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The differences between school nurses and surgical 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 surgical nurse. Additionally, a surgical nurse has an average salary of $64,025, 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 surgical nurse are patients, BLS, and acute care.
| School Nurse | Surgical Nurse | |
| Yearly salary | $54,998 | $64,025 |
| Hourly rate | $26.44 | $30.78 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 282,124 | 638,444 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
Generally, a surgical nurse provides patient care before, during, and after surgery. Surgical nurses assist the surgeons and anesthetists whenever necessary. They prepare patients for their surgery and serve the actual procedure. It is part of their job to mark incision sites and sterilize them. They give preoperative instructions, prepare the operating room, and administer medication. The roles they play include being circulating and scrub nurses. Also, they intervene whenever complications occur.
School nurses and surgical nurses have different pay scales, as shown below.
| School Nurse | Surgical Nurse | |
| Average salary | $54,998 | $64,025 |
| Salary range | Between $39,000 And $77,000 | Between $39,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Providence, RI | Thousand Oaks, CA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Preston High School | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Professional |
There are a few differences between a school nurse and a surgical nurse in terms of educational background:
| School Nurse | Surgical Nurse | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | Duke University | Duke University |
Here are the differences between school nurses' and surgical nurses' demographics:
| School Nurse | Surgical Nurse | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 6.3% Female, 93.7% | Male, 11.2% Female, 88.8% |
| Race ratio | Black 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, 12.0% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |