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Public health director vs nursing director

The differences between public health directors and nursing directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a public health director and a nursing director. Additionally, a nursing director has an average salary of $87,643, which is higher than the $85,569 average annual salary of a public health director.

The top three skills for a public health director include community health, public health and public health programs. The most important skills for a nursing director are patients, term care, and home health.

Public health director vs nursing director overview

Public Health DirectorNursing Director
Yearly salary$85,569$87,643
Hourly rate$41.14$42.14
Growth rate28%28%
Number of jobs75,12476,956
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Associate Degree, 44%
Average age4747
Years of experience66

What does a public health director do?

Public affairs specialists, also called media or communication specialists, are responsible for communicating with the public on behalf of an individual, company, government, or politicians. This role will require you to perform various tasks including creating press kit materials, such as images, press releases, and pitch letters for media outlets, maintaining the reputation and identity of the client or employer, and evaluating clients' public opinion through polls, social media listening, and surveys. In addition, public affairs specialists are responsible for evaluating promotional and advertising programs.

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.

Public health director vs nursing director salary

Public health directors and nursing directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Public Health DirectorNursing Director
Average salary$85,569$87,643
Salary rangeBetween $55,000 And $131,000Between $64,000 And $118,000
Highest paying CityBoston, MASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNew HampshireCalifornia
Best paying companyJefferson County Health CenterOculus
Best paying industryNon ProfitsHealth Care

Differences between public health director and nursing director education

There are a few differences between a public health director and a nursing director in terms of educational background:

Public Health DirectorNursing Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Associate Degree, 44%
Most common majorNursingNursing
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborUniversity of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Public health director vs nursing director demographics

Here are the differences between public health directors' and nursing directors' demographics:

Public Health DirectorNursing Director
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 37.8% Female, 62.2%Male, 11.6% Female, 88.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 12.6% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 7.7% White, 60.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%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%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between public health director and nursing director duties and responsibilities

Public health director example responsibilities.

  • Manage multiple patients, assessing ability to continue living independently or moving to higher acuity care.
  • Provide continuing medical education with HIV and TB specialists on the prevention and control of HIV and TB.
  • Provide oversight for communicable disease surveillance, investigation and control, epidemiology, and emergency preparedness.
  • Position demand expertise in grant oversight, strategic project planning, program management, and stakeholder collaboration.
  • Provide clinical exercise physiology services and health/wellness counseling for family practice/sports medicine/orthopedics medical group effecting positive lifestyle changes in patients serve.
  • Conduct and implement group WIC orientation emphasizing WIC benefits.

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

Public health director vs nursing director skills

Common public health director skills
  • Community Health, 15%
  • Public Health, 10%
  • Public Health Programs, 8%
  • Public Health Issues, 6%
  • Health Education, 5%
  • Medicaid, 5%
Common nursing director skills
  • Patients, 16%
  • Term Care, 8%
  • Home Health, 7%
  • Resident Care, 6%
  • Rehabilitation, 5%
  • Infection Control, 5%

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