Variance Assignment Guidelines with Scoring Rubric

FTE/Variance Assignment Guidelines with Scoring Rubric Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to provide learners with the opportunity to gain financial management skills by calculating full-time equivalents for a nursing unit and analyzing a variance scenario.
Course Outcomes Through this assignment, the student will demonstrate the ability to: CO 8: Delineate effective resource management and fiscal responsibilities of the nurse executive (PO 8). Due Date: Sunday 11:59 p.m. MT at the end of Week 4 Total Points Possible: 100 REQUIREMENTS: Answer the questions and complete the calculations required for the two sections of the assignment. • Calculations of full-time equivalents (FTEs) • Variance analysis Submit your answers on a Word document, with the heading of Week 4 Assignment. For the questions requiring a written response, please adhere to proper grammar and syntax, and provide references. For the questions requiring calculations, show all your work and follow the format that has been provided for the calculations in the lesson for Week 4.
PREPARING THE PAPER Section One—Calculation of Full-Time Equivalents
Personnel Budget Case Study
Linda Watson has recently accepted a position as the assistant administrator for the department of nursing at St. Joseph Hospital. There have been both personnel and financial problems at St. Joseph Hospital, and recently, the Catholic Healthcare System purchased the hospital. Like Linda, all of the management staff is new. Linda’s first priority is to assist the nurse managers in preparing their cost centers’ personnel budgets for the coming fiscal year. She has decided to begin with the nurse manager on 1 West, a step-down nursing unit. Linda wants to do extensive data collection and create a solid base for making projections. 1. Suggest all the information Linda needs to collect to prepare a budget for 1 West; be sure to include background data on the unit itself as it relates to previous budgets, nursing staff, and the organization. In other words, summarize your approach to this Case Study—briefly state the organization’s goals (customer-service orientation) for the coming year, trends, any changes in trends that you may anticipate—such as growth in the patient population and the types of data that need to be collected in order to make decisions about staffing levels and ratios. 2. Linda has collected the following information, in addition to what was asked in question number one:
Patient Data:
Average Daily Census 30 Unit Capacity 32 Average HPPD 8.8 Total Care Hours 96,360
Staff Data:
Productive hours/employee/year 1,780 Nonproductive hours/employee/year 300 Total Hours/employee/year 2,080
Skill Mix:
RNs 80% LVNs 10% Nurse aides 10%
Average Salary per Employee Category:
RN $40.00/hour LVN $22.00/hour Nurses Aide $14.00/hour
Calculate the number of productive full-time equivalents (FTEs) that would be needed. Show your calculations. 3. How many RNs, LVNs, and nurses aides will be needed to staff this unit, assuming staff will be working 12-hour shifts? In other words, how many person-shifts will be required during a 24-hour period?
Day Shift 50% Night Shift 50%
4. Assign staff by type and by shift.
Day Shift 50% Night Shift 50%
5. Convert staff positions to FTE positions.
Section Two—Variance Analysis
Variance Analysis Case Study
During the month of February, an outpatient surgery clinic has incurred a significant unfavorable variance. The director of the clinic is quite concerned, as this has never occurred before. The director gathers information on total nursing care hours, average hourly rate of the employees, and total patient visits to determine what caused the variance. In addition, the director receives the patient acuity levels for the month of February.
1. BPi $40.00 2. BQi 5.0 hours per care per patient 3. BQo 340 visits
4. APi $45.00 5. AQi 5.6 hours per care per patient 6. AQo 400 visits
1. Compare the original budget to the flexible budget and calculate the volume variance. Compare the flexible budget to the actual budget and determine the price and quantity variances. Work through the entire analysis process as presented in your lesson for Week 4, and remember to show your calculations. 2. What factors caused the difference in the variances? Analyze all the factors that made the differences and why the variances occurred.
Category Points % Description Background Information 15 15% Typically, the description of the maximum level of performance is provided here Calculation of Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) 10 10% Shifts Required During a 24-Hour Period 10 10% Staff Assigned by Type and Shift 10 10% Staff Positions to FTEs 10 10% Calculation of Volume Variance 10 10% Calculations of Price and Quantity 10 10% Calculation of Total Variance 10 10% Analysis of Variances 15 15% 100 100 A quality assignment will meet or exceed all of the above requirements.
GRADING RUBRIC Assignment Criteria A (100–92%) Outstanding or Highest Level of Performance B (91–84%) Very Good or High Level of Performance C (83–76%) Competent or Satisfactory Level of Performance F (75–0%) Poor or Failing or Unsatisfactory Level of Performance Content Possible Points = Points
Background Information 14–15 Points 10–13 Points 7–9 Points 0–8 Points Background information for budget analysis is thoroughly and clearly identified and stated. Background information for budget analysis is identified and stated, but could be more thorough or clear. Background information for budget analysis lacks thorough and clear statements. Background information for budget analysis is not identified or stated.
Calculation of Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) 10 Points 0 Points Calculation of FTEs is correct. Calculation of FTEs is incorrect. Shifts Required During a 24-Hour Period 10 Points 0 Points Shifts required during a 24-hour period are correctly calculated. Shifts required during a 24-hour period are incorrectly calculated. Staff Assigned by Type and Shift 10 Points 5 Points 0 Points Staff assigned by type and shift are correctly calculated. Staff assigned by type is correctly calculated; staff assigned by shift is incorrectly calculated. Staff assigned by type is incorrectly calculated; staff assigned by shift is correctly calculated.
Suggest: One of the following is not correctly calculated: staff assigned by type or staff assigned by shift. Both staff assigned by type and by shift are not correctly calculated.
Staff Positions to FTEs 10 Points 0 Points Calculation of staff positions to FTEs is correct. Calculation of staff positions to FTEs is incorrect. Calculation of Volume Variance 10 Points 0 Points Calculation of Volume Variance is correct. Calculation of Volume Variance is incorrect. Calculations of Price and Quantity Variance 10 Points 0 Points Calculation of Flexible Budget Variance is correct. Calculation of Flexible Budget Variance is incorrect. Calculation of Total Variance 10 Points 0 Points Calculation of Total Variance is correct. Calculation of Total Variance is incorrect. Analysis of Variances 14–15 Points 10–13 Points 7–9 Points 0–8 Points Analysis of variances is thoroughly and clearly identified and stated. Analysis of variances is identified and stated, but could be more thorough or clear. Analysis of variances lacks thorough and clear statements. Analysis of variances is not identified and stated.