Calculating a Nursing Personnel Budget

Dr. Belal Hijji, RN, PhD

December 6, 2011

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Learning Outcomes

At the end of this clinical day, students will be able to:

• Calculate the nursing personnel budget required for a nursing unit.

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Scenario

• You are a nurse manager of a male medical ward with 32 beds. The ratio of registered nurses (RNs) to other nursing personnel is 1:1. You were asked to calculate the nursing personnel budget for this ward based on the following formula:Average daily census x nursing hours x 1.4 x 1.4/ 8

Where:Average daily census (ADC) = 17 patients.Hours per patient day (HPPD) = 10.5. 1.4 is a constant representing 7 days a week with a full time employee working 5days a week = 7/5 = 1.41.14 is a constant which allows for 0.14 FTE for vacation, sickness, etc. for eachFTE.8 is one workday. Therefore:17 x 10.5 x 1.4 x 1.14/ 8 = 36 FTEs. This means that the budgeted staffing forthe Male Medical Ward consists of 18 RNs, 9 licensed practical nurses, and 9nursing assistants.

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What Should You Do Next?

• Based on this teaching session, you need to apply the knowledge you obtained to the hospital ward you are assigned today. You need to work with your clinical instructor who should help you by providing approximate information about the ADC, HPPD, and the ratio of RNs to other nursing personnel.

• You should be able to calculate the nursing personnel budget for the nurses on the male medical ward.