Penner’s Economics and Financial Management for Nurses and Nurse Leaders

Abstract

Nurses are at the forefront of health care and experience the challenges of resource shortages every day in their clinical settings. Whether caring for the uninsured, facing budget cuts, or coping with staff shortages, nurses know the realities of problems with health care finance and economics. Unfortunately, nurses often lack the basic education and fundamental understanding needed to address these finance and economic problems. Big changes are happening in the financing of health care systems and settings across the United States. Care is continuously moving from inpatient to outpatient settings. Payment for services continues to move from traditional billing from individual providers to a flat fee that is shared by all providers over a patient’s entire course of care. This book is designed to help entry-level nurse leaders and experienced nurses understand the impact of health care economics and finance in their day-to-day clinical work. In addition, the concepts in the textbook are essential for nurse entrepreneurs, nurse managers, and other nurse leaders. Nurses will learn how national and global economics affect the health care industry, and how health insurance strategies affect consumer access and outcomes. Nurses will learn how to manage and prepare budgets and how to make a successful business case to get the resources they need to improve care in their work settings. These are all skills that nurses and nurse leaders need in this time of changes and challenges. End-of-chapter exercises and instructor’s materials incorporate concepts drawn from Quality and Safety Education for Nurses competencies. New to this edition, having some significant influence on nursing education are The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. This textbook is designed for use either in a traditional in-class format or with online and distance teaching and learning technologies.