MHA degree

As I read your post my mind was generating many questions. Your situation is unique. Without knowing all the details, my initial suggestion would be for you to take a couple steps back and reflect on your long term goals. What influences you to pursue nursing? What influences you to pursue an MHA? Where do you ultimately want to live? What lifestyle? Salary?

Have you ever shadowed someone in Health Admin? Are you currently gaining experience in a health care org?...whether nursing, clinical, business, or administrative? Most people pursue a Master's degree as an adjunctive to a current job, or desire to elevate their current practice or enhance their current career...however, I always caution students who pursue a grad degree AND who are not currently working (or connected in some fashion) with an org/industry/job that you want to enter.... then it may be premature and naive to think simply obtaining a degree will get you a job. So I would be reluctant to pursue the degree if you have not identified how you are going to make your MHA lucrative. Grad degrees are expensive and time consuming, so if there's not a clear pathway after obtaining it then I would wait until things are more clear. An MHA degree may very well be a good idea...but maybe the timing is off. There's nothing wrong with 'pausing' the program and jumping back into it at a later point. I would suggest you should commit to making 'smart decisions'.

Possessing an MHA may very well gain you some leverage in a job market, but at the admin level the biggest leverage is going to be 'experience'. If you are not currently gaining experience in some fashion in healthcare business or admin (albeit through a paid job or volunteer) then you will face barriers to being considered a top candidate. Hiring managers for admin roles and business positions want to see proven achievements & solid experience, and will need to clearly see that in order to mitigate the risks in just offering a job to a candidate that earned the degree but has proven that can actually do the work.

Brainstorm a bit....let's say you finished your MHA program and graduated a couple months ago....what would you be doing right now?

And in light of your 'narcotic' issues and background, you will indeed be limited in some ways and face more barriers in job hunting... it's a reality, but it's not impossible...but it does influence your personal 'profile' and will impact options and impressions. The best advice I have for folks with a narcotics background is to 'own it'...be forthcoming and ready to answer questions and describe your achievements and milestones since turning yourself around. Some employers are friendly to folks with a narcotic background...you just have to network to find them.

-theRNjedi