Budget Negotiations and Communication
Formal communications with the key stakeholders is an integral approach to budget negotiations. It ensures the budget team and nurse leaders emphasize the proposed budget’s justification, thus gaining stakeholders’ buy-in and support (Barber, Lorenzoni & Ong, 2020). Communicating the financial needs of a unit to the stakeholders also ensures there is support and enough funding for the unit despite the financial constraints of healthcare institutions and the competition from other units and departments in the institution.
The proposed budget has the psychiatric department’s projected expenses and revenue for the financial year. The budget was well researched, calculated, and thought of by our budgeting team. We are therefore presenting this executive summary of the strategic plan and budget justification to provide profound insight to our stakeholders, hopeful that you will consider and approve the budget.
The psychiatric department is one of the busiest departments at Maxela health since it receives the highest number of patients. Thus, it needs funding, and your consideration and approval of its budget will ensure improved productivity, care quality, and patient outcomes. This executive summary presents an outline of the strategic plan, the approach used to ensure staff productivity while maintaining the budget parameters, justification of equipment and service costs, and an analysis of the department’s alignment to the institution’s goal and mission.
Strategic Plan to Ensure Profitability and Fiscal Success
Institutional goal: To be at the frontline in providing holistic care services to the community, serving all populations using the preventive, promotive, and curative approaches.
Objectives: To improve patient satisfaction and provide patient-centered care, to provide access to cost-effective care for all populations in the community, and to reach all population needs through health promotion, prevention, and curative approaches.
Action plan: Provision of holistic care, health promotion, and prevention interventions in the community. Provide quality care for all populations in all departments.
Vision statement: Towards the leading care-providing institution in the community through quality, holistic, and patient-centered care provision.
Mission statement: To be the answer for all healthcare needs in the community and propagate towards a community of desirable well-being.
Core values: Quality, patient-centeredness, integrity, humanity, servanthood, and collaboration.
SWOT analysis:
Strengths
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Weaknesses
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Opportunities
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Threats
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The plan implementation requires a collaboration of the interprofessional team and the delegation of responsibilities. The team, consisting of the psychiatric doctors, psychiatric nurses, ward assistants, the nurse manager, and patient assistants, will work together to meet the institution’s goals. The nurse manager will evaluate the department’s operations and ensure they are aligned with the goal.
Interestingly, a study by Esfahani, Mosadeghrad, and Akbarisari (2018) revealed that strategic planning is not entirely successful in enhancing organizational performance. However, strategic planning can enhance organizational performance when developed and implemented effectively.
Approach to Meet Staff Productivity Goals while Staying within the Budget Parameters
The plan addresses the major factors affecting staffing and productivity. The major factors affecting staffing are high turnover rates and workloads leading to unmanageable shifts, especially for the nurses. The strategic plan will ensure low turnover rates and inadequate staffing will be addressed in the strategic plan by hiring more staff and improving the work environment for the psychiatric nurses and other care providers.
One of the factors affecting productivity includes inadequate healthcare equipment and inadequate space for expansion. For instance, there are inadequate electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) machines in the psychiatric unit, which is essential for the unit’s productivity. However, the budget outlines the expenses to purchase such equipment, thus helping improve the unit’s productivity and the entire Maxela health institution’s productivity.
As mentioned in the previous assessment, the unit has inadequate space for expansion since being a 35-bed unit is unproportioned to the number of patients who visit the department. The budget outlines the expenses required for additional requirements. The proposed staffing levels will help achieve the organizational goals. Since the institution’s goal is to provide holistic care to members of all health populations in the community, increased staffing levels will ensure the goal is met by reducing the current shortage.
The staffing metrics that support this plan are the recruitment and hiring cost metrics. According to Lasendrini and Reis (2022), the recruitment and hiring staffing metric is one of the most effective methods, despite being costly. The department faces inadequate staffing, which mandates the allocation of resources for hiring and recruitment.
Equipment and Service Costs Justification
All the services offered at Maxela health aim to meet the organizational goals. The equipment to be acquired will also contribute to achieving the goals. The costs were calculated using the estimation from the previous year’s budget. The amount allocated for purchasing equipment in the previous year was inadequate, leading to a deficit at the end of the financial year.
Therefore, we included an additional 15% in last year’s amount, increasing from $29325 to $34500 for office equipment and furniture. We hope that this year we will not have a deficit and acquire the equipment on time since they are needed for the productivity of the psychiatric department. Maximizing the available resources involves getting stakeholders’ insights and feedback on the proposed budget (Freeman et al., 2021).
The information gathered from stakeholders to ensure that we maximize the available resources includes the available resources, the best places to purchase the equipment, and past experiences in similar budget management. The projected costs are based on the assumption that there will be minimal inflation; thus, the equipment prices remain manageable.
Psychiatric Department’s Alignment with the organization’s Mission and Goals.
Every unit in a healthcare institution should align its budget with its goals and mission (Shirinashihama, 2019). The services offered at the psychiatric department at Maxela health are aligned with its mission and goals. The mission is to become the leading healthcare proving institution for all populations in the community and ensure the community’s well-being.
