Health care is one occupational sector that’s proven immune to the current economic downturn. Faced with constantly changing technologies and a huge number of aging Americans whose medical needs grow more complex yearly, the demand for health care workers at all levels of the employment ladder continues to escalate. Approximately 14.3 million Americans are currently employed in some aspect of health care; according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that number will have grown to 17.5 million by 2018. These numbers have fueled the rapid expansion of health administration careers.

Not every worker in the health care field delivers hands on care. The sector is so vast that many workers are needed just to manage, coordinate and provide support services to those employees who interact directly with patients and clients. These workers, called health administrators or health managers, are responsible for the efficient operation of the infrastructure that supports patient care. Health administrators function in a wide variety of roles. In a large hospital, they’re responsible for supervising departments like Human Resources, Marketing and Budgetary Resources. They work closely with government and professional organizations to develop and maintain professional standards and policies as well as procedures for the scientific research that frequently takes place in a hospital environment. As with others who work in administrative roles, much of a health administrator’s work is done in an office environment.

Hospital President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Hospital CEOs are the court of last appeal for every operational decision that has to do with running a hospital smoothly and efficiently. He or she is the public face of the hospital to the staff, to the patients and to the community at large. From the CEO’s perspective, the hospital must be run like a business, albeit one that manufactures medical care Ò a highly specialized product. Hospital CEOs earn annual salaries anywhere between the low $100,000 range to half a million dollars, depending upon the size of the hospital they run and where it is located. There are no set educational requirements for this position, but it is expected that he or she will either have an MD, a masters of business administration (MBA) or a masters of health administration (MHA) as well as senior leadership experience commensurate with the demands of the position.

Hospital Department Director (Personnel)

Teamwork is key to the delivery of efficient and effective health care. It is vitally important that health care workers be able to work together. Because of this, the Hospital Personnel Director, responsible for staff recruitment among other duties, plays a critical role in the success of any hospital. In order to become a Hospital Personnel Director, it’s advisable to have earned a masters in health administration although experience working in human resources can substitute for that. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for administrators in this position is $108,600.

Clinical Nurse Specialist

The clinical nurse specialist is responsible for making sure that nursing staff members are clinically competent in the clinical nurse specialist’s specialty. The clinical nurse specialist keeps up to date on all the newest developments in his or her given field, and helps the hospital evolve new protocols and procedures to meet changing standards of care. He or she is also responsible for evaluating patient outcomes. The median salary in this field is $87,648. Educational requirements generally include a four year bachelor nursing degree and a masters degree in a clinical specialty.

Director of Critical Care Nursing

Critical care nursing is a nursing specialty that delivers hands on care in situations where a patient requires continuous observation, and complex medical and nursing interventions. The director of this unit coordinates all the care that’s delivered there. Additionally, he or she is responsible for the critical care unit’s operations, including managing the budget, hiring and discharging staff, and ordering necessary supplies. The median salary for a Director of Nursing is $103,393. In addition to a four year nursing degree, nursing directors generally have masters degrees in nursing, nursing administration or health care administration, although in some instances commensurate experience will be accepted in place of a graduate degree.

Administrator Of a Group Medical Practice

A medical group practice is a group of three or more physicians practicing medicine together and sharing business infrastructure. Group practice administrators are responsible for ensuring that the business end of a group practice operates smoothly. But business and patient care are always intertwined to some degree: When a group practice administrator makes a cost-based decision to purchase a particular type of bandage, for example, these are the bandages that are used in patient care. So the group practice administrator does have an effect on clinical care. The median annual wage for a group medical practice administrator is $80,240 but salaries fluctuate according to how large the medical practice is, where it’s located and what it specializes in. Practice managers come from a wide variety of educational backgrounds. A baccalaureate degree is a must, but it need not even be in a medically related field. Of all health administration jobs, this may be the one where prior experience plays the largest role in assuming present expertise.