Day in the Life - Health Administrator

The Caring Business

David Klanderman
(MS Health Care Administration)

Licensed Nursing Home Administrator Wild Rose Manor in Wild Rose, Wisconsin

As a “people person,” David Klanderman has worked in life insurance and the ministry, but he’s made nursing home administration his life work. He sees it as “the caring business,” a field that is all about taking care of residents, their families, and his employees.

Klanderman says that managing the home means he does, “whatever is needed on a day-to-day basis. Bringing blood samples to the hospital, interviewing staff, attending Medicare meetings, quality assurance meetings. Talking to doctors or to families. Talking to residents. Helping to get someone to eat.”

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The Importance of Listening

Passionately committed to serving his clients and staff, Klanderman believes in keeping open lines of communication. “I moved my office so that when people come in the door, the first person they see is me. We’re in this business to be interrupted. It’s not enough to have an open door policy – you have to go talk to employees in their break room, to the residents in their rooms.”

He’s also candid about the challenges of working in “the most regulated industry in America.” Violating even the smallest regulations can lead to fines of up to $5,000 per day.

When residents or their families have criticisms, he considers whether those are legitimate and how they can be addressed. At the same time, he notes that aging and illness cause pain that cannot always be fixed. Sometimes, he says, his job is just to listen.

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Patience and Communication Skills

Another ongoing challenge he faces is the problem of people who share a room and don’t get along with each other. “They’re in a room with 200 square feet, and one TV, and they have diametrically opposed personalities. That’s frustrating. We move people around all the time, trying to get the right fit.”

Klanderman sees a need for caring professionals who are willing to take on the difficulties of working in this field. “The number of people taking the administrator’s test [in Wisconsin] is actually down, but there’s going to be a huge need.” As the baby boomer generation retires, the states are exploring lower-cost ways to provide services for them, and people will be needed to run those programs.

Those people will need patience and communication skills. Klanderman would like to see people with direct patient care experience move into administrative positions. “You need to know about health care, not just talk the talk. You also need to be a people person. This isn’t the kind of job where you can hide in your office – you need to go out and meet people.”

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A Focus on Service to Others

For Klanderman, leadership requires a focus on service to others. “If you flip the organizational chart and put the administrator on the bottom, that’s this job. Nobody cares if you have paperwork to do. If they need you, they need you now. It’s demanding as hell, and you have to be open with people and let them be who they are. But it’s a wonderful experience when people rely on you.”

“The difference between a leader and a manager is that the manager is doing the thing right, and the leader is doing the right thing. My job is to figure out what’s the right thing. It sounds like it should be so simple, but it isn’t. I just appreciate the opportunity to try.”

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