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Leadership

Your first 90 days as a nursing home administrator

DW

Dana Whitfield, LNHA
February 24, 2026 · 7 min read

Spend the first two weeks listening. Round on every shift, including nights and weekends, and ask each department head what they would fix if they had your signature authority.

Fix one visible, unglamorous thing fast — a broken ice machine, a chronically late supply order. Credibility is built on small completed promises.

Do not reorganize the leadership team in month one. You cannot yet tell who is difficult from who is exhausted.

By day ninety you should own the budget, the staffing plan and the QAPI agenda, and the team should know exactly how you make decisions.

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