The services offered by the psychiatric department will include health promotion, mental health awareness, and patient education, thus working in line with the mission of Maxela health institution. The institution aims to provide holistic care to all populations using the promotive, curative and preventive healthcare provision approaches. The services will cover all three goal considerations by providing the best treatment services, creating health awareness in the community, and conducting health promotion initiatives.
Conclusion
The proposed operating budget will help the psychiatric department work in line with meeting the institution’s goal and mission. Funding the budget will enhance productivity. The budget management, as outlined above, will ensure the profitability and financial success of the unit. The executive summary has outlined the strategic plan and the justification of the proposed budget to ensure you understand them better. However, we acknowledge the competition for funding from other departments in the institution.
References
Barber, S. L., Lorenzoni, L., & Ong, P. (2020). Institutions for health care price setting and regulation: A comparative review of eight settings. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 35(2), 639-648. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.2954
Esfahani, P., Mosadeghrad, A. M., & Akbarisari, A. (2018). The success of strategic planning in health care organizations of Iran. International Journal Of Health Care Quality Assurance. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHCQA-08-2017-0145
Freeman, R. E., Dmytriyev, S. D., & Phillips, R. A. (2021). Stakeholder theory and the resource-based view of the firm. Journal of Management, 47(7), 1757-1770. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0149206321993576
Lesandrini, J., & Reis, D. (2022). Ethical Challenges in Staffing: The Importance of Building Moral Muscle. Frontiers of Health Services Management, 38(4), 33-38. https://doi.org/10.1097/HAP.0000000000000140
Shirinashihama, Y. (2019). The positive and negative consequences of “managerialization”: Evidence from Japanese nonprofit elderly care service providers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 48(2), 309-333. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0899764018797466
Budget Negotiations and Communication Instructions
Nurs-Fpx 6216-A3 Budget Negotiations and Communication
5 sources
Write a 3–5-page executive summary that justifies the operating budget you prepared in Assessment 2.
Introduction
Note: Complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.
Negotiating budgets and communicating financial needs to stakeholders are vital skills for nurse leaders. Given today’s numerous constraints on funding and a highly competitive environment, the ability to win support for your budget proposals hinges on being able to present a compelling argument based on well-documented needs, accurate financial information, and a justifiable business case.
This assessment provides an opportunity for you to examine the mission and goals of a health care organization, in order to justify a budget proposal. A persuasive argument requires thoughtful justification and rationale for the expenses required to support your proposal. A proposal that supports the organization’s mission and goals strengthens your argument and is much more likely to get you what you need.
In every health care organization, dollars are scarce and the budget process is carefully scrutinized at every level. Nurse leaders must be business-savvy. They must be able to make a compelling case for why every budget line item and every dollar on a budget supports the mission and goals of the unit and the organization. This means that nurse leaders must be able to think in terms of the business of health care and be able to present a business proposal or plan with thorough and thoughtful justification and rationale for expenses. The business plan should present accurate, factual data and costs, and should also be concise and clearly organized.
Note: Complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.
Preparation
The financial department has reviewed your unit’s operating budget and has asked you to submit an executive summary that provides support for your budget proposal. Your challenge is to position your unit favorably within an environment of competing demands for limited funding.
As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.
Consider the operating budget you developed in Assessment 2.
- How would you justify your budget to executive leaders?
- How would you link your budget to the organization’s goals and objectives?
- How would you propose to meet productivity goals while staying within budget?
The following resources are required to complete the assessment.
- APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX]. Use this tutorial for your executive summary.
Requirements
​Note: The following requirements correspond to the grading criteria in the assessment scoring guide. Be sure that your executive summary addresses each point, at a minimum. You may also want to read the Guiding Questions: Budget Negotiations and Communication [DOCX] to better understand how each criterion will be assessed.
Write an executive summary of the operating budget you prepared in Assessment 2 that makes a compelling case for why funds should be allocated for your budget.
- Outline a strategic plan that ensures profitability and fiscal success.
- Present a plan to meet staff productivity goals, while staying within budget parameters.
- Justify equipment and service costs.
- Analyze department, unit, or project alignment with the organization’s mission and goals.
- Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics.
- Integrate relevant and credible sources of evidence to support your assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style.
Additional Requirements
Format your summary using APA style.
- Use the APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX] to help you in writing and formatting your summary. Be sure to include:
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- A title page and reference page. An abstract is not required.
- Appropriate section headings.
- A minimum of five properly formatted citations and references.
- Your summary should be 3–5 pages in length, not including the title page and reference page.
Portfolio Prompt: You may choose to save this learning activity to your ePortfolio.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
- Competency 1: Design an operating budget that incorporates variances or discretionary spending.
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- Outline a strategic plan that ensures profitability and fiscal success.
- Competency 2: Develop a plan for managing the labor force, within the parameters of the budget and productivity.
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- Present a plan to meet staff productivity goals, while staying within budget parameters.
- Competency 4: Determine the equipment and services needed to maintain seamless patient or client care.
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- Justify equipment and service costs.
