills

Common nursing director skills
  • Patients, 16%
  • Term Care, 8%
  • Home Health, 7%
  • Resident Care, 6%
  • Rehabilitation, 5%
  • Infection Control, 5%
Common nursing home administrator skills
  • Nursing Home, 14%
  • Long-Term Care, 8%
  • Healthcare, 8%
  • Patients, 7%
  • NHA, 7%
  • Rehabilitation, 5%

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