Skills Needed in Nursing Home Management
Skilled nursing facilities, most commonly known as nursing homes, are 24-hour facilities that provide rehabilitation services, short-term care, therapy services and long-term care to patients. Nursing home managers, also known as health-care administrators, direct all of the departments within a nursing home facility. They require a variety of skills in order to handle these tasks including management, resident care, accounting and human-resources management skills.
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Management Skills
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Nursing-home managers oversee the services and policies of an entire facility. Nursing-home managers must be able to manage health care staff, enforce policies to comply with regulations and ensure the proper handling of medical records. Completing courses in health-care administration will provide them the skills needed to manage a nursing home.
Resident Care Skills
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Nursing homes provide a variety of medical services for their residents, and in some nursing homes the administrators are also responsible for providing resident care. Courses in medical terminology, physiology and gerontology will prepare administrators to provide these services and direct health-care staff.
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Accounting Skills
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Skilled nursing facilities operate on large budgets worth millions of dollars. It is the nursing home administrator's responsibility to direct the accounting staff, approve rates and expenses and review financial reports and annual budgets. Taking courses in managerial accounting, bookkeeping and finance will provide managers with the skills necessary to handle these responsibilities. Nursing home administrators will also need to be familiar with medical billing and coding to ensure proper patient billing policies are in place.
Human-Resources Management Skills
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Nursing homes employ nursing, clerical, maintenance and health-care staff. Nursing-home administrators are responsible for developing hiring and staff policies. They direct the human resources department and supervise a large health-care staff. Nursing-home administrators need human-resources management skills, including courses on staff training and development, performance evaluation and recruiting.
Requirements
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Every state requires nursing-home managers to obtain a license. Most states require administrators to have a bachelor's or master's degree in nursing-home administration or health administration and complete an administrator in training (AIT) program. The AIT program prepares applicants to manage several departments within a skilled nursing facility, including admissions, nursing, business office and maintenance. Administrators must also pass the National Nursing Home Administrators exam administered by the National Association of Boards of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators (NAB). Some health professionals without a degree may qualify to obtain a license if they have the required nursing-home work experience.
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