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School nurse vs staff nurse

The differences between school 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 a school nurse and a staff nurse. Additionally, a staff nurse has an average salary of $68,342, which is higher than the $54,998 average annual salary of a school nurse.

The top three skills for a school nurse include CPR, school health and health education. The most important skills for a staff nurse are patients, BLS, and CPR.

School nurse vs staff nurse overview

School NurseStaff Nurse
Yearly salary$54,998$68,342
Hourly rate$26.44$32.86
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs282,124699,636
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age4444
Years of experience22

What does a school nurse do?

A school nurse is in charge of advocating and providing healthcare services to students, faculty, and staff daily. Their responsibilities revolve around providing necessary treatments to someone in need, developing programs that promote students' health, and administering proper medication. When a school nurse must reach out to parents to inform them of their children's visits or any emergencies, it must be documented. Furthermore, a school nurse must appropriately store all equipment and medication in adherence to the school's safety and health standards.

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.

School nurse vs staff nurse salary

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

School NurseStaff Nurse
Average salary$54,998$68,342
Salary rangeBetween $39,000 And $77,000Between $42,000 And $109,000
Highest paying CityProvidence, RIBurlingame, CA
Highest paying stateRhode IslandCalifornia
Best paying companyPreston High SchoolWashington Hospital Healthcare System
Best paying industryHealth CareHealth Care

Differences between school nurse and staff nurse education

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

School NurseStaff Nurse
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common majorNursingNursing
Most common collegeDuke UniversityDuke University

School nurse vs staff nurse demographics

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

School NurseStaff Nurse
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 6.3% Female, 93.7%Male, 12.3% Female, 87.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 8.8% White, 65.2% 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 Percentage9%9%

Differences between school nurse and staff nurse duties and responsibilities

School nurse example responsibilities.

  • Create and manage care plans for students with chronic health conditions (such as diabetes, food allergies and depression).
  • Evaluate and manage post-exposure of blood-borne pathogens.
  • Administer medications, evaluate prescription needs and facilitate prescription management, chemotherapy teaching, assess and manage chemotherapy side effects.
  • Perform employee physical exams including hearing and spirometry as required.
  • Provide patient care for PCI patients, mechanically-ventilate patients and an overall variety of critically ill patients.
  • Perform drug testing, physicals, PFT and xrays.
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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.
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School nurse vs staff nurse skills

Common school nurse skills
  • CPR, 13%
  • School Health, 10%
  • Health Education, 6%
  • Health Problems, 5%
  • Health Services, 5%
  • Emergency Care, 4%
Common staff nurse skills
  • Patients, 28%
  • BLS, 9%
  • CPR, 6%
  • Acls, 5%
  • Acute Care, 4%
  • Direct Patient Care, 3%

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