Nursing Home Administration Certificate

Acquire the skills and knowledge to meet the growing demand for senior living services across the Long Term Care (LTC) continuum, including memory care, adult day care centers, home healthcare, continuing care retirement communities, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities, and hospice care.

In this certificate, you’ll complete courses that align with the National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards (NAB) CORE Domains of Practice.

• Long Term Care services that ensure quality of care, safety, and well-being of residents, and support their psychological, physical, medical, and social needs.
• Facility operations including financial and risk management, and human resources.
• Regulatory compliance with laws governing the operation of licensed nursing homes.
• Developing and maintaining a high-quality, supportive, and patient-centered environment.
• Leadership and organizational strategies that ensure effective administration.

Online learning offers working adults like you flexibility to advance your education in a way that fits your life. Courses are entirely online and asynchronous—no campus visits or live sessions required. Watch lectures, join class discussions, and—although assignments have deadlines—do homework whenever it’s convenient for you.

Key drivers behind the growth in demand for senior living and health care services include:

• Increasing life expectancies.
• Increasing prevalence of chronic health issues, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease), kidney disease, osteoporosis, hearing and vision loss, and others. Older adults are also more likely to have multiple conditions.
• Desire to age in place creating a need for home health care services.

Who Should Apply?

Students enroll in our certificate programs for a variety of reasons, including to learn new skills that help them advance in their current field, gain a competitive edge in the job market, or change careers.

The Nursing Home Administration Graduate Certificate is an ideal way for those seeking a career within the Long Term Care (LTC) continuum, or those working within LTC seeking career advancement, to expand their skills and knowledge in a flexible, online format. A bachelor’s degree and prerequisite courses in medical terminology, oral communication/public speaking, and statistics are required for admission.

Does the program prepare me for licensure?

The Nursing Home Administration Graduate Certificate fulfills the pre-credential educational requirement (as a “program of study” or “specialized courses”) for those seeking Nursing Home Administrator licensure in Wisconsin.

There are additional steps required for licensure in Wisconsin, including fulfilling work experience requirements and passing scores on examinations. The certificate program does not fulfill the work experience requirements or take the place of any credentialing or licensing examinations. You are responsible for understanding all the steps necessary to become a licensed Nursing Home Administrator in Wisconsin.

If you are seeking licensure outside of Wisconsin, you should contact your state licensing board for their specific requirements prior to enrolling. We do not guarantee that this program meets the requirements of other states.

Students completing the Nursing Home Administration Graduate Certificate will be able to:

• Evaluate the services and support of nursing home facilities through the oversight of psychological, physical, medical, and social needs of residents.
• Illustrate the ideal operations of nursing home facilities through financial management, risk management, human resources and the protection of the interests, safety, and well-being of residents of nursing homes.
• Recognize the application and oversight of environmental quality in a nursing home setting inclusive of regulatory compliance and the application of laws governing the operation of licensed nursing homes.
• Develop leadership and strategy through organizational management and practice elements of proper and effective administration of licensed nursing homes.

Admission Requirements

To be eligible for the Nursing Home Administration Graduate Certificate, students must meet the following requirements:

• bachelor’s degree, in any discipline, from an accredited university (min. 3.0 GPA), and
• prerequisite coursework:
  • medical terminology,
  • oral communication/public speaking, and
  • statistics (undergraduate level).

Program academic directors have the option to waive one or more of the above three prerequisite courses based on relevant work experience.

The bachelor’s degree requirement cannot be waived, however, students with a GPA below 3.0 may be considered for provisional admission. 

You may also need to submit the following application materials:

• official college transcripts
• your resume

If you are currently enrolled in a graduate program at UW–Parkside and would like to apply for this graduate certificate, contact Jeanne Suda, suda@uwp.edu or 262-595-2980.

Courses

Code	Title	Credits
HCA 703	Long Term Care Services and Supports	3
HCA 704	Long Term Care Facilities Operations	3
HCA 706	Patient-Centered Services for Long-Term Care	3
HCA 707	Leadership, Organization, and Strategies in Long-Term Care	3
Total Credits		12