Mentor Interview – Budgeting

Preparation
You are the nurse manager of a new urgent care clinic, and one of your first tasks is to prepare next year’s operating budget. Like many nurses, you have had little or no direct experience with the budgeting process and realize that financial management is not one of your strengths as a leader. Consequently, you have decided that you need to reach out for help from someone in the facility with budgeting experience and financial management expertise who can offer you help and insight.

Requirements
Interview
Conduct an interview with your site supervisor, or other nurse leader whom you consider to be a mentor in the area of health care finance. Discuss their experience with operations and capital budgets in their current or previous role. Explore the following topics in your interview:

Their experience managing an operating budget.
Their approach to managing productivity within the parameters of the budget.
Their approach to oversight of the appropriate use and availability of equipment and supplies.
The experience of managing a capital budget.
How managing a capital budget differs from managing an operating budget.
Their application of finance principles to fulfill the organization’s mission and goals.

Prepare a written analysis of your findings from the interview, supplemented by your own research and evaluation of budget management techniques.

Compare the process of managing an operating budget to that of managing a capital budget.
Describe the process of allocating resources for labor, equipment, and services.
Describe an effective approach that contributes to planning for profitability and fiscal success.
Evaluate the nurse leader’s approach to budget management.