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Team leader vs staff nurse

The differences between team leaders and staff nurses can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a team leader, becoming a staff nurse takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a team leader has an average salary of $68,817, which is higher than the $68,342 average annual salary of a staff nurse.

The top three skills for a team leader include customer service, ladders and patients. The most important skills for a staff nurse are patients, BLS, and CPR.

Team leader vs staff nurse overview

Team LeaderStaff Nurse
Yearly salary$68,817$68,342
Hourly rate$33.09$32.86
Growth rate8%6%
Number of jobs197,336699,636
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age4344
Years of experience62

What does a team leader do?

Team leaders are responsible for managing a team for a specific project or work component. They primarily guide the team members and ensure that they are still working towards the set goals. Team leaders create strategies to reach goals, cascade the goals and strategies to team members, assign tasks, conduct periodic check-ups on the roadmap towards the goals, foster an engaging work environment, motivate and coach team members, monitor team performance, evaluate the strategies and come up with mitigating plans as needed. They are also responsible for reporting the team's progress to higher management.

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.

Team leader vs staff nurse salary

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

Team LeaderStaff Nurse
Average salary$68,817$68,342
Salary rangeBetween $37,000 And $126,000Between $42,000 And $109,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYBurlingame, CA
Highest paying stateAlaskaCalifornia
Best paying companyRopes & GrayWashington Hospital Healthcare System
Best paying industry-Health Care

Differences between team leader and staff nurse education

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

Team LeaderStaff Nurse
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common majorBusinessNursing
Most common collegeSUNY College of Technology at DelhiDuke University

Team leader vs staff nurse demographics

Here are the differences between team leaders' and staff nurses' demographics:

Team LeaderStaff Nurse
Average age4344
Gender ratioMale, 55.0% Female, 45.0%Male, 12.3% Female, 87.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 7.2% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%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 team leader and staff nurse duties and responsibilities

Team leader example responsibilities.

  • Manage ACD metrics and methodology, including reporting to Sr. Management.
  • Set the highest standards for achieving company s KPIs, and holding staff individually accountable thereof.
  • Lead and conduct daily port operations for all DOD cargo transiting through the state of Florida.
  • Manage inventory and stock groceries, clothes and office supplies, handle supplies requests, revise logbook.
  • Implement multiple tools and utilities (KaiZen ideas) to optimize and automate various processes across the projects.
  • Manage online tasks, delegate and oversee responsibilities and projects, work with HTML coding, and update site content.
  • Show more

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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Team leader vs staff nurse skills

Common team leader skills
  • Customer Service, 26%
  • Ladders, 9%
  • Patients, 6%
  • Sales Floor, 6%
  • PET, 5%
  • Safety Procedures, 4%
Common staff nurse skills
  • Patients, 28%
  • BLS, 9%
  • CPR, 6%
  • Acls, 5%
  • Acute Care, 4%
  • Direct Patient Care, 3%