Recovery room nurse vs operating room nurse

The differences between recovery room nurses and operating room nurses can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a recovery room nurse and an operating room nurse. Additionally, a recovery room nurse has an average salary of $75,667, which is higher than the $68,255 average annual salary of an operating room nurse.

The top three skills for a recovery room nurse include patients, BLS and acls. The most important skills for an operating room nurse are patients, BLS, and acls.

Recovery room nurse vs operating room nurse overview

	Recovery Room Nurse	Operating Room Nurse
Yearly salary	$75,667	$68,255
Hourly rate	$36.38	$32.81
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	390,532	545,487
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

Recovery room nurse vs operating room nurse salary

Recovery room nurses and operating room nurses have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Recovery Room Nurse	Operating Room Nurse
Average salary	$75,667	$68,255
Salary range	Between $47,000 And $121,000	Between $42,000 And $108,000
Highest paying City	-	Urban Honolulu, HI
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	-	Professional

Differences between recovery room nurse and operating room nurse education

There are a few differences between a recovery room nurse and an operating room nurse in terms of educational background:

	Recovery Room Nurse	Operating Room Nurse
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Recovery room nurse vs operating room nurse demographics

Here are the differences between recovery room nurses' and operating room nurses' demographics:

	Recovery Room Nurse	Operating Room Nurse
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 10.6% Female, 89.4%	Male, 14.8% Female, 85.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.6% Asian, 9.0% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between recovery room nurse and operating room nurse duties and responsibilities

Recovery room nurse example responsibilities.

Achieve departmental goals and objectives by instituting SGNA standards and processes for inpatient and outpatient care.
Care for patients in ICU's, telemetry stepdown units, medical/surgical units.
Perform admission assessment, monitoring, and discharge planning for adult and pediatric patients undergoing various outpatient surgical procedures.
Work as a clinical RN in ICU setting for adults.
Perform and cross train in eye surgery, GYN, and ortho.
Obtain 12 lead EKG's, FBS and urine pregnancy testing prior to surgery per protocol.

Operating room nurse example responsibilities.

Post op surgery assist recovery nurse with obtaining vitals signs and attaching EKG leads and oxygen.
Achieve departmental goals and objectives by instituting SGNA standards and processes for inpatient and outpatient care.
Organize and manage regular clinics involving external physicians, including ophthalmology, ENT, Med/Surg, orthopedics, and podiatry professionals.
General surgery, ortho, GU, GI and ENT and dentals.
Complete BLS and ACLS certification.
Specialize in GYN, urology and orthopedics.

Recovery room nurse vs operating room nurse skills

Common recovery room nurse skills

Patients, 29%
BLS, 9%
Acls, 6%
PACU, 5%
Direct Patient Care, 5%
Critical Care, 4%

Common operating room nurse skills

Patients, 21%
BLS, 13%
Acls, 7%
Surgical Procedures, 4%
PACU, 3%
Pre-op, 3%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Recovery Room Nurse
Recovery Room Nurse vs Operating Room Nurse

Updated January 8, 2025

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