There are unique leadership careers available in nursing administration. Anyone who wishes to be a nursing administrator will first gain hands-on experience as a health care professional before moving on to a managerial position. Continue reading to learn what careers are available in nursing administration.
What is Nursing Administration?
Nursing administrators manage nursing staff and their associated health care facility operations. Their primary function is to oversee, manage and facility patient care with the heath care environment. Nurse administrators are generally divided into three different levels. First-line nurse managers supervise single units of nurses. Middle nurse managers coordinate with management and oversee a few units within the facility. Nurse executives are administrators that oversee one or more health care organizations.
What Certification is Recommended?
The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) is the professional organization that advocates for nurse administrators. They provide valuable educational opportunities, such as conferences and their training programs. For example, the Emerging Nurse Leader Institute (ENLI) is a program to help educate aspiring nurse administrators. Their Essentials of a Nurse Manager Orientation (ENMO) course teaches nurse managers critical leadership skills. They offer their AONE Nurse Manager Fellowship that takes one year to complete.
What Do Nurse Administrators Do?
Regardless of their managerial level, all nurse administrators strive to improve patient care quality and work flow efficiency, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They achieve this through process improvements, quality control procedures and analyzing patient feedback. They will be involved in health care finances, staff scheduling and regulation compliance. All nurse administrators interact with a diverse array of individuals every day. This includes patients, co-workers, health care managers, outside contractors, stakeholders and the public.
Nurse Manager
Nurse managers work directly with patients and a single unit of front-line nurses. They collaborate with health care professionals, assist patients with problems and help to manage finances. For example, they might be called upon to advocate for a patient experiencing insurance billing problems or a family that needs specialized medical services. They monitor health care records and documentation. Nurse managers are the key to patient care quality and efficiency improvements. They assist staff with troubleshooting problems and encourage personal development. Their job is very fast-paced and multifaceted.
Nurse Administrators
These health care professionals oversee different nurse managers and their staff. They continually create work schedules, submit product or service requests and perform performance reviews. As part of this, they must continually monitor staff to ensure that the highest legal and ethical standards are met. They will adjust or develop work policies and procedures with other members of management. Nurse administrators tend to have limited contact with the public. Instead, they primarily work in an office setting performing complex administrative tasks.
Chief Nursing Officer
There are higher level careers available in nursing administration. A Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) is one of the highest positions available with a health care facility. CNOs are responsible to coordinate and manage nurse administrators and all facility staff. They may develop new programs, conduct performance audits and improve the training curriculum for new employees. They directly answer to shareholders and government officials.
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To recap, nursing administration is the art and science of managing health care facilities. While nursing administrators work on different management levels, all are involved with managing financial, operational and human resources. There are many more rewarding careers available in nursing administration.
