Do I Need to be Certified to be a Nurse Administrator?

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Nurse administrators must have an extensive education and experience, but many wonder if they need to be certified to be a nurse administrator. Nurse administrators are advanced-practice registered nurses (APRNs) who have high-level responsibilities. These include overseeing the nursing staff and making both administrative and clinical decisions regarding nursing and healthcare in general. Nurse administrators play an important role in the efficiency and production of their staff.

What is a Nurse Administrator?

A nurse administrator is a highly-trained and educated APRN who oversees the nursing staff and deals with personnel issues. They usually work in hospitals but may also work in large medical facilities. A nurse administrator may work in just one hospital or may work for several hospitals within a healthcare system. They have many duties including:

Develop policies and procedures
Develop and maintain budgets
Handles financial matters
Recruit, hire and train nurses
Ensure nursing staff is in compliance with laws
Conduct performance evaluations
Act as liaison between nursing staff, departments and hospital management
Decide what equipment is needed and must be purchased

How to Become a Nurse Administrator

Nurse administrators must possess post-graduate nursing degrees and have extensive nursing experience. They must first complete an accredited undergraduate nursing degree program and obtain a license as a registered nurse (RN) by passing the NCLEX-RN. Once this is completed, the RN must complete a Master of Science in Nursing degree program. Some aspiring nurse administrators choose a doctoral degree in nursing or a master’s degree in nurse administration. Courses in a nurse administration program might include:

healthcare finance
organizational management
safety in the healthcare setting
quality and risk
informatics
healthcare policies
leadership and management
advanced health assessment

Candidates must also possess skills in:

good leadership
decision-making
communication

Depending on if the candidate chooses the master’s or doctoral degree program, he or she may complete the degree in two to four years after earning the bachelor’s degree. Many college and universities offer nursing and nursing administration programs as online or hybrid programs.

Certification

Nurse administrators must have CPR certification. Nurse administrators are not required by law to hold a nurse administrator certification, but many employers prefer to hire nurse administrators who are certified. RegisteredNursing.org indicates that there are a couple of different certifications available to the nurse administrator. The American Nurses Credentialing Center offers both the Nurse Executive credential and the Nurse Executive-Advanced credential. The Executive Nursing Practice certification is available through the American Organization of Nurse Executives. To obtain any nurse administrator certification, the candidate must meet certain eligibility requirements. Although they may vary depending on the certification requested, some common requirements include:

Hold an active RN license
Have at least a nursing bachelor’s degree
Have working experience in this field
Have completed a certain number of continuing education credits

Career Outlook

The increasing need to provide better healthcare to more patients has created a demand for nurse administrators. Medical and health services managers are expected to see a job growth of 20% from 2016-2026 as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. These professionals earned annual wages that range from $58,350 to $176,130 with the average wage at $111,680 as of May 2017. Working as a nurse administrator can be an extremely rewarding career not just for the wages but also because a nurse administrator has the opportunity to improve the healthcare patients receive. The best way for nurse administrators to make themselves marketable to potential employers is to obtain nurse administrator certification. Related Resources: