Nursing Administration: Definition, Careers, and More

Nursing

Nursing Administration: Definition, Careers, and More

Written by: University of Tulsa • Aug 8, 2024

A Nurse Administrator Reviews Data on a Tablet With Another Nurse Leader.

The American health care system has been experiencing an ongoing nursing shortage. A 2022 report published by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services predicts a shortage of more than 78,000 full-time registered nurses (RNs) by 2025 and more than 63,000 full-time RNs by 2030.

This projection indicates a massive amount of opportunity for prospective nurses, particularly in advanced nursing roles. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects a 6% job growth for RNs between 2022 and 2032. The BLS also projects a 38% job growth for nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners during that same time frame.

The nursing shortage and job growth projections underscore the importance of the roles nurse administrators will play in the industry over the next several years. These nurse leaders can use their knowledge and skills to build and maintain efficient care delivery strategies that can withstand the strain of nursing shortages, thus mitigating potential disruptions to effective patient care. They may also lean on their acumen to properly guide the next generation of nurses toward providing effective care in a health care landscape constantly in flux due to policy reforms and technological innovations.

The potential for having such a broad impact in health care can make a role in nursing administration a noble and exciting one for those considering a nursing degree . The category features a wide range of potential professional careers, each of which can allow individuals to affect care delivery differently. Prospective nurses need to know what some of these career paths are and how earning a degree can properly prepare them to pursue them.

Nursing Administration Defined

Nursing administration encompasses various administrative and executive roles and functions that operate and oversee nursing units in medical settings. Nurse administrators carry out these functions by managing the processes and staff within an organization, and then reporting to high level professionals, such as the chief executive officer (CEO). They may directly support health care professionals in their organizations, but they rarely interact with patients directly or provide clinical care.

Nurse Administration Duties

Nurse administration roles can vary greatly depending on their level, setting, and specific role. However, professionals working in nurse administration may have some of the following responsibilities:

Creating and executing nurse training programs
Managing finances and creating budget reports
Maintaining accurate patient records
Developing policies and processes
Reporting to higher level health care executives

The Importance of Nurse Education

Prospective nursing administration professionals need to understand how the field works and build up a set of relevant skills to effectively support and manage nursing units. Well-rounded nursing programs can help current and future nurses hone their knowledge and competencies to become effective health care leaders.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

For existing nurses, a Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN) program provides many of the foundational skills and knowledge to become a successful nursing leader or administrator. The program emphasizes the core competencies that nurses can continue to develop as they advance into higher level roles and education. Prospective nurses who do not have their license, but already have a bachelor’s degree can also build up their acumen through an Accelerated BSN (ABSN) program, which will prepare them to take the NCLEX-RN exam to become licensed RNs.

While there are some nurse administration positions that BSN graduates can pursue, an advanced degree can prepare nurses for more advanced roles with increased autonomy, higher salary levels, and more opportunities for specialization.

Master of Science in Nursing

A Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree typically enables students to deepen the fundamental knowledge and skills they’ve learned in their undergraduate studies. This can be via exploring more complex theories and concepts associated with nursing, or it can relate to a specialized form of nursing, including roles associated with nursing administration.

MSN coursework usually focuses on three core elements of nursing:

Pathophysiology: The examination of the functional changes within a body as a result of disease
Promotion: The process of helping people make proactive choices that can ultimately improve their health
Pharmacology: The study of how medicines interact with the body

Focusing on these “three Ps” of nursing prepares students to deliver care at an advanced level, and this can prepare them for advanced nursing roles involving autonomous patient care. It can also equip them with the kind of high-level understanding of care delivery that’s important for advanced nursing professionals tasked with strategic development, such as nursing executives .

An MSN degree can help students focus on an aspect of care delivery. This focus could relate to care in a specific demographic, such as pediatrics or women’s health. However, the focus could pertain to elements that are fundamental to effective nursing administration. These specializations include the following:

Leadership and Innovation: This specialization can focus on refining the type of nurse leadership skills needed to effectively guide nursing teams through the ever-shifting world of care delivery.
Education and Elevation: This specialization can prepare nurses to take on nurse education roles and teach the next generation of nurses the fundamentals of providing optimal care.
Public Health Global Vision: This specialization focuses on the strategies of health promotion to the public on various levels, including locally, regionally, and globally.
Informatics and Analytics: This specialization focuses on integrating nursing informatics and data-driven concepts, such as data management, within an overall nursing care strategy.

