{"id":1024,"date":"2014-12-31T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2014-12-31T15:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/?p=1024"},"modified":"2016-06-09T14:00:44","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T19:00:44","slug":"interview-with-masters-in-health-administration-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/interview-with-masters-in-health-administration-student\/","title":{"rendered":"From Nursing to Health Administration: Jessica\u2019s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jessica Adams began working in the health care field at age 17. Starting in claims processing and then as a nurse\u2019s aide, she completed nursing school and became a nurse in the post anesthesia care unit at Regions Hospital in Minnesota. Within four years, she was promoted to Charge Nurse and decided to pursue a Master of Health Administration<\/a> (MHA) at Capella University.<\/p>\n

Adams\u00a0recently talked with Capella about why she\u2019s shifting from nursing to health administration, her experiences with the online MHA program, and how it\u2019s helping her achieve her career goals.<\/p>\n

\"interview<\/a>
MHA student Jessica Adams.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


\n<\/strong>Q. It sounds like you have a lot of experience in nursing! What made you decide to get your MHA?<\/h4>\n

A. At Regions Hospital, you need a master\u2019s degree to be in any leadership position. My direct manager thought I had potential to take on her role as a Nurse Manager, so she encouraged me to pursue a master\u2019s.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know what degree I wanted because there were so many options. My VP of Nursing brought up the MHA program at Capella because many of the upcoming leaders at Regions had pursued this degree and really liked it because it was a business degree with a health care focus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. What are you hoping to achieve with your MHA?<\/h4>\n

A. When I first started the program, I thought I would aim for a nurse management role. But as I took classes, I discovered that I like quality improvement and risk management.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. And your interest in quality improvement has actually opened up a new opportunity for you, right?<\/h4>\n

A. Right! Because I\u2019m completing my degree, I was recruited to join the quality improvement section of the hospital. They selected me because I bring clinical experience to quality improvement, and now I\u2019ll have my MHA. I\u2019m excited for the new job!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. How does the MHA build on what you already learned in your earlier degrees?<\/h4>\n

A. When I first started nursing, I chose an associate\u2019s degree program because it focused on the clinical aspect of nursing. Once I had that part built, I went back for my bachelor\u2019s. That degree was more about diversity and team management. In my master\u2019s program, it\u2019s been really helpful to work on projects with people from all over the country. I\u2019ve learned a lot about team leadership and how to build a successful team.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. What else are you learning in your program?<\/h4>\n

A. We\u2019ve had to build so many budgets! That helps me now because I see how to get from Point A to B while still maintaining my budget. It\u2019s really valuable to understand profit and all the components that go into running a hospital.<\/p>\n

It also helped to learn about the different certifications that health care organizations go through, such as Joint Commission and Leapfrog, and how important they are in building creditability.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. What is your favorite part of the program?<\/h4>\n

A. The flexibility of online learning has been great. As an adult student, working with a family, it\u2019s nice to be able to do my homework when it\u2019s convenient for me. And to not have the additional stress of getting to a classroom.<\/p>\n

Capella has also taught me great communications skills. Communicating with someone online, by email, or in the courseroom is a whole different game than when you talk in person. You have to learn completely different communications techniques. With the way health care is going, it will be really important to know how to communicate online.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Q. Any advice for someone considering an online program?<\/h4>\n

A. When you enroll in a degree program, it can be very overwhelming to look at the classes you\u2019ll need and how long it\u2019s going to take. My best advice for someone coming into the program is to take it one course at a time and get as much as you can from that course. If you stay focused, determined, and motivated in your classwork, it does pay off. You can learn so much. Just stay patient and keep working at it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Learn more about Capella\u2019s <\/em>Master of Health Administration<\/em><\/a> or <\/em>Doctor of Health Administration<\/em><\/a> programs.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Capella University student Jessica Adams shares why she\u2019s getting her master\u2019s in health administration, what she\u2019s learning, and how it\u2019s helping her advance her nursing career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":1068,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,151],"tags":[46,31,125],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1024"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4638,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024\/revisions\/4638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}