Evolving into the Business World
Transitioning from RN to Administrator was a big step for Kassie Pindras, RN, BSN, MBA.
“It was a big learning curve for me,” said Pindras. “It is so different than bedside nursing.”
A hemodyialysis nurse for two years, Pindras knew that she wanted to get her master’s degree. The only question was going for the business administration side or sticking with the nursing aspect and getting a NP degree?
“I decided that I wanted to be on the administrative side of things,” she said. “It’s still a very important aspect of nursing. I think people think that patient care is the most rewarding but being involve in the administrative side and growing not only your staff, but your program, can be just as rewarding.”
After two-and-a-half years at Grand Canyon University (GCU), Pindras received her MBA while working at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in the hemodialysis center where she is now the Clinical and Operations Manager.
With part-time schooling at GCU Pindras now has the ability to oversee the clinic, all the nurses and the day-today operations.
“It is a little bit challenging, especially in the beginning but once I got my feet on the ground I have loved it,” she said.
Receiving her MBA after her nursing degree allowed Pindras to see both worlds. Not only is she able to see the business side but she can comprehend the clinical side of the operations as well. This benefits the staff and program by growing and strengthening it from bottom up.
“You deal with a lot of the business-minded people,” she said. “I feel that getting my MBA has helped me immensely in that I can understand their language and their thought process.”
In the administrator role for a little over a year, Pindras feels that people start to respect you more.
“A lot of the other managers I work with have business backgrounds so they see a nurse and they think, ‘Oh she’s just a nurse, she won’t understand what I’m trying to say,’ so they will try and dumb things down so I understand,” she said. “So when we’ll be looking over spreadsheets and financial documents and I’ll speak to it and they’ll be like ‘Oh you actually know what you are doing.’”
Must be a great feeling.