These specializations can be instrumental in helping nursing students understand how the nursing profession functions from an operational standpoint. By gaining familiarity with how these functions can impact care delivery, students can develop strategies that are designed to help a facility provide more efficient, effective care. These can help a facility achieve its ultimate goal of providing care that can improve patient outcomes.

Benefits of an MSN Degree

Obtaining an MSN degree can provide a wide range of advantages that can have a positive impact on an individual’s career. The key benefits an MSN degree can yield include the following:

Wider Range of Career Options: Several advanced nursing roles, such as nurse leadership positions, require an MSN as an educational benchmark to be considered. Even for positions without this requirement, an MSN can help an individual stand out from the competition in the eyes of some potential employers.
Greater Salary Potential: According to Payscale, the median average salary for individuals with an MSN degree was $104,000 as of May 2024. Comparatively, Payscale lists the median annual salary for individuals with a BSN degree at $95,000 as of June 2024.
Opportunities for Specialization: An MSN allows individuals to concentrate on an aspect of care delivery. This can allow them to cultivate a level of expertise that allows them to be viewed as a trusted leader within a specific aspect of care. From a nursing administration standpoint, the expertise that may come with these specializations can place developing nurse leaders in positions to have a significant impact on a facility’s care delivery strategies.
Enhanced Career Stability: The unique knowledge and skills gained through a specialization may provide individuals with increased value in a professional setting. This can help them fill a niche in a health care facility, potentially leading to improved job security, as long as they stay current with the information pertaining to their role.
Gateway to Further Education: Earning an MSN can be a stepping stone toward earning a terminal degree, such as a doctorate. This can ultimately expand a nurse’s potential career field to include research positions.
Increased Ability to Mentor: The advanced knowledge and skills developed through an MSN program can place individuals in a position to offer mentorship to nurses with a low or limited level of experience. These opportunities can allow MSN holders to have a direct, positive impact on the next generation of nurses — and ultimately the future of health care.
Professional Development: An MSN degree allows nurses to enhance the expertise they acquired through a BSN program. This can help them grow their knowledge of key health care concepts, but it can also enhance some of the skills they may need for nursing administration roles, such as effective communication for nurse leadership .
Personal Satisfaction: The nursing administration jobs that individuals can pursue with an MSN degree can put them in a position to improve a facility’s ability to provide optimal care. The capacity to make such an impact can provide a deep sense of personal achievement, particularly when a facility achieves a patient care goal.

MSN Degree Career Outcomes

An MSN degree can prepare students for a wide range of advanced nursing roles. Some of these roles directly apply to patient care and are focused on direct patient interaction. Others pertain to nursing administration and can influence how patient care delivery occurs at an operational level.

The latter category contains a range of professional roles. For example, those interested in the administrative side of nursing can oversee a facility’s entire nursing department. They may also take on an educational role, either teaching new nurses how to develop their knowledge and skills or promoting better wellness behaviors through various programs. In some cases, they may work with other health care professionals to coordinate care within a facility to optimize efficiency and minimize vulnerabilities.

These administrative careers can place individuals in several work environments. Medical facilities and doctor’s offices are common environments, but individuals can also find roles in long-term care facilities, rehabilitation centers, or even government agencies.

Nurse Administration Career Paths

While nurse administration roles differ in scope and duties, they all play a key role in allowing a facility to operate with optimized efficiency and effectiveness. The breadth of administration jobs also means that nurses can pursue a role that aligns with their own health care-related interests.

Nurse Administration Roles You Can Get With a BSN

BSN graduates can pursue the following nurse administration careers.

Charge Nurse

Charge nurses oversee the functionality of specific nursing units. They often take on active nursing duties, and their boots-on-the-ground leadership allows them to assess team effectiveness and provide hands-on guidance during difficult situations. They also oversee shift changes, ensure that various protocols are followed, create staffing schedules, and check the medical supplies and medication inventories. Additionally, charge nurses often facilitate communication and care coordination between nurses and physicians. Payscale lists the median annual salary for charge nurses at about $82,030 as of June 2024.

