This week, we talked about budgeting. It was not my favorite week... It's horrible, but I get so bored talking about money and finances. My financial lit class in high school is one of my worst high school memories, no joke.
Overall, I'm glad that we talked about this, because I know that budgeting IS an important part of leadership, but man, if it isn't one of the things that drives me away from leadership, I don't know what is.
For one of our assignments this week, we had to look at a Med/Surg budget and decide what areas we could make cuts to:
The hospital administration has called you (as a nurse leader) to the boardroom for a sensitive meeting. The hospital has not met budget for the 3rd month in a row. Potential layoff are discussed, as well as possible closure of departments and services.
This assignment was basically my worst nightmare. I do not want to be given a budget and told that I have to make cuts or we will have to make layoffs or close departments and services. Maybe I'm just too tender-hearted to be a leader.
Anyway, the way I chose to approach the assignment was to look at areas that had a significant difference between what was budgeted and what was spent (mostly those that were spending significantly under their given budget). In the end, it wasn't too terrible, but I'm not sure if the cuts I made were effective or if they would even end up reducing the budget. I don't feel qualified to deal with budgets.
Our team assignment for this week was to share with our team members where we chose to make our budget cuts and why. I'm glad we did this because it gave me an opportunity to see what my other team members thought and how they chose to make their budget cuts. Some of them were fairly similar to mine, but one team member actually looked at areas where they were over budget and made suggestions to reduce spending in those areas. Which was a different way of looking at it, and challenged my thinking a little bit.
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As it turned out, this week wasn't too bad. As I mentioned at the beginning of this journal, it wasn't my favorite because budgeting is the bane of my existence, but I do feel like in this class I have been learning more about what leaders actually have to deal with. Sometimes it's difficult topics, like making the decision to terminate someone, and sometimes it's boring stuff like looking at budgets and making cuts. I don't know, I'm sure some people like it. Let's just say there's a reason I didn't go into accounting and leave it at that, haha.
Overall, I'm glad that we talked about this, because I know that budgeting IS an important part of leadership, but man, if it isn't one of the things that drives me away from leadership, I don't know what is.
For one of our assignments this week, we had to look at a Med/Surg budget and decide what areas we could make cuts to:
The hospital administration has called you (as a nurse leader) to the boardroom for a sensitive meeting. The hospital has not met budget for the 3rd month in a row. Potential layoff are discussed, as well as possible closure of departments and services.
A bold department leader asks, how much the hospital is behind in revenue. The answer is 10%. The same leader asks the administration to allow each department to determine how to cut 10% of their department's annual budget, instead of arbitrary cuts by administration. The administration agrees, and hands out a copy to you of your monthly department budget.
You will review the Med/Surg Budget.pdf and determine how to cut the monthly budget by 10% ($14,550.00) from the Medical/Surgical Department annual budget. Show as a summary the exact amount you will cut.
This assignment was basically my worst nightmare. I do not want to be given a budget and told that I have to make cuts or we will have to make layoffs or close departments and services. Maybe I'm just too tender-hearted to be a leader.
Anyway, the way I chose to approach the assignment was to look at areas that had a significant difference between what was budgeted and what was spent (mostly those that were spending significantly under their given budget). In the end, it wasn't too terrible, but I'm not sure if the cuts I made were effective or if they would even end up reducing the budget. I don't feel qualified to deal with budgets.
Our team assignment for this week was to share with our team members where we chose to make our budget cuts and why. I'm glad we did this because it gave me an opportunity to see what my other team members thought and how they chose to make their budget cuts. Some of them were fairly similar to mine, but one team member actually looked at areas where they were over budget and made suggestions to reduce spending in those areas. Which was a different way of looking at it, and challenged my thinking a little bit.
As it turned out, this week wasn't too bad. As I mentioned at the beginning of this journal, it wasn't my favorite because budgeting is the bane of my existence, but I do feel like in this class I have been learning more about what leaders actually have to deal with. Sometimes it's difficult topics, like making the decision to terminate someone, and sometimes it's boring stuff like looking at budgets and making cuts. I don't know, I'm sure some people like it. Let's just say there's a reason I didn't go into accounting and leave it at that, haha.
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