Administration to Nursing?

[KMark]

Hey everyone, I am going to ask another of those "should I become a nurse?" questions that you get so often. I am currently in a healthcare administration masters program (I have a very useful english/philosophy BA haha). There are some things I love about the program and I am really interested in the way health policy works and how money is managed. But a lot of times I get frustrated with the fact that at my current job doing HR for a homecare agency, and in the future with this degree I will be sitting shuffling papers around while the nurses do the "important work." I know my job, probably as a long term care administrator, will be important, and I actually love paperwork (which I know nurses do a ton of- my mother is a director of nursing in a long term care facility), but it really is not the same- the nurses, and the aides, are what make the place run and actually help the patients directly.

Another factor is that I am afraid as a long term care administrator I will become someone with a beeper 24/7 who works long hours and never sees my family. I know nurses work long hours/weekends/holidays, but you will not be on call constantly I don't think. I can be in charge of myself and my work and work hard, but I want to be able to go home and be at home and not have to worry constantly about what every employee in the building is doing and worry that something will go wrong and I will get a phone call at 4 in the morning (I have seen this firsthand as the child of a director of nursing... she often misses dinner, my school functions, gets calls at all hours of the day and night).

I am also nervous because I am squeamish/anxious. I got my CNA and the bodily fluid part of that was not fun but I could totally handle it and it is true that knowing you are helping someone uncomfortable feel more comfortable makes it much easier. I think it is something I can overcome, as many nurses do. I also felt so nervous taking care of someone and feeling like I would do something wrong, but I think that is also something people get over with experience.

So I guess my question is, should I look into nursing more? Are there less hands on, more management things I could do with an RN and a masters in healthcare administration that anyone knows of, in case my squeamishness gets the best of me? I know your expertise here is in nursing, rather than administration, but I am frustrated at the lack of resources everywhere for future health care administrators (another reason nursing appeals to me... the community). I have no question I want to be in the health care industry, but figuring out how is making me crazy! Sorry for the long post, I appreciate any thoughts or advice you may have.