HCS 504 Week 1 Career Field Alignment and SMART Goals Example

From Lead Respiratory Therapist to Department Director: Aligning a Master of Health Administration With a Career Path Through Five SMART Goals

[Student Name]

University of Phoenix

HCS/504: Introduction to Graduate Study in Health Sciences/Nursing

Week 1 Assignment

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The student, hospital and department are composites written for a model paper; labor market figures and research come from the sources listed.

Last spring, my department director at a composite 280-bed community hospital took two weeks of leave, and I covered as acting manager of respiratory care. In nine years as a respiratory therapist, the last three as lead therapist on the day shift, I had solved staffing gaps and trained new graduates, but I had never built a budget variance report, answered a patient complaint in writing or sat in a capital equipment meeting. Those two weeks showed me the job I want and how much I need to learn to earn it. This paper explains why I chose the Master of Health Administration, how its outcomes align with that job and the goals I will use to measure my progress.

Where I Am Now

As lead therapist, I assign 14 therapists across the intensive care unit, emergency department and medical floors, keep the ventilator inventory, review protocol compliance and orient new staff. I hold the registered respiratory therapist credential and a bachelor's degree in respiratory care. My experience is clinical and operational at the shift level. What I lack is the view above the shift: finance, strategy, regulation and the data leaders use to make the case for resources.

Where I Want to Go

My goal is to become director of respiratory care, or a broader cardiopulmonary services director, within five years. The director at my hospital manages a $6.8 million budget, 48 employees, the pulmonary function laboratory and the hospital's ventilator program. She also represents the department on the quality committee and negotiates with vendors.

Is the Path Realistic?

Federal data suggest it is. Medical and health services managers earned a median wage of $123,860 in 2025, and the field is expected to add 24% more jobs over the ten years ending in 2035, with about 62,300 openings each year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026). Many hospitals now list a master's degree as preferred or required for department director roles, and my hospital's posting for the last director opening did both: it required a bachelor's degree and five years of clinical experience and preferred a master's in health administration or business.

What the Director Actually Does

Before writing this paper, I asked my director to describe a typical month. Her list included preparing the monthly budget variance report, approving schedules and overtime, reviewing ventilator-associated event data with the infection prevention team, responding to two patient complaints, meeting a vendor about high-flow oxygen devices, preparing for a Joint Commission tracer, interviewing candidates and coaching a therapist with attendance problems. About half of her time is spent on people and money, a quarter on quality and regulation and the rest on planning and meetings.

How the Program Aligns

The program's outcomes fall into five areas, and each connects to part of her month. Health care finance prepares me for budgets, variance reports and capital requests. Leadership and human resources coursework addresses hiring, coaching and discipline. Law, ethics and regulation connect to accreditation, privacy and patient complaints. Informatics and data analysis prepare me to use quality and productivity data. Strategy and innovation prepare me to plan services, such as expanding the pulmonary rehabilitation program our hospital has discussed for two years.

Why Goals Must Be Specific

Research on goal setting explains why vague intentions rarely change behavior. Across decades of studies, specific and difficult goals led to higher performance than instructions to do one's best, especially when people received feedback and were committed to the goal (Locke & Latham, 2002). The SMART format, first proposed for management objectives, asks that goals be specific, measurable, assignable or achievable, realistic and time-related (Doran, 1981). A goal I cannot check on a stated date is a wish, not a plan.

Goal One: Complete the First Year With Strong Grades

I will complete the first eight courses of the program with a grade of B+ or higher in each by June 30 of next year. I will track grades after each course and meet with my academic adviser if any course falls below that level.

Goal Two: Build Finance Skills on the Job

By the end of my finance course, I will prepare the department's monthly budget variance report for three consecutive months under my director's review, with her written feedback on each.

Goal Three: Lead a Quality Project

Within 18 months, I will lead a project to reduce the time from a physician's order for high-flow oxygen to its start in the emergency department, measuring the median time before and after and presenting results to the quality committee.

Goal Four: Earn a Leadership Credential

Within two years, I will complete my professional association's management program and document at least 40 hours of formal leadership training.

Goal Five: Apply for a Director Role

Within five years, and within one year of finishing the program, I will apply for at least two director or assistant director positions in respiratory or cardiopulmonary services.

Balancing Work, School and Family

My schedule is three 12-hour shifts on days each week, and I have two children in school. I will study on two weekday evenings and one non-working day each week, about 15 hours in total, and I have arranged with my manager to avoid mandatory overtime during finals weeks. My spouse has agreed to cover school pickups on study days.

Obstacles I Expect

Three obstacles are likely. The first is time: a winter surge in respiratory illness regularly brings overtime requests, and in past years I have worked 20 or more extra hours in some months. The second is the finance coursework, since my last accounting class was in community college. The third is the move from peer to manager, since the therapists I would supervise are colleagues I have worked beside for years. For the first, I will plan lighter course loads for the winter terms if the program allows. For the second, I will use the university's tutoring center and practice with the department's real budget. For the third, I will ask my director how she handled the same transition and read about it before it happens, not after.

Support and Review

My director has offered to mentor me informally, and we have set a standing monthly meeting. I will review progress on each goal at the end of every course, adjust dates if needed and record evidence of progress, such as reports and presentations, for my program portfolio.

Conclusion

Two weeks as acting manager showed me the director's job and the gaps in my preparation. The Master of Health Administration addresses those gaps in finance, leadership, regulation, data and strategy. Federal data show a growing field, and goal-setting research explains why my plans must be specific and measurable. Five goals, each with a measure and a date, turn the move from lead therapist to director into a plan I can check.

References

Doran, G. T. (1981). There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives. Management Review, 70(11), 35-36.

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.9.705

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Medical and health services managers. In Occupational outlook handbook. U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm