Patient relations director vs assistant director of nursing

The differences between patient relations 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 patient relations director and an assistant director of nursing. Additionally, a patient relations director has an average salary of $94,921, which is higher than the $82,674 average annual salary of an assistant director of nursing.

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

Patient relations director vs assistant director of nursing overview

	Patient Relations Director	Assistant Director Of Nursing
Yearly salary	$94,921	$82,674
Hourly rate	$45.64	$39.75
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	91,308	118,347
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Associate Degree, 47%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	6	6

What does a patient relations director do?

A patient relations director is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing the efforts in maintaining an active communication line between patients and health care providers. Their responsibilities revolve around devising strategies to improve client interactions, liaising with patients and their families, answering inquiries, and providing information assistance as needed. They must also address the concerns and issues raised by patients or families, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Furthermore, as a patient relations director, it is essential to lead and encourage staff to reach goals, all while implementing 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.

Patient relations director vs assistant director of nursing salary

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

	Patient Relations Director	Assistant Director Of Nursing
Average salary	$94,921	$82,674
Salary range	Between $61,000 And $145,000	Between $61,000 And $111,000
Highest paying City	North Las Vegas, NV	Fairfield, CA
Highest paying state	Nevada	California
Best paying company	AstraZeneca	Waters
Best paying industry	Health Care	Manufacturing

Differences between patient relations director and assistant director of nursing education

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

	Patient Relations Director	Assistant Director Of Nursing
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Associate Degree, 47%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Patient relations director vs assistant director of nursing demographics

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

	Patient Relations Director	Assistant Director Of Nursing
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 25.0% Female, 75.0%	Male, 11.5% Female, 88.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 7.1% White, 61.2% 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 Percentage	12%	12%

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

Patient relations director example responsibilities.

Manage oversight to joint commission and other regulatory requirements.
Lead interdisciplinary teams working on quality improvement initiatives and prepare for a JCAHO survey.
Coach staff on hospital systems such as CMS, IEX, CTI and TCS.
Maintain monthly reports, payroll, and budget.
Create bi-weekly schedule for staff, approve PTO's & vacation requests.
Cover shifts for outlying facilities when either PTO is taken or employees call out.

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.

Patient relations director vs assistant director of nursing skills

Common patient relations director skills

Patients, 21%
Patient Care, 9%
Patient Safety, 7%
Revenue Cycle, 5%
Customer Service, 5%
Acute Care, 4%

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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Patient Relations Director
Patient Relations Director vs Assistant Director Of Nursing

Updated January 8, 2025

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