Becoming a Nurse Administrator

Nursing administration is another highly chosen career path for MHA graduates. Nursing administrators are responsible for managing the nursing staff, scheduling shifts, training, managing medical records, maintaining proper inventory of supplies and ensuring the highest quality of nursing care in his or her organization. Many Masters of Health Administration graduates find that nursing administration, particularly for its high level of patient interaction, proves to be the most rewarding career in healthcare.

Primary Responsibilities of a Nursing Administrator:

  1. Be the intermediary between the nurses, doctors, patients and different departments within a hospital. For this reason, a qualified nurse administrator not only possesses extensive knowledge of medicine and patient care, but top notch leadership and management skills.
  2. Supervision of nursing staff. The nurse administrator schedules shifts, trains new nurses, provides higher level of medical advice if needed, and allocates nurses to patients or departments as needed.
  3. Supervision of all patients. Nursing administrators, rather than being assigned to particular patients, are responsible for overseeing the well-being and proper treatment of every single patient in her unit. This means nursing administrators need to be meticulous, detail-oriented, able to multi-task and capable of handling high stress situations.

The Benefits of Being a Nurse Administrator

For those willing to take on the challenge of becoming a nurse administrator, there are three things you can look forward to. One, nurse administrators get paid extremely well. A beginning nurse administrator will receive a salary in between $70,000 – $90,000, and with time, can be making up to well over $100,000. Second, not only does it pay well, nursing is reported to be the one of the most emotionally gratifying occupations in the world. Finally, there’s plenty of room for advancement, as the healthcare industry is expected to increase by over 16 percent within the next couple of years. This is a security/benefit that most jobs today cannot offer.

If you’re earning your MHA because you want to go into a career that’s challenging, emotionally gratifying and provides stability in the future years, you should seriously consider becoming a nursing administrator. If you’d like more information on Nursing, and Becoming a Nurse, here are some great resources:

If you already know that you want to become a Nurse Administrator, you’re definitely on the right track by pursuing your MHA. Most nurse administrators in high management positions hold, at the very least, a Bachelors of Science in Nursing, but the majority hold Masters of Healthcare Administration degrees as well. Once again, MHAs signify a level of higher education, training and leadership skills required for advancement into the upper echelons of healthcare.