Some Insight Please...

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I have been asked by my fellow nurses to apply for a position at our assisted living community as the executive director. Our current ED left suddenly last week to take a job at another community within the same company. There is a stand in director currently in the building while the position is vacant.

Geriatric nursing is my passion; I have the drive and the desire to make a positive impact in the lives of these people. I want to work at a level where I can help to make decisions and make a difference in day to day workings of the community. This is a job that I see myself doing, and doing well. I am smart and I am driven to learn new imformation. This is what I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember. I have my BSN, and it is my ultimate goal to go back to school and get my masters in business with a focus in gerontology/health administration.

The problem is is that this is just coming way too soon!

I have worked in this community for four years, only one of which has been as a nurse. So I have one year of nursing experience and three as an aide.

My original plan was to be a floor nurse for a while, work my way up, go back to school, etc... This was supposed to take years, not one year!

While I am very flattered by the suggestion that I should just go for it, I can't help but feel like the idea of me even trying for this kind of thing is completely insane given my level of experience.

I am concerned I will be thrown into something and it will become a giant trainwreck and something I thought I would love becomes something that I hate. I suppose though, that I might as well find out now rather than later if it's something I am going to put my time into. The other piece of information is that the stand in director asked one of our nurses who is an LPN and has been for only a year if he was going to apply for the position. She stated to him that the training would be provided, etc...

Tell me what you think... Am I crazy to pass this up, or am I crazy to even think this is something I could go for?

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What does an executive director even do?

Is that a nursing job? It sounds more business oriented by the title.

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You are right, it is very business oriented. The ED basically runs the entire facility. There would be a nursing director under me to handle the bulk of the nursing matters, then floor nurses who pass meds, do treatments, etc... The ED would also oversee various other departments such as activities, dietary, maintainance, sales.

Obviously a big change from nursing, but would benefit from being looked at from a nurses perspective

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Don't you need an administrator's license to be an administrator? Maybe ALF is different in that regard but all the administrator's I know have a license.

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If you want it, then apply, but it seems like a job that would go to a nurse with 20 years of experience or someone with a healthcare administration degree or something.

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You don't need a license for this level of admin. (At least where I am in New York). I just recently did the same thing in my community. My ED left for another position, and I applied for hers. I will start as soon as the new DON is settled. I feel that an RN makes a great administrator if you have the drive. Just keep in mind that all departments are working toward the common goal of providing great care, and keep on top of census. It's exciting to venture into a new field after so many years as a nurse.

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Specializes in Hospice.

You'll do better than you realize. In Texas you don't have to be a LNFA to be an ED of an ALF. And it's a blessing for those of us working with you on the case mgmt. Side coming from SNF's because ALF's have had an issue in my area anyway of having to meet corporate admission goals and trying to force inappropriate d/c's grom SNF's to meet them :( trying to convey why that's a no bueno idea to a non-clinically licensed ED is very difficult.

And I came from agency nursing as an LVN doing LTAC and the VA Nursing Facility and then moved into correctional from there. I'd been an RN 3 months when I applied for a floor nurse job at a local SNF and got hired as the ADON. I had no business in that role whatsoever but two years later I'm the DON of a building with 4 tags on my last survey...only 2 were nursing. Between the amazing teaching I'm getting every day and my want to be the best I can be for our residents and mostly our really wonderful staff, I'm figuring it out and if I can do it...I believe you can too based on your post .

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Thank you guys for your encouragement... I am going to apply for the job this weekend/working on it a little bit right now. I have been ridiculously busy these last few weeks.

I worked last night and I waited around for some time because I wanted to talk to the director that is currently standing in, but ended up leaving because I have to be at work tonight as well. The day nurse actually went and spoke to her about me (she is one that has been pressuring me to apply) and was met with a resounding "she should definitely apply!" So I think that has really helped and I am just going to go for it!

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Specializes in ICU.

Looks good on a resume.

Ask for training and more $$$ and if you are o/c 24-7.

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around here the assisted living homes have had great difficulty finding and keeping management ....nursing director of wellness and admin /ceo ....mostly because they are expected to be on call and available nearly all of the time....and held accountable for what goes on there 24 hours a day. they have become so absorbed with making a profit that they squeeze every little bit they can out of their employees, beyond the point of ridiculousness

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Specializes in Hospice, LTC.

Good luck to you! Definitely ask for training. You could probably go through an AIT and become an administrator through OTJ training, which it sounds like could be a good career move for you (I did this a while back, not sure on specifics for your area). Good luck!

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Specializes in LTC, Education, Management, QAPI.

Nugget,

I know this has been up for a few weeks, but trust me- your anxiety is well founded, but isn't it true that all things that create anxiety and discord can help us grow? I had little experience in LTC when I took an ADON and then DON position in skilled long term care and it turned out very well. If you want to do it, I think you should, but do it SMART. Make sure that you have CORPORATE support and that you have other resources available to you. You cannot do it alone- the key to my success was to always ask questions and when i wasn't sure, I called my friend who was a DON. Also, just because you have less nursing experience does not mean that you haven't had other business experience. What did you do before nursing? All experience is experience, not just nursing. It is a lot of regulation and be prepared to spend your OWN time reading and learning them. Use SLIDESHARE and google to find all kinds of powerpoints and education on things that will help you. Good luck whatever you decide!

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