A Care Facility Director's Typical Day
Being an executive director of a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, or what is also called an RCFE administrator, can be a very rewarding career. However, before you pursue any major life changes it’s a good idea to learn about what kinds of things you’ll be doing on a daily basis. Here are some typical daily activities that an RCFE admin can expect.
Budget Management
Unless you have a separate Chief Financial Officer you will most likely spend a lot of time on financial administration and budget management. You’ll want to monitor monthly budget reports on a regular basis to ensure you won’t exceed your annual budget. You may also need to review invoices and sign off on large expenditures prior to purchase.
Program Supervision
Although an RCFE Administrator is an executive position, you’re still responsible for overall program operations. Because of this, you should plan to spend time walking around and monitoring programs. You should always have a good handle on program operations and be able to speak to your successes if it comes up in business meetings. You should probably also review monthly program calendars and menus before they’re published.
Supervising Staff
An RCFE Admin should only be responsible for directly supervising a few staff members. Depending on the size of the organization you might have a Chief of Staff, and may only be responsible for supervising that position and possibly your assistant. Smaller facilities, though, will generally have a few management positions who oversee employees.
Meetings
Lastly, like most other executive positions you should expect to attend a lot of meetings. These could include staff meetings, meetings with the resident's family members, making presentations to a Board of Directors, local neighborhood meetings, medical consultations, attending local city council meetings, and possibly meeting with local pharmaceutical representatives.
It can be a very busy job, but most people find it very fulfilling.