Case Study
You are a nurse manager at a local skilled nursing facility (SNF). Today is April 1, and you have received the following budget printout for your department. Your charge nurses are requesting an additional registered nurse (RN) on both the day and night shifts (average annual salary cost per nurse would be approximately $65,000) since the patient acuity has increased dramatically over the last two years. Dr. Simpson has requested two new continuous passive motion (CPM) machines for the postoperative orthopedic patients on your unit at a cost of $3,000 each. In addition, you would like to attend a national orthopedics conference in New York in August at a projected cost of $1,500. The conference registration fee is $650 and is due now.
Annual Budget Expended in March Expended Year to Date Amount RemainingPersonnel (not including benefits) 600,000 68,000 475,000 125,000
Overtime 50,000 7,800 47,000 3,000
Supplies 28,000 2,500 23,500 4,500
Travel (personal) 2,200 0 1,700 500
Equipment 9,000 0 9,000 0
Staff Development 8,000 1,200 7,800 200
*Fiscal year begins July 1
**Remember, in fiscal planning you cannot shift money from one budgeted area to another to cover deficits.
Write a paper of at least 500 words (2 pages), addressing the following questions:
• How will you deal with these requests based on your current departmental budget?
• What expenses can and should be deferred to the new fiscal year?
• In what budgeting areas were your previous projections most accurate? Most inaccurate?
• Discuss at least three factors that may have contributed to these budgeting inaccuracies. Were the factors you discussed controllable or predictable? Why or why not?
Sample Solution