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The differences between operating room assistants and registered nursing assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both an operating room assistant and a registered nursing assistant. Additionally, a registered nursing assistant has an average salary of $50,644, which is higher than the $34,177 average annual salary of an operating room assistant.
The top three skills for an operating room assistant include patients, surgery and anesthesia. The most important skills for a registered nursing assistant are patients, BLS, and surgery.
| Operating Room Assistant | Registered Nursing Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $34,177 | $50,644 |
| Hourly rate | $16.43 | $24.35 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 218,839 | 231,224 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Associate Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
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.
The main role of a certified nurse assistant is to provide basic care to patients and help them with daily activities they might have trouble doing on their own, such as bathing and getting dressed. Their responsibilities include taking vital signs, providing food to patients and helping them eat, and lifting and moving patients who cannot move by themselves. Cleaning patients and maintaining a clean and sanitized environment is also important in this role.
Operating room assistants and registered nursing assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Operating Room Assistant | Registered Nursing Assistant | |
| Average salary | $34,177 | $50,644 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $43,000 | Between $31,000 And $80,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Monica, CA | Kaneohe, HI |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | Huntington Hospital |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between an operating room assistant and a registered nursing assistant in terms of educational background:
| Operating Room Assistant | Registered Nursing Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Associate Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Business | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between operating room assistants' and registered nursing assistants' demographics:
| Operating Room Assistant | Registered Nursing Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.8% Female, 53.2% | Male, 14.0% Female, 86.0% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 7.5% White, 64.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |