The nurse manager receives the budget variance report for the assigned nursing unit. What other critical information must the nurse manager consider to evaluate this report?

Question

a. Projection of costs in the operating budget
b. The amount of money allocated to meet expected costs
c. Figures on which a zero-based budget were determined
d. Planning needs for unit staffing based on patient acuity

Answer 1

A
The operating or budget costs are guidelines by which the nurse manager determines whether the unit has operated within allowable expenses. This is often called an expense or operating budget. The other options are not considered critical information that the nurse manager would need to consider when evaluating the report. The operating budget also includes all of the items necessary for care on the unit. These are called line items in a budget and include such things as supplies, telephones, small equipment (e.g., wheelchairs, nurse pagers, fax machines), postage, and copying costs. Some of these are variable costs—that is, costs that change with the volume of patients cared for in a year. Zero-based budgeting is the efficient allocation of resources because it is based on needs and benefits where all expenditures have to be approved.