Nurse Informatics Specialist

Nurse informatics specialists, also known as nurse informaticists, combine their expertise in nursing and information technology (IT) to evaluate, implement, and optimize informatics systems that are designed to manage and coordinate patient care. They oversee a health care facility’s electronic information systems, such as electronic health records (EHRs), to ensure proper functionality. They also analyze facility data to find efficient ways to provide patient care and recommend system updates to improve performance. While an MSN is generally not required, some employers may prefer that applicants have an MSN or other advanced nursing degree. Payscale lists the median annual salary for nurse informatics specialists at about $91,280 as of January 2024.

Nurse Administration Jobs You Can Get With an MSN

Earning an MSN degree can prepare individuals for a host of nursing administration careers.

Director of Nursing

Directors of nursing oversee the operations of a health care facility’s entire nursing operations. Those in the role take a holistic approach to care coordination, as their work encompasses several business-related aspects of nursing administration. Their typical duties include hiring, overseeing the department’s budget, implementing and overseeing new policies, and developing goals for various nursing departments. They often collaborate with directors from other key departments within the facility. Paysale lists the median annual salary for directors of nursing at about $98,970 as of July 2024.

Clinical Nurse Leader

Clinical nurse leaders assess and evaluate patient outcomes in a facility to spot and fix vulnerabilities. They develop, implement, and evaluate treatment strategies, applying and evaluating data to see if strategies correlate with the best possible outcomes. They also keep current on various medical innovations and strive to ensure that the use of these advances optimally benefits patients. Additionally, they perform risk assessments to ensure that a facility is operating in a manner that protects patient and nurse safety. They may also devote time to educating staff, patients, and patients’ families on various health care-related issues. Payscale lists the median annual salary for clinical nurse leaders at about $89,710 as of October 2023.

Nurse Educator

Nurse educators instruct new nurses and nursing students on nursing fundamentals and best practices. Their work typically consists of classroom instruction and hands-on application of knowledge in a controlled setting. They also grade papers, evaluate student performance, and develop course curricula. They also keep current on medical innovations and policy changes and update coursework and lecture materials to reflect these changes. Payscale lists the median annual salary for nurse educators at about $84,550 as of June 2024.

Clinical Nurse Researcher

Clinical nurse researchers perform research to find ways to advance nursing care delivery. They gather, analyze, and interpret data from various nursing studies to develop potential new methods or strategies that could improve health care delivery. Those in the role may recruit patients to help conduct research studies, write articles and reports for medical journals, and apply for funding grants for research projects. Clinical nurse researchers may also collaborate with scientists and other researchers to find solutions to health care issues. Payscale lists the median annual salary for clinical nurse researchers at about $76,360 as of May 2024.

Chief Nursing Office

Chief nursing officers (CNOs) are C-suite executives who oversee all administrative operations of a facility’s nursing departments. They work with other hospital management executives to address a nursing department’s needs and advocate for necessary resources. They also develop strategies to enhance the productivity and efficiency of a facility’s nursing staff. Those in the role may be tasked with interviewing and hiring staff, coordinating training programs, and helping a facility’s nurses keep their certifications current. CNOs may also be tasked with representing a health care facility at key events or in front of government agencies. Payscale lists the median annual salary for CNOs at about $144,480 as of July 2024.

Make an Impact in Care Delivery

Nursing administration roles are crucial to creating care delivery systems that optimize results. The roles may differ in responsibilities, scope, and approach, but they all involve working toward improved systems; adapting to industry changes; and helping a facility overcome myriad challenges, so it can continue to run smoothly. Ultimately, their work is crucial to ensuring that a patient can get the best care possible, regardless of the circumstances and the changing state of health care.

The University of Tulsa’s nursing programs can help get you ready to take on the administrative side of nursing. Our online ABSN , RN to BSN , RN to MSN pathway , and MSN programs are designed to help you understand care delivery in-depth, prepare you to meet the complex challenges of the field, and make informed decisions that make a difference for both facilities and patients.

Learn how we can help you get ready to make a difference in a critical field.

Recommended Readings

Leadership Styles in Nursing

Nurse Manager vs. Nurse Leader: Differences and How to Advance

What Is the Nursing Process? A Guide for Effective Patient Care

Sources:

American Nurses Association, Charge Nurse vs. Nurse Manager: What’s the Difference?

American Nurses Association, How to Become a Nurse Administrator

Health Resources and Services Administration, Nurse Workforce Projections, 2020-2035

Indeed, Nurse Educator Job Description: Top Duties and Qualifications

Indeed, 12 Master in Nursing Jobs You Can Pursue With an MSN Degree

Indeed, 20 Benefits of Earning a Master’s Degree in Nursing