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Nurses have always affected the way resources are allocated through their reports and commentaries concerning things they need to complete tasks assigned. At present, budgeting has become an indispensable part of nursing professional activity. In many cases, nurses provide reports including their potential budgets for a certain period. Nursing professionals provide these data to managers who create the budget. The nurse manager, who was interviewed via Skype®, shared her experiences regarding her budgeting responsibilities. For convenience, she will be referred to as Ann throughout the paper.
As to the methods used to develop budgets, Ann states that she applies the historical approach, but she also analyzes present-day data to estimate the volume of resources needed. The nurse manager adds that there are various conventions, she calls them traditional budgeting. Ann provides an example of such traditions. She claims that new nurses are often instructed to use a particular number of materials when implementing tasks. Basically, new employees use old models that are often outdated. These models make budgeting rather predetermined, so-to-speak. Carlin and Duffy (2013) also report similar cases, and one of the nursing professionals interviewed states that there is certain pressure as nurses are made to use things in a particular way.
It is necessary to note that Ann sees budgeting as a certain kind of forecasting of resources that will be needed. She stresses that she, as well as some other nursing professionals, also pays attention to the revenue as it can help her in developing effective budgets. The nurse manager states that she tries to estimate the size of the revenue to offer some improvements. For instance, several months ago, she suggested the use of a particular kind of soap and hand rub that required additional funds but had a positive effect on hand hygiene in the department. Ann notes that she anticipated that the revenue would increase due to some seasonal factors, so it was a good period to come up with a new strategy that turned out to be successful. Other departments are considering the use of this strategy as well. However, the interviewee also admits that such practices (paying attention to revenues) is still rather uncommon among her colleagues. Townsend, Wilkinson, and Kellner (2013) note that nurse managers often lack the necessary knowledge and skills due to insufficient training, which has adverse effects on carrying out their budgeting responsibilities.
Thus, when budgeting, Ann always pays attention to such aspects as expenses (resources needed, the time necessary to complete the task, nurses load, the need to address other professionals or departments, or even organizations, and so on). As for revenues, Ann focuses on such payers as patients and charities. She knows that her hospital provides many services to other organizations such as laboratory services. However, she does not know any details, so she does not include this information in her analysis. Ann emphasizes that she tries to be as thorough as possible as budgeting helps her provide high-quality healthcare services and decrease the workload.
On balance, it is possible to note that the interviewed nurse manager views her budgeting responsibilities in a positive way. She believes that budgeting helps to improve services provided and come up with new efficient strategies that can help nurses complete their tasks. The nurse manager also states that many of her colleagues see these responsibilities differently and tend to carry out them in quite an ineffective manner.
References
Carlin, A., & Duffy, K. (2013). Newly qualified staffs perceptions of senior charge nurse roles. Nursing Management, 20(7), 24-30.
Townsend, K., Wilkinson, A., & Kellner, A. (2013). Opening the black box in nursing work and management practice: The role of ward managers. Journal of Nursing Management, 23(2), 211-220.
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