Identify the steps required in developing a nursing service business plan and explain why they are important.

The purpose of this assessment is to explore and apply the principles of
business planning and budget development within a hypothetical clinical
area.
Select one of the following case analyses and answer the questions
below.
Case analysis (a)
You are the Nurse Manager of a 32 bed general surgical ward in a
metropolitan hospital in a major city. As a result of a restructuring of the
hospital networks in the local Area Health Service you have been asked to
combine the 32 general surgical ward with a new 12 bed, short stay
surgical ward which has been built adjacent to your ward. Please answer
the questions that follow in relation to this case analysis.
Case analysis (b)
You are the Nurse Manager of a 42 bed, high care aged care facility and
as a result of increased demand for dementia services in the area plans
have now been approved to add a 12 bed dementia specific unit to your
facility. Please answer the questions that follow in relation to this case
analysis taking into account the new unit that is to be added to the
facility.
Case analysis (c)
You are the Team leader of a community based team of 7 nurses based on
the grounds of 40 bed hospital in a rural area of Australia. Your
catchment covers a large geographical area. The area health service is
restructuring with the hospital profile being changed. Negotiations are
currently underway about the expansion of the community team. It is
envisaged that the community team’s workload will triple and will also be
required to offer acute assessment and case management of mental
health clients. Please answer the questions that follow taking into
account the increased workload.

Include an introduction and conclusion (approx. 200 words).
1. Developing a business plan (approx. 1000 words)

o Identify the steps required in developing a nursing service
business plan and explain why they are important.
o Name the documents and data would you need to collect and
analyse to develop a service profile. Examine the service
demand for the new service level.
o Explain the type of workload methodology that might be
useful for determining the supply of nurses required to staff
the new service level.
o Briefly discuss any skill-mix or staff education issues which
might need to be taken into account for the new combined
service.

2. Developing a cost centre budget (approx. 1000 words)

 Discuss the benefits of having the Nurse Manager develop a
cost centre budget for a specific area of responsibility.
 Flexible, zero-based and historical-based budgeting are three
alternative budgeting methods that could be adopted by the
Nurse Manager to develop a budget plan for this new
combined service. Which method would you consider
most appropriate and why? Your answer should compare and
contrast the different methodologies and include discussion of
the merits, weaknesses and applications of each model.
 In the context of developing a cost centre expenditure
budget:
o
 Provide an outline the three main areas of expenditure
(line items) that will be considered for the expenditure
budget and give examples of the issues to be considered
for each area of expenditure prior to starting
calculations.
 Identify and discuss the cost centre reports generated
within your organisation that will be used to provide a
baseline for the budget calculations.

3. Develop a sample Salaries and Wages budget (approx. 300 words)


o Develop a sample Salaries and Wages budget for this profile
and make notes on all your calculations to demonstrate your
thinking. Explain the assumptions that you make to underpin
your decisions.