Nursing Home Administrator

The job of a nursing home administrator is very similar to that of a manager in an industry. Their main job is to oversee the smooth working of operations of health care facilities. They also need to be good at multi-tasking. The administrative work requires a person who is capable of handling such kind of jobs meticulously and with responsibility.

A nursing home administrator should possess good knowledge of medical field and also the ability to manage business operations. A person working on the post of administrator has to interact with doctors, nurses and relatives of patients.

It is therefore, a mandatory thing to have effective communication skills for working efficiently. An administrator is said to be efficient if he is skilled at delegating the work in an effective manner. Let us understand more about this job profile.

• Managing the operations of a residential care facility is the main responsibility of nursing home administrators.
• It is not just the managerial tasks that these professionals must be aware of. They should also have an idea of the activities associated with nursing and health care.

• Following the guidelines set by the local, state and federal authorities is an important part of a nursing home administrator's job.
• Presence of mind and the ability to take quick decision are some of the qualities these professionals should possess. They should always be ready to confront inspection conducted by state inspectors.

• There are nursing home facilities which specialize in serving patients with certain specific medical conditions. For example, some of the nursing home facilities provide service only to cancer patients. The administrators in such facilities have to do specialized work related to a certain medical condition.

Prior experience is considered an added advantage for working in this field. Candidates with sales experience (in the medical field) too are considered eligible for working as administrators.

A 4-year bachelor's degree in Health care administration is required to work as a nursing home administrator. Subjects taught in this program include health care economics, principles of marketing, gerontology, aging & long-term care and other important courses related to health care.

Smaller nursing home facilities sometimes allow candidates with associate degrees to work as administrators. However, a master's degree in business administration along with some experience will certainly prove to be useful in serving the residents of nursing facilities far more efficiently.

The work of nursing administrators requires a person to be responsible for smooth running of different operations. Since these professionals have to handle important tasks with great responsibility, they are also rewarded with a good salary. Annual income of these professionals ranges from $56,000 - $120,000.

There are many different factors which govern the income earned by these administrators. Experience is the most important of all. Qualification of these professionals too is given preference in determining the salary. In order to work as a nursing home administrator, a license called 'Nursing home administrator license' (LNHA) is required.

Supervising the staff at nursing home, overseeing financial transactions and various other responsibilities are included in the job profile of these professionals. The job of a nursing home administration is challenging as it requires these professionals to juggle many different responsibilities.