An MSN/MBA dual degree provides strong backgrounds in both nursing and business. Here are five career options for graduates with an MSN/MBA degree.
Nurse Practice Administrator
A nurse practice administrator provides leadership to either inpatient or outpatient departments or centers. They typically oversee all nursing staff, so they must ensure overall quality of clinical services. They do this through continually assessing processes and procedures and then implementing improvement projects. Nurse practice administrators are responsible for planning, organizing, and directing specific services. They often serve as nurse leaders or managers to RNs, LPNs and other clinical health care professionals. Nurse practice administrators must have direct experience as both an RN manager and office administrator.
Assistant Chief Nursing Officer
An assistant chief nursing officer provides administrative support to chief nursing officers and other hospital administrators. They are expected to be clinical experts with an excellent business understanding of health care operations. Many innovative hospitals employ assistant chief nursing officers. They promote their organization’s strategic vision and mission through transformational leadership and innovative initiatives. They are responsible for mentoring and developing positive relationships with clinical staff and leaders as well as outside professionals and public figures. They assist with:
- fiscal management
- employee retention
- quality management responsibilities
Quality Improvement Administrator
A quality improvement administrator is responsible for developing and deploying the quality management system (QMS) for acute or non-acute care centers. They sometimes coordinate multi-campus programs with fellow quality regulatory specialists. They promote mandatory reporting systems. They provide health care professionals and team leaders with training and coaching on quality and continual process improvement systems and concepts. They help meet strategic goals and regulatory requirements through internal performance guidelines and external performance measures such as ISO 9001 standards.
Risk Management Administrator
Risk management managers and administrators play key roles in facilitating the long-term successes of:
- risk reduction
- clinical documentation
- quality improvement programs
They accomplish this through providing day-to-day oversight of all applicable programs. Risk management administrators are responsible for identifying, troubleshooting and rectifying major legal and operational problems. They also perform educational responsibilities, increasing awareness of new and existing programs. Their ultimate goal is to enhance the effectiveness and comprehensiveness of procedures and policies as well as patient safety and quality of care.
Health Information Manager
Health information managers work closely with:
- IT
- billing
- accounting
- health informatics personnel
They work to help reduce costs, streamline processes and increase data integrity. They coordinate the daily administrative activities of IT units responsible for billing and medical records. Health information managers must have strong analytical and technical skills along with hands on clinical experience. They help to ensure that health care documentation is accurately:
- entered
- tracked
- reported
They also collaboratively work with teams of:
- clinicians
- technicians
- coding professionals
Working with these teams, they help ensure timely and accurate medical record documentation.
An MSN/MBA opens many more career doors, including:
- case manager
- specialist consultant
- director of services.
See also: 50 Most Affordable Healthcare MBA Degree Programs 2015