Becoming a nurse administrator takes years of education and professional training. After completing an undergraduate nursing degree, such as a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), and gaining RN licensure through the NCLEX-RN exam, nurses can pursue graduate programs to prepare for leadership roles.
An MSN with a nursing administration focus is one program that helps registered nurses transition from bedside patient care to managerial positions like nurse manager, clinical leader, or director of nursing.
What Does A MSN Nurse Administrator Do?
Coordinate Patient Care
As an MSN nurse administrator, you’ll learn to oversee nurses and healthcare facilities. This requires an advanced degree, work experience, and leadership skills.
An MSN Nurse Administration program can help you learn how to use research and scholarship to support advanced nursing practices and innovative healthcare technologies in practice settings. You’ll also gain insight into best practices for patient advocacy, organizational communication, and administrative decision-making.
However, if you want direct patient contact or specialize in a specific clinical field, there are better career choices than an MSN. You’ll be better off pursuing a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) or NP track. However, there are BSN to MSN programs that allow RNs with bachelor’s degrees in other fields to pursue nursing administration careers.
Manage Staff
Nursing is a highly specialized profession. It requires attention to detail, self-motivation and coordination, and excellent interpersonal skills. Nurses work in teams and need to be supported by a nursing administrator who can make staffing decisions, oversee department budgets, and address conflicts between nurses and patients.
Nurse administrators collaborate with key partners such as physicians, executives, and non-nursing support staff. They must be comfortable handling various issues and making key decisions in an evolving healthcare landscape.
Manage Budgets
The nurse administrator role combines the best nursing leadership with management skills. It allows experienced nurses to reshape healthcare policy and provide better resources to their staff.
Nurse managers collaborate with finance departments to develop operating budgets. They also monitor budgets to ensure costs don’t exceed forecasted incomes. Nurse administrators may be responsible for large purchases, such as high-cost medical equipment. These costs typically fall under the capital budget.
A strong accounting knowledge is needed to understand and interpret financial statements and budgets. In addition, nurse leaders must be comfortable with terminology such as FTEs and ADCs.
Ensure Patient Safety
One of the most important duties of an MSN Nurse Administrator is to ensure patient safety. This involves planning risk management training and acting as a liaison between healthcare institutions and patients. It also involves overseeing staff and ensuring they are following the appropriate protocols.
In addition, MSN nurses often work in areas where patient safety is paramount, such as senior care and home health services. This means they are exposed to more potential hazards than their counterparts in traditional nursing roles.
As such, they must understand the top causes of patient harm to protect their patients and colleagues. Choosing an online MSN program with a patient safety and quality track can help prepare students for these responsibilities.
Ensure Compliance
After graduating from a BSN program and gaining RN licensure through the NCLEX-RN exam, many nurses decide to advance their careers by completing an MSN degree at universities like Lamar University. MSN programs offer advanced education covering healthcare administration, management theory, and leadership skills.
Nurse administrators work in healthcare facilities such as hospitals, public health offices, clinics, and large nursing care facilities. They manage a team of nurses and ensure quality patient care and facility policy compliance.
To succeed in this role, nurse administrators must be creative, forward-thinking, self-motivated, and able to handle high-pressure levels. They also need strong communication skills to interact with patients and other healthcare professionals. Having a strong professional network can help with career advancement within this field.
Meg is an author at Cinnamon Hollow. She writes on a variety of topics sharing tips and ideas for daily life.