MSN admin/leadership, jobs other than mangers and DON?? what are they?

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i will be applying for grad school in the next few months and am strongly considering nursing admin and leadership.. my question is, at my hospital we have nursing managers and above that is DON and i assume it is like this in all hospitals. what are the opportunities for a msn in admin in hospitals and outside of them other than being managers and DON because it seems that there aren't that many opening for positions.

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some hospitals actually have a layer of managment between DON and unit manager, it is the first thing to go when the cost cutting comes, I have seen so many mid level managers lose there jobs over the years

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Of course, an MSN in anything also opens up the possibility of teaching (nursing).

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

kaeky,

Congrats on your decision to go to grad school for your MSN! It's actually a lot easier than getting a BSN (effort-wise). At least it was for me.

There are tons of opportunities for MSNs in hospitals-

  • Clinical Specialists - work in clinical environments as a liaison between bedside & education; quality; research; case management - etc. Depends on how the job is structured
  • Educator - MSN is becoming entry level in many organizations. If you want to go this route, think about getting your MSN with an educational focus rather than admin. Educators are becoming more specialized by clinical area & level of practice.
  • Organizational Development: work with clinical management & leadership development
  • Risk Mgt / Loss Prevention - serve as an internal consultant/educator & assist with management of clinical/legal work (depositions, chart analysis, etc)
  • Case Management - usually either service line or geographically based. Many jobs are structured to serve as a direct liaison to specific physician groups
  • Research/EBP - Most larger organizations are now developing structures to support nursing research. Although an MSN would not be expected to be the primary researcher (need to have a PhD) she/he would serve as the 'boots on the ground' for data collection, protocols, etc.
  • Nurse Practitioner - variety of jobs primarily associated with delivery of outpt care, but some serve as 'residents' in private (non academic) hospitals.

Outside of the hospital environment - the sky's the limit- pharmaceutical , med equipment, insurance, etc. All kinds of jobs that require the skill set associated with an MSN: clinical expertise, management & leadership, education, research, etc.

Some interesting jobs I know of

  • Conducting 'executive' physicals on site for large corporations
  • Directing eLearning development for a very large LMS software company
  • Developing online learning for a pacemaker company (for clinicians & clients)
  • Lead negotiator for a medical arbitration firm

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