MSN Nursing Leadership and Administration
Master of Science in Nursing

MSN in Nursing Leadership and Administration

Career exploration guide

This guide provides tools to help you explore careers related to this specialization. Use this information to start researching this field and the opportunities in it. This research can help you make a transition into positions related to this field. Start by gaining an overview of this program and learning about the field, jobs, and employment settings that are related.

About this Specialization

The MSN Nursing Leadership and Administration specialization presents advanced theories, research, and evidence-based best practices for executive leadership and administration in nursing. Learners develop the knowledge and skills nurse executives need to lead health care innovations, respond to health care challenges and trends, and manage health care quality and safety as well as the finance and operations of the health care organization. Throughout the specialization, learners also assess and further strengthen their characteristics as ethical and culturally aware health care leaders, visionaries, and risk takers and gain an understanding of how to effectively communicate with other members of a health care team to promote strategic thinking, planning, and interprofessional collaboration in practice. Successful graduates of this specialization are prepared to pursue roles as nurse executives in a variety of health care delivery settings.

Skills gained through this specialization:

This specialization was designed to help you gain the following skills related to this field:

  • Integrate nursing leadership theory and management skills to foster and promote ethical and legal health care delivery systems with diverse populations in multiple environments
  • Lead the transformation of health care to build innovative and quality health care organizations
  • Build high quality health care organizations that meet compliance and regulatory standards through the incorporation of evidence- based decision-making and interprofessional approaches
  • Promote the integration of changing technologies in global health care delivery environments
  • Cultivate a balance between quality care and fiscal responsibility in order to meet organizational goals
  • Create organizational cultures that support quality patient care and address needs of the interprofessional health care team

Explore this Field

Professional associations, social networks, and other industry-specific resources can provide a wealth of information about a specific field or industry, including best practices, career overviews, trends, and access to industry professionals. By reviewing website information, attending events, and connecting with people in the field, you can deepen your knowledge about the field. 

Professional Associations

Industry Information

Explore Jobs and Employers

In addition to exploring the field, take some time to research specific jobs and employment settings related to this program. Consider how these jobs and settings fit with your experience, skills, interests, and values. This is a sample list of job titles and employment settings related to this field. To learn more, review job postings and talk with people who have these roles or work in these settings. You can find these professionals through LinkedIn, family, friends, schools, employers, and community groups. Spend time researching your industry and prospective employers to decide whether this type of degree will help advance your career.

Related job titles to explore*

  • Nurse manager
  • Nurse administrator
  • Nurse educator
  • Clinical manager
  • Nurse supervisor
  • Director of nursing
  • Health director
  • Health manager
  • Chief nursing officer

Employment settings to explore

  • Hospital
  • Home health care agency
  • Community or technical college
  • Health insurance company
  • Ambulatory care office
  • Nursing care facilities
  • Land-based or online college or university
  • Government—local, state, federal

*These are examples intended to serve as a general guide. Some positions may prefer or even require previous experience, licensure, certifications, and/or other designations along with a degree. Because many factors determine what position an individual may attain, Capella cannot guarantee that a graduate will secure any specific job title, a promotion, salary increase, or other career outcome. We encourage you to research requirements for your job target and career goals.

Job Boards

This is a sample of jobs boards with positions related to this field. Use them in your research to identify additional job titles, common hiring requirements, and local employers. 

Further Exploration

There are a lot of factors that influence whether a career is a fit or not. These can include monetary compensation, benefits, work environment, organization culture, work/life balance, etc. As you consider your career, think about what is important to you in your employer, role, and setting. These resources can help you perform this additional exploration.

For a more detailed guide on career exploration, review Capella’s Career Exploration YouTube series that helps you identify what is important to you in your career and how that aligns with the world of work. 

Accreditation

Capella University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org), an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.