Healthcare Administration/Management... anyone????

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

Does anyone know what one can do with a degree in Healthcare Administration/Management besides working in a nursing home? How can one further this degree? And is there a good job outlook in this field?

Anyone working in this field would be a BIG +++

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Get a master's degree in the field and start applying for healthcare administration jobs. That's what you do with that degree. ;)

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I just started looking into the MHA degree. I recently met someone that did not have a nursing background that has a healthcare admin degree and she is a hospital administrator.....above the director and below the VP at the institution she works in. Her counterpart, in another business line, has an MBA... she also did not have a nursing degree.

The thing that I am curious about is....(and not to hijack your thread)......is it possible to use this degree to get into meater admin roles, or are nurses still expected to work up through unit manager positions to director etc? I am not interested in being a unit manager.

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Specializes in ICU.

There is management and administration in places other than a nursing home. I'm a Nurse Manager @ a LTACH. They have a VP. Some have nurse CEO's. Is it what you want to do? Right now I only have my associates but I was hired contingent on getting my BSN.

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I am a non-traditional student currently (read "older") and I have a strong business background but no degree. My original plan, after much research, was to get a double major in Finance and Healthcare Mgmt and then get my MBA. I worked for two years on this path. Based on even more research and then shadowing a hospital CEO for a week and learning more about the "culture" I changed to a new plan.

I am completing my Jr. year in a BSN nursing program and will have a minor in Finance and HCM. And instead of getting my MBA I will be looking at a higher degree in the Nursing field.

The reasoning is simple. HCM degrees at the undergrad level are nothing but an entry level position whee you compete with anyone else who may have some small amount of business experience. In order to move up you need a Masters as well as several years of hospital experience. By going with the Nursing degree I have shaved those years off because a nurse with a strong business background (and is a good nurse) will move up the same chain almost 3 times as fast.

You could also argue that a nurse with a masters working in administration may be more respected than an MBA working the same position.

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Several years ago when I was taking my prereqs I met a few of those, they could not find jobs. Like nursing, it doesn't really matter what kind of other experience you have. Getting a job does not have to do with talent, it has to do with how connected you are. You might think that you have a great talent mix and are going to be an employer pick, but in reality nobody really cares. HCM is another career that is flooded with new applicants. The people I met, were going into nursing or radiology due to inability to get a start in HCM.

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Jobs in HCM are very difficult to get and ever harder to maintain.

As a nurse your main path is bed side nurse then nurse manager. Believe me when I say that nurse manager is a hard job. Harder still is to get promoted to the next level...Nursing director and even harder is the VPN/CNO level. NM and DON are pay your dues jobs. You learn alot and have broad exposure to hospital operations. After being a NM you have opportunities to move around and even more opportunities after being a DON.

As for non nurse and non clinically trained HCM degree holders, you are taking a serious gamble that the degree will get you a job. As others have posted if you have major connections you can get a job but others that have the HCM degree without a substantial background in Hospital are wasting their time. HCM is saturated and extremely competivie. Even LTC and HH are saturated. The job market has too many qualified and credentialed individuals and fewer positions.

Also, do not expect their to be many opening in the future. As Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements are reduced, fewer HCM positions are being created and more consolidation is occurring. It is not uncommon for a NM to have to oversee a clinical unit and a small section of the hospital. In a facility I used to work at the OR NM was also the manager of the sterilization service, the NM of the ventilator unit was also the manager of the respiratory department (with a supervising respiratory therapist reporting to her) and the NM of the rehab department was also the manager of the out patient ortho clinic. Times are tough and management positions (even working manager positions) are tough to obtain.

My advise is to learn a skill and develop a competency (i.e. nursing) then seek a management position.

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A job in organizational leadership has more to do with networking (who you know) and timing (luck) than anything else. Believe me. I've been there. The degree helps, but like we've found you could be an administrator with a MHA, MBA, MSN, MPH, or nothing.

I know of someone who promoted up to CEO of a hospital from the nursing route with a master's in nursing administration. After being CNO at a couple of places the person moved and became a CNO/COO and then CEO.

Locally, we had a COO who had an associate's in nursing, but his bachelor's I believe was in communication with an MBA maybe? I don't recall. Honestly, I don't think he even kept up his RN license over the years. The CEO, however, had never touched a patient and spent probably twenty years in his position.

Since nurses are often buried up in the trenches in all of the assorted operations of a healthcare facility it makes sense that such a background would be beneficial in moving up. Accounting and finance would be equally beneficial. Law would be beneficial as well. There are so many prongs of administration.

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yeah that again DNS on the go.

I have seen NM consolidation as well in the large hospitals and the small ones too eg medsurge/tele is common, or pulmonary/MICU.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
Get a master's degree in the field and start applying for healthcare administration jobs. That's what you do with that degree. ;)

Yea, that's my main plan.thanks

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
I just started looking into the MHA degree. I recently met someone that did not have a nursing background that has a healthcare admin degree and she is a hospital administrator.....above the director and below the VP at the institution she works in. Her counterpart, in another business line, has an MBA... she also did not have a nursing degree.

The thing that I am curious about is....(and not to hijack your thread)......is it possible to use this degree to get into meater admin roles, or are nurses still expected to work up through unit manager positions to director etc? I am not interested in being a unit manager.

Not sure.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
There is management and administration in places other than a nursing home. I'm a Nurse Manager @ a LTACH. They have a VP. Some have nurse CEO's. Is it what you want to do? Right now I only have my associates but I was hired contingent on getting my BSN.

No, I don't want to be a nurse CEO or a nurse manager.

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