bosslady

Hello: To answer your question. I do not have a Masters in Nursing Admin but I do have a Masters plus two certifications in nursing administration. I have worked in several types of admin positions and am currently a DON. It is a very tough and often thankless job. In order to be successful at doing the position you must be free to devote yourself to the job especially when you are first trying to establish your reputation. I don't know how old you are or what your family situation is but I can tell you that most of the people I know who had young kids have had difficulty with the position. I could not do it without a lot of support from my husband. The hours are not 9 to 5. I often have erratic hours. I need to stay late or go in early to meet with staff or deliver a program and so on. My duties include managing staffing, maintaining my budget, disciplinary actions. I also sit on committees. I am involved in making decisions and setting policy for the nursing department. I hire, fire, orient, and ensure that the facility is in compliance with State and Federal regulations. If that type of thing appeals to you- join our ranks. Ellen:rolleyes:

Well, I found some of your posts very interesting. Would I chose nursing as a career again? YES. I wish my son had gone to nursing school. Now I DO NOT believe in this calling business. There was NO calling for me. In my era there were very few career options open to women. I definetely did NOT want to be a secretary. I wanted to do the other "woman's" profession and teach. Alas, I could not get into teachers college but I could get into nursing school. Now I had worked as an aide in high school, and the nurses had sparked my interest even though I protested. So nursing was not that big a stretch for me. Now over the years I have had my ups and downs with nursing, and even left it for awhile thinking the grass was greener. During my hiatus, I found that I missed nursing so I came back and went back to school. Do I regret it today. Sure when I am having a bad day BUT by and large nursing has been good to me. Do I make a fortune no but I make a decent living. I always made more than most of my friends, I could work even when my kids were little and as they got older I worked more. I have had many different experiences. How many other fields can say that they have so much to chose from and can travel all over the country if they so desire. We are always in demand and have job security that many people these days would kill for. So all in all is nursing a bad thing nope. If we as a group bad mouth nursing all the time, then why should anyone else respect us and pay us well. We do ourselves a great diservice by being so fragmented. I am glad to see that nurses are finally saying NO and fighting back with strikes, job actions and so on. We are one million strong with a lot of voting power if only we got together. So my answer if you are inclined to nursing go for it. Just be prepared to eat, sleep, and breathe nursing while you are in school. Ellen