How to Become a Nurse Administrator?: Education, License, and More
Whether we deal with business firms, social organizations, or even ones from the healthcare field, their success can be primarily attributed to their management. Generally, every establishment requires a management or administration department to help direct team members towards a common goal. In this article, we will be focusing on such a role in the healthcare field.
Depending on the setting, the number of staff, patients, various managers, and administrators might be required to help run a healthcare facility. So, if you are interested in pursuing a career that blends two lucrative and equally important career fields- healthcare and administration- consider the position of nurse administrator. To help you navigate this profession, we'll provide essential information about how to become a nurse administrator, focusing on the required education, nursing administration certification, and licensure.
What Is a Nurse Administrator?
The two words "nurse" and "administrator" are big hints about this role and the career type you can expect to follow. From the noun "nurse," we can deduct that the position relates to the healthcare field, specifically nursing. The second word, "administrator," tells us that such professionals have managerial roles.
To put it simply, nurse administrator is a leadership role within a healthcare setting, whether a hospital, clinic, rehabilitation center, nursing home, or some other facility. Such professionals are highly skilled in supervising and directing the nursing staff, setting goals, utilizing resources, and doing everything while ensuring they follow the established policies and regulations.
To be more precise, when working as a nurse administrator, you will have many responsibilities such as:
Directing and supervising the nursing staff;
Helping formulate nursing policies;
Reviewing nurses' performance;
Maintaining discipline in the nursing department;
Notifying the medical superintendent in case of team neglecting their duties;
Helping maintain harmony between staff and patients;
Examining the reports submitted by nursing staff;
Dealing with the nursing budget;
Helping train new employees;
Ensuring the staff's periodical health examinations;
Organizing and directing staff meetings;
Maintaining records on nursing staff, their work, and schedules.
Job outlook and salary
The profession of nurse administrator has an auspicious job outlook. Reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the employment of nurse administrators as part of medical and health services managers is expected to experience by 32% from 2020 to 2030. The increase is fourth-fold higher than the 8% projected growth for all occupations.
The fun does not stop there! On top of the almost-guaranteed job, the role of nurse administrator also comes with high salaries. Generally, the salary for nurse administrators in the United States ranges from around $30,000 to $192,000, with the average salary being $72,073 per year. You might earn more or less than the average salary depending on your role in the facility, the city where you work, and your experience.
How Do You Become a Nurse Administrator?
If you wish to begin a career in nursing administration, you can do so through nurse administrator education, licensure, and certifications. These three elements will equip you with extensive theoretical, practical, and procedural knowledge of nursing and help you further develop the skills needed to fulfill your nurse administration duties and responsibilities.
Education
The most typical path to becoming a nurse administrator requires obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). The degree often takes around four years to complete; however, many universities offer you the option to pursue the program online, part-time, or in an accelerated mode, so its duration varies.
Most BSN programs include courses on:
Health Assessment
Nursing Research
Anatomy and Physiology
Microbiology
Public and Global Health
Nursing Theory
Emergency Care
Statistics
Psychology/Anthropology
Pharmacology
Nursing Ethics
These courses are mostly centered around the clinical portion of a nurse administrator’s responsibilities, so many employers prefer nurse administrators to hold a graduate degree. Three typical master’s degree types you can pursue on your path towards becoming a nurse administrator are Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Masters in Business Administration (MBA), and Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA). These degrees help you become qualified for higher roles related to nursing leadership. As with many other master’s degree programs, you need to dedicate about two years as a full-time student to earn the degree.
Some standard courses you can expect to follow while pursuing a master’s degree that relates to nursing and leadership are:
Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Practice;
Health Services, Leadership, and Management;
Methods for Research and Evidence-Based Practice;
Advanced Health Assessment;
Health Care Policy;
Administration of Nursing and Health Care Services;
Organizational Theories: Applications to Health Service Management.
Lastly, in regards to education, you can also pursue a doctorate or a Ph.D. as two of the highest academic degrees in the US postsecondary education. The two most common options for nurse administrators are the Ph.D. in Nursing which focuses on research, and Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP), centered around the practical aspect of nursing. Such programs can take three or more years to complete.
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Licensure
The position of nurse administrator is not an entry-level position, so unless you are ready to dedicate around ten years to complete the degree programs mentioned above before you begin to work in the field, you must combine education with licensure. A typical path you can follow to become a nurse administrator is focusing on work experience, specifically becoming a Practicing Registered Nurse (RN).
The first step to becoming an RN is completing an associate or bachelor's degree program in nursing. Upon earning your degree, you will be eligible to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) exam, which aims to test your competency in nursing. If you have a degree or are a practicing nurse, passing the NCLEX exam won't be hard. According to NCSBN reports, the pass rate for first-time test-takers in the US was 86.57%.
If you are an RN who would like to pursue formal education to qualify for nurse administration roles, bridge programs are designed to equip you with such degrees. Some popular options include:
RN-to-MSN Bridge Programs
RN-to-BSN-to-MSN Bridge Programs
Certification
Credentials make you stand out in your job, and employers love them. They are not necessarily a requirement for the job, but they are recommended if you're interested in advancing your skills, especially if you want to be a nurse administrator.
Among the most sought-after certifications is the Nurse Executive-Board Certified (NE-BC) credential provided from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Its eligibility requirements include holding an RN license, at least a baccalaureate degree in nursing, a minimum of 2000 hours of experience in leadership, management, or administrative roles, and at least 30 hours of continuing education in those fields. Upon fulfilling the requirements and passing the certification examination, you are granted this credential.
Other standard certifications you might be interested in include the Certified Nurse Manager and Leader (CNML) certification, specifically designed for nurses interested in managerial roles, and the Certified in Executive Nursing Practice (CENP) credential, designed for nurse leaders engaged in nursing practice.
Further Career Possibilities
The knowledge you obtain, the skills you develop, and the experience you gather by completing any of the degrees, getting licensed, or earning certificates, make you eligible to work in various roles related to nursing and leadership.
Common career possibilities you might have after becoming a nurse administrator include nurse managers, as a role you might have before being promoted to nurse administrator, and chief nursing officers (CNO), which is at the top of the hierarchy in nursing administration careers.
Nurse Manager
Working as a nurse manager is often considered an entry-level role that later leads you to the career of nurse administrator. When working as a nurse manager, you would be responsible for supervising the nursing staff and managing day-to-day operations within the department. As expected, this role is part of administrative nursing jobs. Therefore, you will not have much direct contact with patients but are more focused on management.
Chief Nursing Officers
The role of the chief nursing officer is the pinnacle of nursing leadership roles–everyone in the nursing administrator field wishes to become one. The position comes with responsibilities related to directing the senior management class, which means directing the entirety of nursing staff, managers, and directors.
Other duties include:
Developing retention programs;
Establishing staff salary;
Conducting performance reviews;
Representing nurses at board meetings;
Overseeing nursing budgets;
Planning patient services.
Final Thoughts
Regardless of the long list of requirements and suggestions we mentioned throughout this article, becoming a nurse administrator can be a piece of cake if you are motivated, hard-working, and have set your mind to pursue a career in this field.
Remember that being a doctor or nurse that directly works with patients is not the only way to help them. We can always use more people willing to work towards improving the healthcare system. So, if you are interested in this role, go for it!