Online Nurse Administration Degree Programs

In any profession, taking on management responsibilities is an important potential route for advancement, and nursing is no different. Nurse administration offers experienced registered nurses the opportunity to move into a variety of management functions. Even though most registered nurses already have a bachelor's degree, these management functions may require additional career training. Indeed, a person pursuing the nurse administration career track may see an evolution of job duties away from patient care altogether, and toward a full-time focus on management responsibilities.

There are several reasons why a person might pursue this transition, from seeking higher earnings potential to wanting a voice in how a department is run. Whatever the reason, earning the opportunity and making the transition a successful one will require a commitment to additional career training.

Career Training for Nurse Administration

Why is additional career training necessary? After all, registered nurses have a bachelor's degree which teaches them the ins and outs of nursing. In addition, nurses who are in a position to be considered for management responsibilities are likely to have amassed a decent amount of personal experience, adding a practical perspective to their theoretical knowledge. However, the majority of this career training and experience is focused on the actual delivery of health care, and not on the management processes which make that delivery possible.

Understanding these management processes--the nuts and bolts of nurse administration--will require a variety of new skill sets. Here are some examples:

• Budgeting. Departmental responsibilities are likely to involve budgeting, either for the department as a whole or for specific expenditure items. Effective budgeting requires a knowledge of basic accounting concepts, and administering a budget requires familiarity with purchasing and reporting techniques.
• Human resources. An important area of nurse administration involves managing people, and this requires some human resource knowledge. A good manager knows enough employment law to help the employer avoid potential liabilities, and also has effective enough leadership skills to get the most out of the available human capital.
• Training and evaluation. Another important area of management skills is training and evaluation. Being able to institute consistent training disciplines across a department, keep knowledge levels up-to-date, and assess job performance, are all essentials to a well-run department.

Acquiring these new skills may entail earning an additional degree, or at least getting some career training in nurse administration. This doesn't mean turning your back on your existing nursing skills--the best managers have a good feel for the nature of the work being done around them. However, it does mean broadening your focus from what you can do individually, to what the department can do as a team.

Rewards of Nurse Administration

The additional career training in nurse administration can pay off financially. Being a registered nurse already offers above-average compensation, but a move into management can take compensation to a higher level. As of 2007, medical and health services managers had a median annual income of $76,990, compared with $60,010 for registered nurses.

Some of the rewards may not be financial. Having a say in how a department is managed or how protocols are formulated can be a source of great personal satisfaction.

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