Salary of an Operating Room / OR Nurse

How much do operating room nurses make? Now it’s time to find out!

AORN recently conducted a 2018 compensation and salary survey and found that the average staff nurse earned $72,100 ($1,800 more than in 2017), with nurses working in facilities with a larger number of ORs earning slightly more. The average VP/director of nursing earned $120,300 ($3,300 more than in 2017), according to the survey. 

And as with so many other things, location matters. The AORN survey also found that nurses working in acute care hospitals or hospital outpatient departments tended to receive larger paychecks than nurses working freestanding ambulatory surgery centers. 

More salary information for OR nurses

According to November 2019 data from the salary website Payscale.com, OR nurses earned an average hourly rate of $32.46, which works out to an average annual salary of $70,559. Payscale.com also notes that OR nurses earned an average bonus of over $1,000 and other benefits such as commission and profit sharing.

Glassdoor.com, which is another salary website, reports a similar hourly wage for OR nurses: approximately $32. 

A great way to boost your take-home pay? Taking your job on the road. Travel nurses tend to earn a higher salary that their permanent counterparts, and that’s true for OR travel nurses, too. The AORN survey noted that travel nurses were more commonly employed by acute care hospitals by other facilities, although many other types of facilities hire travelers, too, in case you’re intrigued by other possibilities. 

Read More About OR Travel Nursing Salary and Requirements from the links below.