"The first thing I would do would be to review the previous budget. I would meet with my leadership to understand the concerns and challenges of the current budget regarding staffing, equipment and supplies, interdepartmental charges, and revenue and build from them. Running a nursing unit is like running a small business. I would also build in staff education so that the entire team is mindful of the waste of resources and the business of our unit. It seems counterintuitive to some nurses to combine finances with patient care, but at the end of the day, we cannot provide care if we go out of business."

"The first step would be to review the current budget and see how the unit operates. If there are areas where the unit is in the red or losing money, I would determine how to lower costs to get into the positive. I would look for less expensive alternatives to items costing the unit a lot of money and give an in-service to all staff to show them where we need to tighten our resources."

The first step would be reviewing the previous year's budget. Once I see the information from the previous year, I will have a good starting point. I'm sure there will be expectations from administration regarding areas that will need to be improved on the budget. I will then begin looking for cheaper alternatives that will minimally impact patient care in those specific areas of concern.