Nursing Budgeting Process Paper

Over the last decades both public and private hospitals have been experiencing severe financial situations (Everhart, Neff, Al-Amin, Nogle, & Weech-Maldonado, 2013). The financial shortage is associated with delay or even lack of governmental sponsorship and competition from their rivals. Enacting the policy will mount financial pressure on these hospitals that are on cost-cutting strategies. The salaries and wages of nurses are dominating the costs of operation in the hospitals and therefore adding more staff to correct the understaffing will be like creating another problem (Goddard, 2003). Contrary, Empirical studies prove that adequate nurse staffing produces better outcomes for both the staffs and the patients (Donaldson & Shapiro, 2010). These do not mean that the financial performance of the health centers will be at stake. Quality is associated with profitability. Understaffing leads to increased workloads, fatigue and job dissatisfaction. These situations that can be corrected on the implementation of proper staffing policies (Everhart, Neff, Al-Amin, Nogle, & Weech-Maldonado, 2013). The policy aims at offering quality service, reasonable patient-doctor ratios, reducing high mortality rates, improving the health of patients through proper examination and disease diagnosis among other

Staffing needs affect the nursing department’s budget, staff productivity, the quality of care provided to patients and even the retention of nurses (Jooste, 2013). The nurse manager has to explain to the management of the benefits of change in providing adequate staffing all the time. Adequate staffing helps staff retention. Staff retention saves a lot of money in terms of orienting new people to the unit. Safe staffing always helps in the reduction of falls, infection rates, pressure ulcers, decrease hospital stays and death. Flexible and creative scheduling is essential for retaining staff and promoting a positive work climate (Grohar-Murray & Langan, 2011). Adequate staffing with good staffing ratio will help nurses to concentrate on their patient care which may help in a reduction in medical errors and lawsuits to the hospital.

One of the major functions of a nurse manager is managing a budget and allocating resources necessary to manage the unit or facility effectively. “Major steps in the budgeting process include gathering information and planning, developing unit budgets, developing cash budgets, negotiating and revising, and using feedback to control budget results and improve future plans”(Yoder-Wise, 2012, p. 244). The nurse manager must be able to accommodate variances and acclimate the budget in both the projections and up-to-date expenditures. Proficiency in managing a unit level budget is essential for both a favorable variance and optimal patient outcomes. Budgeting entails reviewing revenues and expenses, staffing costs, supplies, and capital equipment costs (Contino, 2001). This case study examines personnel, overtime (OT), supplies, travel, equipment, and staff education and the manner in which management can address these factors.

In terms of resources and finances, inpatient care is the most costly form of healthcare. It not only requires the medical supplies, but basic care supplies such as food, bedding, etc. It requires more practical resources in terms of electricity and other services, as well as more human resources, as the patients require round the clock care and availability. Hospitals and centers providing inpatient care therefore need a minimum of two shifts, and possibly three in order to avoid unnecessary and costly mistakes due to the workers’ exhaustion.

This process paper will evaluate the complex relationship between disease pathophysiology and how it has progressed to the patient’s current state of health. It will include a comprehensive discussion of chronic and acute problems leading to the patient’s hospital admission, a complete description of interrelationships and pathophysiology for all medical diagnoses, a comprehensive discussion of the client’s signs and symptoms and results of all diagnostic studies to the underlying pathophysiology, and a comprehensive listing of all medications ordered at the time of admission with explanations of why each was ordered and identification of the most common side effects which may

This research paper is a brief discussion of budget management analysis. Budgeting is the key to financial management, and is the key to translates an organization goals or plan into money. Budgeting is a rough estimate of how much a company will need to get their work done, and provides the basis for evaluating performance, a source of motivation, coordinating business activities, a tool for management communication and instructions to employees. Without a budget an organization would be like a driver, driving blinded without instructions or any sense of direction, that’s how important a budget is to every organization and individual likewise (Clark, 2005).

The pre-operative stage is an important phase in patient’s surgery process. This is the time where the patients is experiencing a lot of anxiety issues and have questions regarding the impending procedure. To help ensure good patient outcomes, it is imperative to provide complete preoperative instructions and discharge instructions (Allison & George, 2014). It is the nurses’ duty to safe guard and protects the patient’s welfare during the surgical experience. Effective preoperative preparation is known to enhance postoperative pain management and recovery. Health professionals need to be cognizant of the contextual factors that influence patients’ preoperative experiences and give context appropriate care (Aziato & Adejumo, 2014).

As the charge nurse of the acute care, the nurse interviewed is in charge of 6 employees in that specific department, but on the weekend she leads the entire hospital. Although being a nurse leader has its challenges, it’s great when everyone works together to achieve their goals and it becomes very fun. In regards to a budget, she has to conduct one for her responsibilities in infection control. This comes with many obstacles as it is hard to predict the budget for the entire year, and this was never taught to nurses in school or as part of job training (R. H., personal communication, November 12, 2016).

We operate a small privately owned clinic so our extra budget requirements are less than that of some larger facilities. To change the current procedure and protocol for assessing risk, we have created a budget to learn more about how we can help prevent and handle our geriatric populations fall risks and train the community as well as our staff. We have established a budget for continuing education for our nurse practitioner, who in turn will relay that training to our medical assistants and staff in our clinic. We have also created additional tools, and patient information forms and brochures, that will require additional funds to produce.

In recent years, the healthcare industry has seen a significant decline in the quality of patient care it provides. This has been the result of reduced staffing levels, overworked nurses, and an extremely high nurse to patient ratio. The importance of nurse staffing in hospital settings is an issue of great controversy. Too much staff results in costs that are too great for the facility to bear, but too little staffing results in patient care that is greatly hindered. Moreover, the shaky economy has led to widespread budget cuts; this, combined with the financial pressures associated with Medicare and private insurance companies have forced facilities to make due with fewer

Healthcare changes occurring today along with shrinking budgets and reimbursement rates for hospitals has forced institution CEOs to do more with less. Changes and restructuring of various health facilities require nursing leaders with flexibility and adaptability. Nurse leaders must also consider budgetary constraints, cost effectiveness, patient safety, and quality care while maintaining focus on improved patient outcome. The responsibility of ensuring patients receive safe and high quality care belongs to every employee in the hospital, including support staff such as IV therapy. In this hospital, this led to the development of a nurse director position to oversee the

The nurse manager I selected to interview is a Baccalaureate degree nurse and has attended several in-house training sessions related to her position within the hospital. She attended Lenoir Rhyne University to obtain her BSN and has been employed with the institution for 13 years and has been in nursing for nearly 20 years. She is currently certified as a Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) and is also a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. The Hospital that she is employed with is a private hospital she manages a 15 bed emergency department and 6 bed express care facility, which also holds several involuntary commitments for several hours at a time waiting on placement.

Budgeting is the systematic method of allocating financial, physical, and human resources to achieve an organization’s strategic goals. Budgets are utilized by for-profit and non-profit organizations to monitor the progress towards the goals, assist in the control of spending, and help predict cash flow for the organization.

The preponderance of literature on the subject of patient acuity classification systems demonstrates that this traditional measure of budgetary decisions in the

The personnel budget, being the largest part of the operating budget, consists of multiple factors such as the average daily census, patient acuity, personnel required relating to full-time equivalents (FTEs), as well as productive and non-productive hours. The supplies include medical and office supplies, minor equipment, orientation and training, and travel expenses. Although budgets are based on assumptions, using the previous year’s expenses for personnel and supplies, helps the nurse manager/leader to accurately predict the next year’s budget.