How to Get a Job in Hospital Administration

Are you the type of person who isn’t great with needles but is great with communicating and organisation? Do you want to use that skillset to give back to the community in a way that makes every workday feel meaningful? Hospital administration could be the perfect career for you.

Hospital administrators are an essential part of their healthcare facility. Without hospital administrators, hospitals and healthcare centres wouldn’t resemble anything close to a well-oiled machine. And if you enjoy ensuring quality healthcare for patients, helping lines of communication between teams, and organising to perfection, you might be perfect for a hospital administrator role.

A career where you can help others is always rewarding, and health administration is a great option for people who aren’t interested in becoming healthcare professionals like doctors or nurses. A hospital admin actively contributes to the well-being of several patients throughout their workplace, using their unique skillset to keep their hospital or healthcare centre functioning.

The Skills of a Hospital Administrator

A lot of us want to give back to our communities, but some people don’t have the skillset or mindset to be healthcare professionals such as doctors and nurses. Some people are better at communication and organisation. While doctors and nurses might be great at administering healthcare to patients, they don’t always have the skills necessary to keep a hospital on track; that’s why hospitals need administrators. The skills they bring to the healthcare centre are vital.

These skills include organisation skills so that all patient files are organised and easy to access and ensuring each patient receives their healthcare promptly. You’ll also be a great communicator handling phone calls to hospital product suppliers, patient contacts, and more. Time management is also essential, and once you have confidence in your abilities and your role, you’ll be able to judge whether a patient needs a 20-minute consultation or a 60-minute consultation accurately.

The hospital administration team is what keeps any hospital running, and a career in this field is fulfilling and rewarding – everything you do every day as a hospital administrator is to ensure each patient gets the healthcare they need. If that career sounds appealing to you, it’s time to decide what path you’ll take so you know how to work in hospital administration.

Requirements to Work as a Hospital Administrator

If you want to start your journey towards becoming a hospital administrator, you’ll need some qualifications. For most hospital administrator roles, you’ll require a bachelor’s degree in health management or healthcare administration from a university.

For people that want a more immediate start, completing our HLT37315 Certificate III in Health Administration and HLT47315 Certificate IV in Health Administration will help you start your career in the field, though you’ll likely still need to work towards a bachelor’s degree. But you can complete your degree part-time, so when you graduate you have a few years under your belt and are a standout candidate for any job openings.

Benefits of Working as a Hospital Administrator

There are many benefits of working in health administration, including the sense of reward and satisfaction that comes with using your skills to give back to a community in the healthcare field.

That’s not the only benefit though. The field also has higher than average starting salaries, with first-year healthcare administrators earning an average of $65,000 a year. More experienced healthcare administrators will see higher average incomes.

There’s also the benefit of variation and change – no two days are ever the same in this field, and throughout the day you’ll be doing different things and using different skills so that you’re rarely bored and always improving your skillset. In fact, a lot of hospital administrators continue to learn and develop during their careers, some even picking up more degrees while they work.

Add in the fact that there’s a lot of job security to be found in the field, and the role of hospital administrator looks more attractive than ever.

If you think you’re the kind of person who would thrive in a healthcare administration role, it might be time to get your certification. Reach out to Foundation Education to get started by calling 1300 616 197 for more information or to enrol in a certificate in health administration today.

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