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Inside the Fall 09 Issue
Feature
Empowering Nurse Managers to Be Effective Business Leaders
The need for hands-on business training for nurse leaders has become even more important in these cost-conscious times.
Ask a Nurse Leader
How Nurse Leaders Can Help Increase Patient Volumes
by Kathleen D. Sanford, RN, MA, DBA, FACHE
Nurse managers can offer their expertise and insight during strategic planning and marketing efforts aimed at increasing patient volumes. Read the column.
How We Did It
Helping Patients Make Appropriate Medical Decisions
In shared decision making, nurses and other staff provide the patient with balanced information about treatment options and incorporate the patient's preferences and values into the medical plan.
Business School for Nurses
Benchmarking Labor Data
by ChrysMarie Suby, RN, MS
Comparing HPPD and caregiver-to-patient ratios against national benchmarks will allow you to confidently budget and defend necessary labor hours. View benchmark data for critical care ICUs.
Finance-to-Nurse Interpreter
Productivity Terms
by ChrysMarie Suby, RN, MS
Definitions for direct care, indirect care, productive worked hours, and more. Read the article.
Staffing Exercise
Matching Caregiver Ratios and Hours of Care to Work Intensity/Acuity
Do you suspect that your budgeted RN-to-patient ratios and HPPD targets are inadequate? Follow this hypothetical example for how to justify a possible increase. Read the article.
Operational Strategies
Increasing Nurse Salaries Contributes to Public Hospital's Turnaround
by Jan R. Radke, MD
A big part of the financial pressure at Natividad Medical Center involved nursing shortages, high turnover rates, and high registry costs. Changes in human resources policies and compensation was overdue. Read the article.