- Competency 5: Apply financial principles to a strategic plan for achieving organizational goals and fiscal success.
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- Analyze department, unit, or project alignment with an organization’s mission and goals.
- Competency 6: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with applicable organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
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- Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics.
- Integrate relevant and credible sources of evidence to support your assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.
Guiding Questions
Budget Negotiations and Communication
This document is designed to give you questions to consider and additional guidance to help you successfully complete the Budget Negotiations and Communication assessment. You may find it useful to use this document as a pre-writing exercise, an outlining tool, or as a final check to ensure that you have sufficiently addressed all the grading criteria for this assessment. This document is a resource to help you complete the assessment. Do not turn in this document as your assessment submission.
Executive Summary
Write an executive summary of the operating budget you designed in Assessment 2 that makes a compelling case for why funds should be allocated for your budget.
Outline a strategic plan that ensures profitability and fiscal success.
- Does your executive summary begin with a strong first paragraph that captures the reader’s attention and compels her to read through the rest of the document?
- Is your plan truly strategic, rather than just an operational or business plan?
- Have you captured the key elements of your plan that you wish to communicate to executive leaders?
- Have you identified responsibilities for implementing the plan?
- What data or case studies support your plan?
Present a plan to meet staff productivity goals, while staying within budget parameters.
- Does your plan address the major factors affecting staffing and productivity?
- How will proposed staffing levels affect the attainment of organizational goals?
- What staffing metrics or case studies support your plan?
Justify equipment and service costs.
- How will the equipment and services contribute to organizational goals?
- How did you calculate costs?
- What information can be gathered from stakeholders to ensure that you maximize available resources?
Analyze department, unit, or project alignment with the organization’s mission and goals.
- Does your analysis clearly communicate these linkages?
- What evidence do you have to support your analysis?
Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics.
- Express your main points and conclusions coherently.
- Proofread your writing to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult to focus on the substance of your summary.
Integrate relevant and credible sources of evidence to support your assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.
- Integrate relevant evidence from at least five scholarly or professional sources.
Submission Reminders
- Have you effectively outlined a strategic plan that ensures profitability and fiscal success?
- Have you presented your plan for meeting staff productivity goals, while staying within budget parameters?
- Have you provided rational and compelling justification for the costs of equipment and services?
- Have you analyzed the alignment of your department, unit, or project with the organization’s mission and goals?
- Is your summary well-supported by at least five sources of credible evidence?
- Is your summary properly formatted and 3–5 pages in length, not including the title page and reference page?
- Have you proofread your writing to minimize errors that could distract the reader and make it more difficult to focus on the substance of your summary?
- Budget Negotiations and Communication Scoring Guide
| CRITERIA | NON-PERFORMANCE | BASIC | PROFICIENT | DISTINGUISHED |
| Outline a strategic plan that ensures profitability and fiscal success. | Does not outline a strategic plan that ensures profitability and fiscal success. | The outline is not compelling, not strategic, omits key elements or responsibilities, or fails to include data or case studies to support the plan. | Outlines a strategic plan that ensures profitability and fiscal success. | Outlines a strategic plan that ensures profitability and fiscal success, and identifies knowledge gaps, unknowns, missing information, unanswered questions, or areas of uncertainty. |
| Present a plan to meet staff productivity goals, while staying within budget parameters. | Does not present a plan to meet staff productivity goals, while staying within budget parameters. | Attempts to present a plan, but omits major factors affecting staffing and productivity, does not connect proposed staffing levels to the attainment of organizational goals, or omits staffing metrics or case studies that support the plan. | Presents a plan to meet staff productivity goals, while staying within budget parameters. | Presents a plan to meet staff productivity goals, while staying within budget parameters, including rationale for rejecting alternative approaches. |
| Justify equipment and service costs. | Does not justify equipment and service costs. | Attempts to justify equipment and service costs, but fails to explain contribution to organizational goals, cost calculations, or use of available resources. | Justifies equipment and service costs. | Justifies equipment and service costs, and identifies assumptions on which the projected costs are based. |
| Analyze department, unit, or project alignment with an organization’s mission and goals. | Does not connect department, unit, or project alignment with an organization’s mission and goals. | Attempts to connect department, unit, or project alignment with an organization’s mission and goals, but fails to communicate linkages clearly, or fails to provide evidence to support linkages. | Analyzes department, unit, or project alignment with an organization’s mission and goals. | Provides a persuasive analysis linking the department, unit, or project with an organization’s mission and goals. |
| Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics. | Does not write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics. | Writing is not consistently clear or concise, or errors in grammar and mechanics inhibit effective communication. | Writes clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics. | Writes clearly and concisely. Grammar and mechanics are error-free. |
| Integrate relevant and credible sources of evidence to support your assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style. | Does not integrate relevant and credible sources of evidence to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style. | Sources lack relevance or credibility, are poorly integrated, or are incorrectly formatted. | Integrates relevant and credible sources of evidence to support your assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style. | Integrates relevant, credible, and convincing sources of evidence to support assertions. Sources are current, and citations and references are error-free. |