Written Assignment 2 Assignment due: Sunday 9 p.m. of Week 6 of the course Guidelines for writing…

Written Assignment 2

Assignment due: Sunday 9 p.m. of Week 6 of the course

Guidelines for writing the paper:

• Use references for assistance in completing the assignment.
• Use your text readings for support.
• Do not include the case study scenario paragraphs in your paper.
• The questions are to be answered in a narrative text using APA (6th edition) guidelines for both the text and the references.
• The maximum number of pages is six double-spaced, excluding the title page and reference page.

Case Study:

You are the manager of an intensive care unit. Today is April 1st, and the fiscal year began on July 1st. You work with a variable budget and have the opportunity to make changes to the current budget based on variance. You cannot go over the total budgeted amount assigned to you. Your budget is presented below.

	Annual Budget	Expended in March	Expended Year to Date	Amount Remaining
Personnel	300,000	25,000	175,000	125,000
Overtime	50,000	0	50,000	0
Supplies	18,000	1,800	16,500	1,500
Travel	1,000	0	300	700
Equipment	5,000	0	5,000	0
Staff education	1,000	200	600	400

Several factors that you must consider include:

1. A changing staffing pattern as a result of high acuity on your unit. Your care managers have requested permanent staff lines.
2. The risk manager wants you to purchase new “smart pumps.” These are IV pumps that calculate and manage high risk medications in order to meet JCAHO safety standards. Right now there is a special price of $3, 000.00/per pump. The risk manager thinks 3 pumps is a good start.
3. Your prevalence rate of pressure ulcers is rising on the unit, wound care supplies are part of the unit supplies budget.
4. Three of your best nurses want to attend a conference on high risk medications out of state in September. The registration fee is $300.00, and if you register now, the three can attend for $200.00 each. Projected travel costs are $500.00 each.

Case Study Questions:

In a paper format determine the following:

1. How you will address these requests based on the budget print out.
2. What expenses can be deferred to the new fiscal year.

• What budgeting area was your previous projections most accurate.
• What budgeting area was your previous projections most inaccurate.
• Year to date variance for each category.
• Factors that may have contributed to situations of being over budget as determined by variance.

Steps that could be taken in the 4th quarter to adjust the budget.

Grading criteria for Assignment 2 Fiscal Concerns in the Health Care Setting

Answer the above questions by writing a narrative. The following points are awarded for these areas:

Content	Points
Addressing requests	20
Deferred expenses	20
Accuracy of projections and rationale	20
Calculating variance	10
Adjusting the budget	10
APA format; minimum of two professional references	10
Grammar	10
Total	100

Mentor’s tips:There may be several plausible explanations or answers. The most important thing is that your answers are consistent within your paper, and that your numbers add up. Tables may be helpful in this paper