Office nurse vs staff nurse

The differences between office nurses 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 an office nurse and a staff nurse. Additionally, a staff nurse has an average salary of $68,342, which is higher than the $58,587 average annual salary of an office nurse.

The top three skills for an office nurse include patients, vital signs and patient education. The most important skills for a staff nurse are patients, BLS, and CPR.

Office nurse vs staff nurse overview

	Office Nurse	Staff Nurse
Yearly salary	$58,587	$68,342
Hourly rate	$28.17	$32.86
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	278,856	699,636
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

What does an office nurse do?

Office Nurses are responsible for preparing patients for examinations, administering injections, treating wounds and incisions. Other duties include cleaning and sterilizing various instruments and equipment.

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.

Office nurse vs staff nurse salary

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

	Office Nurse	Staff Nurse
Average salary	$58,587	$68,342
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $87,000	Between $42,000 And $109,000
Highest paying City	Uniondale, NY	Burlingame, CA
Highest paying state	New York	California
Best paying company	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	Washington Hospital Healthcare System
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between office nurse and staff nurse education

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

	Office Nurse	Staff Nurse
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	Emory University	Duke University

Office nurse vs staff nurse demographics

Here are the differences between office nurses' and staff nurses' demographics:

	Office Nurse	Staff Nurse
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 5.0% Female, 95.0%	Male, 12.3% Female, 87.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.9% 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 office nurse and staff nurse duties and responsibilities

Office nurse example responsibilities.

Case manage FMLA cases on a daily basis regarding FMLA abuse and employees with attendance issues.
Recognize and manage maternal complications: hemorrhage, preeclampsia, endometritis.
Monitor patients status that are on telemetry.
Facilitate ADL's and assist patients with functional mobility to increase comfort and quality of life.
Assist with patients, obtain EKG's, screen phone calls, and relay information to the physician.
Collect patient vital signs; monitor fetal heartbeats/rate/monitore fetal monitors for premature labor patients.

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.

Office nurse vs staff nurse skills

Common office nurse skills

Patients, 30%
Vital Signs, 7%
Patient Education, 5%
EKG, 4%
Exam Rooms, 4%
In-Office Procedures, 4%

Common staff nurse skills

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

Office Nurse vs. similar jobs

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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