LPN w/ MBA needs career advice

[wecan11]

I need some advice as to whether to continue my nursing education or to try long term care administration certification. My background is working in aviation for 12 years as customer service rep. Then changing to nursing due to layoff. I have an MBA that I've never used. I'm in my late 40's.

I have been working as a pediatric private duty nurse for 1 monthsand I really enjoy that over being a charge nurse in nursing center. I worked as a charge nurse for 5 months. I didn't like the stress of ltc but I believe that I can handle ltc administration but I'm not sure.

I would really like to hear from individuals that have gone thru something similar circumstances. I have always been in staff positions and I've never had as much responsibility as a LTC administrator would have. I am good with numbers, working with a variety of people in stressful situations.

ANy advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!

:yeah:

[Nascar nurse, ASN, RN]

I am good with numbers, working with a variety of people in stressful situations.

Working with a variety of people does not always equate to the ability to manage people.

To be a good administrator you have to be good with numbers and you have to know how to actually manage people. I've been around for a long time. Some administrators just seem to have a natural talent to manage people. They get people to do willingly what they don't really want to do. They get them to take pride in what they are doing. It becomes a team atmosphere and the residents thrive in this environment. Then I have had some administrators have NO CLUE how to go about leading staff - they want to micro manage everything, nit pick everyone and generally send the building into complete turmoil. Ultimately staff turnover goes thru the roof and the residents suffer greatly as a result.

If you choose this route it will also be important to remember that you must allow your Director of nursing to run the nursing department. I have had several administrators that were nurses. Some did a good job with this and some mistakenly thought they were in charge of both departments - yikes - that leads to lots of fights. It's OK to question the thinking behind decisions but not OK to to over ride everything the DON does!

Good luck -

[wecan11]

Working with a variety of people does not always equate to the ability to manage people.

To be a good administrator you have to be good with numbers and you have to know how to actually manage people. I've been around for a long time. Some administrators just seem to have a natural talent to manage people. They get people to do willingly what they don't really want to do. They get them to take pride in what they are doing. It becomes a team atmosphere and the residents thrive in this environment. Then I have had some administrators have NO CLUE how to go about leading staff - they want to micro manage everything, nit pick everyone and generally send the building into complete turmoil. Ultimately staff turnover goes thru the roof and the residents suffer greatly as a result.

If you choose this route it will also be important to remember that you must allow your Director of nursing to run the nursing department. I have had several administrators that were nurses. Some did a good job with this and some mistakenly thought they were in charge of both departments - yikes - that leads to lots of fights. It's OK to question the thinking behind decisions but not OK to to over ride everything the DON does!

Good luck -

Thank you for the good advice!! :up::)

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

The stress of floor nursing in LTC pales in comparison to managing one. If you like nursing complete your RN and find a niche you like - home health peds sounds as if it may be yours.

:)