One of the many kinds of jobs you may be considering in the healthcare field is nursing administration. Although many people get into nursing work because of their desire to do direct patient care, others discover that they have good skills related to supervising healthcare staff or managing healthcare programs. Those kinds of talents may lead you to want to learn more about nursing administration.
What Nursing Administrators Do
Good supervisors are important in almost every kind of professional endeavor, and nursing is no exception. According to the Chronicle, nursing administrators are given large amounts of responsibility, sometimes working directly below an organizational CEO or vice president. Depending on the level of responsibility given, a nursing administrator may be in charge of the nurses in a number of departments or even of a whole hospital. Some nurse administrators may be in charge of nursing staff in more than one hospital.
Nurse managers, who have a very similar title, usually work at one level lower than nurse administrators, and often answer to them. A nurse manager may still have a lot of responsibility, say for an entire nursing unit, but generally his or her level of responsibility will not be quite as large in scope as an administrator. It’s a bit of a nuance, but the difference is sometimes reflected in “real-world” ways like salary amount. Many high-level nursing administrators have a graduate degree in health administration or business.
Nursing Administrator Skills
Although a variety of skills are needed in nursing administration, certain skills are particularly helpful for anyone seeking to work in the field. In addition to quality nursing skills, it’s helpful to be up to date with computer skills, especially given the amount of electronic record keeping that is now done in most hospitals. Financial management skills, business skills, communication skills and leadership skills round out a list of what some consider the essential skills for an effective nursing administrator, according to Health e-Careers. Communication and leadership skills, though perhaps harder to measure, are of paramount importance because nursing administrators need to work both with patients and with nursing staff.
Where Nursing Administrators Work
Around 40 percent of all nurse administrators work in a hospital setting. Other types of work environments may include nursing care facilities, physicians’ offices, or agencies that train and send out home health care workers. Though most nurse administrators won’t need certifications, those who work in nursing homes or assisted living programs may need to pursue certifications to meet with certain state regulations. If a nursing administrator does need certifications, for whatever reason, they can pursue them through the American College of Health Care Administrators and other similar organizations.
Related Resource: Health Informatics Degree
Wherever a nursing administrator works, the hours will likely be long. Like many medical professionals, they can expect some demanding times when they will be “on call” in case of an emergency. A good salary is part of the recompense for such a demanding job. Nursing administration is work that requires flexibility, compassion, strong managerial skills and other talents besides.
