Nursing Home Administration – What Type of Person Does it Take?

I’m always amazed when someone tells me they want to become a nursing home administrator.  Especially knowing what I know now.  When I started out, I simply thought that it was a respectable career and that it was all financially oriented.  Boy, was I wrong!  I had no idea that you’re involved in every area of running a skilled nursing facility and have to make decisions you’ve never even thought about before.

I have had several people ask me how to break into the industry and I have offered tips along the way with a friendly question, “Sure that’s what you want to do?  It’s not for everybody.”  And that’s true.  It’s not for everybody.  It takes a special person to do what we do.  You have to be both logical and creative; firm but caring; compassionate but a bit toughened when it comes to criticism.

What I mean by that is you have to have thick skin.  You can’t let what others think influence your decisions that much or get to you emotionally.  I have critics all over the place.  Every family member tells us we’re not doing things right… while their suggestions most certainly would land me a few F-tag deficiencies if implemented.  Every staff member thinks we’re playing favorites when they don’t get their way… even though their way would leave us short-staffed every wekend.  Every surveyor doesn’t understand why our systems don’t operate perfectly… when the surveyor has never ran a facility.  Every hospital ER nurse and physician thinks nursing home nurses don’t know what their doing… even though the ER staff is more qualified to patch patients up instead of doing what we do - manage complex disease processes 24 hours a day – day in and day out.

Yes, we have a lot of critics, detractors, backseat drivers, and armchair quarterbacks.  A lot of people who have no idea what it really takes to run a successful nursing home or how many hours after 5 pm – when most people are clocking out – you’ve had to put in to ensure your patients received everything they needed.  They don’t realize that we’re here for a higher purpose than to just make them happy.  I can’t allow their criticisms to affect me or else I simply wouldn’t come back to work.  I’d find a better job that paid more with less stress.

While I appreciate and will consider the opinions of the outspoken critics, in the end, I will do what I believe is right for my residents – with you, without you, or through you – regardless if you agree or disagree.  If the armchair quarterbacks knew how to run a facility, they’d be running a facility.  But, they’re not.  At the end of the day, it’s still me.  I’m still doing what the others aren’t.  I’m still trudging along when others have gone home for the day.  I remind myself that this is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a battle of attrition and that the long and steady pace I’ve set will continue to carry me forward.

To all the detractors and critics, I didn’t see you ensuring our residents were safe during the tornadoes.  I didn’t see you going and picking up staff during the snowstorms.  I didn’t even see you putting together a fire watch schedule or making rounds when the fire alarm panel decided to stop working.  As a matter of fact, I didn’t even see you go out and get your mother an Arby’s sandwich when she decided she wasn’t eating anymore last week.  Luckily, I did that for you and she enjoyed the sandwich.  You see I take care of her 24 hours a day, not just when you visit.

It’s very easy to stand back and criticize others, but it takes a strong person to take all the criticism and still do the right thing when they know a critic isn’t going to be satisfied.

That’s what kind of person it takes to be a nursing home administrator.  Be sure to bring your armor!