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The differences between traveling 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 traveling nurse and a surgical nurse. Additionally, a traveling nurse has an average salary of $83,961, which is higher than the $64,025 average annual salary of a surgical nurse.
The top three skills for a traveling nurse include patients, acute care and healthcare. The most important skills for a surgical nurse are patients, BLS, and acute care.
| Traveling Nurse | Surgical Nurse | |
| Yearly salary | $83,961 | $64,025 |
| Hourly rate | $40.37 | $30.78 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 585,515 | 638,444 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Often employed under a staffing agency, a travel nurse primarily works short-term on different limited-staffed hospitals in cities all over a country, and even abroad on rare occasions. They are mainly responsible for providing treatment and immediate care to patients, administering medicine, assisting in various tasks, preparing meals, and other functions that the supervising colleague delegates. Furthermore, as a travel nurse, one must quickly familiarize the surroundings and colleagues to work efficiently, all while upholding their oath as health care workers.
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.
Traveling nurses and surgical nurses have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Traveling Nurse | Surgical Nurse | |
| Average salary | $83,961 | $64,025 |
| Salary range | Between $53,000 And $132,000 | Between $39,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Detroit, MI | Thousand Oaks, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Maxim Healthcare Group | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a traveling nurse and a surgical nurse in terms of educational background:
| Traveling Nurse | Surgical Nurse | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | Duke University | Duke University |
Here are the differences between traveling nurses' and surgical nurses' demographics:
| Traveling Nurse | Surgical Nurse | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 15.9% Female, 84.1% | Male, 11.2% Female, 88.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.8% 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% |