Telephone triage nurse vs head nurse

The differences between telephone triage nurses and head 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 telephone triage nurse and a head nurse. Additionally, a head nurse has an average salary of $80,173, which is higher than the $67,500 average annual salary of a telephone triage nurse.

The top three skills for a telephone triage nurse include patients, telephone triage and patient education. The most important skills for a head nurse are patients, BLS, and compassion.

Telephone triage nurse vs head nurse overview

	Telephone Triage Nurse	Head Nurse
Yearly salary	$67,500	$80,173
Hourly rate	$32.45	$38.54
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	39,985	649,127
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

Telephone triage nurse vs head nurse salary

Telephone triage nurses and head nurses have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Telephone Triage Nurse	Head Nurse
Average salary	$67,500	$80,173
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $116,000	Between $48,000 And $132,000
Highest paying City	-	Minneapolis, MN
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	AstraZeneca
Best paying industry	-	Education

Differences between telephone triage nurse and head nurse education

There are a few differences between a telephone triage nurse and a head nurse in terms of educational background:

	Telephone Triage Nurse	Head Nurse
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Nursing	Nursing
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Telephone triage nurse vs head nurse demographics

Here are the differences between telephone triage nurses' and head nurses' demographics:

	Telephone Triage Nurse	Head Nurse
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 7.4% Female, 92.6%	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 8.8% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between telephone triage nurse and head nurse duties and responsibilities

Telephone triage nurse example responsibilities.

Manage chronic medical condition (s) such as hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and renal insufficiency.
Manage surgical recovery patients including vascular, ENT, GI urological and neurological cases, coronary bypass surgery patients.
See patients of all ages, suturing, splinting, prescribing medications, ordering labs, radiology tests, doing referrals.
Maintain patient charts and confidential files in accordance with HIPAA regulations.
Educate patients on diabetes management, adjust medication regimes and interpret laboratory data.
Provide telephone nursing assessment of injure workers and make treatment recommendations regarding appropriate level of care

Head nurse example responsibilities.

Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
Receive intensive training for critical care skill development upon transferring to the medical ICU.
Perform advanced nursing care to acute/chronic medical/surgical, cardiac, thoracic surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedic and oncology/ hematology patients.
Certify staff in CPR and blood glucose monitoring.
Develop and implement an intensive care class for the staff; implement ACLS class for all staff.
Develop process improvement plan with bundles for sedation and ventilation.

Telephone triage nurse vs head nurse skills

Common telephone triage nurse skills

Patients, 27%
Telephone Triage, 8%
Patient Education, 7%
Patient Care, 6%
Home Health, 4%
Primary Care, 4%

Common head nurse skills

Patients, 31%
BLS, 9%
Compassion, 6%
Acute Care, 6%
Acls, 4%
CPR, 3%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Telephone Triage Nurse
Telephone Triage Nurse vs Head Nurse

Updated January 8, 2025

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