As a nursing home administrator, you will find yourself working with almost everyone in the health care system, from doctors, specialists and nurses to patients and their families. Nursing homes provide care for those who are not able to care for themselves. A position managing a nursing facility brings with it a wide-range of responsibilities from overseeing the day-to-day operations of the nursing home to dealing with patient concerns.
Gerontology/Long Term Care Job Description
Your daily routine as a nursing home administrator will be anything but routine. Depending on the type of facility, your responsibilities can include training staff, attending board meetings, planning budgets, arranging employee schedules, and organizing community outreach. As a nursing home administrator, you will hold a high-profile role that demands effective communication. You must be flexible and able to adapt to a variety of tasks and patient needs.
Gerontology/Long Term Care Requirements
Finding a position in nursing care administration depends on an intersection of experience and education. Administrators are expected to have at the least a bachelor’s degree in a field such as health administration. Since job responsibilities can include so many different tasks, knowledge of everything from finance to gerontology is helpful. In addition, nursing home administrators must demonstrate experience in health care management. Education can also include a master’s in nursing and/or health care administration. In some cases requirements can vary. Most nursing homes are private, so in some respect they determine their own rules for what constitutes a good administrator.
Gerontology/Long Term Care Career Outlook
As with most careers, the salary range for a nursing home administrator is dependent on experience, education and facility. But, as a general rule, administrators can expect to make from $50,000 to over $100,000 a year according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. A master’s degree will help bump you toward the higher range in terms of salary.
In addition to boasting high salary and growth opportunity, nursing home care is also expected to expand as an industry . It’s no secret that the US population is aging and as a result jobs related to gerontology will be more needed than ever.
Gerontology/Long Term Care Trends
Opportunities in nursing care are expected to grow at a faster rate than usual in response to changes in the population. As the numbers of elderly increase, a variety of health care professions are expecting to see a surge in opportunities. Nursing home management is one of those professions.
We’ve compiled the most complete directory on the Web of Gerontology/Long Term Care programs. It contains all the nationally accredited programs, from 22 schools across the country. Scroll down to see the listings.
