As the nurse manager, you are developing a patient education program aimed at offering guidance and supervision for patients with hypertension. To assist in your planning, you extract and present patient information from:

Choice A Reason:

Assisting the employee in obtaining professional help is the most appropriate strategy. Emotional distress can significantly impact an employee’s well-being and job performance. Professional help, such as counseling or therapy, provides the necessary support and resources to address the underlying issues effectively. This approach ensures that the employee receives specialized care from trained professionals, which is crucial for their mental health and recovery.

Choice B Reason:

Adjusting the standard of care to assist the employee is not a practical or sustainable solution. The standard of care is established to ensure consistent and high-quality service delivery. Altering it for individual employees can compromise the overall quality of care and create inconsistencies in service provision. Instead, supporting the employee through professional help is a more effective way to address their emotional distress without impacting the standard of care.

Choice C Reason:

Adjusting the employee’s work schedule to decrease stress can be a helpful short-term measure, but it does not address the root cause of the emotional distress. While reducing stress through schedule adjustments can provide temporary relief, it is not a comprehensive solution. The employee may still need professional support to manage their emotional health effectively. Therefore, this option should be considered as a supplementary measure rather than the primary strategy.

Choice D Reason:

Acting as a therapist for the employee is not appropriate for a nurse manager. While providing support and understanding is important, nurse managers are not trained mental health professionals. Attempting to act as a therapist can blur professional boundaries and may not provide the employee with the specialized care they need. It is essential to refer the employee to qualified mental health professionals who can offer the appropriate support and interventions.

Choice A Reason

A strategic budget is used for long-term planning and aligning financial resources with the organization’s overall strategic goals. It involves setting financial objectives and allocating resources to achieve these goals over an extended period. While strategic budgets are crucial for guiding the organization’s direction, they do not typically cover specific equipment purchases like mechanical ventilators.

Choice B Reason

A capital budget is specifically designed for the purchase of durable goods and significant investments, such as new equipment, infrastructure improvements, or technology upgrades. Mechanical ventilators, being high-cost medical equipment, fall under this category. Capital budgets ensure that funds are allocated for essential investments that enhance the hospital’s ability to provide quality care.

Choice C Reason

An operating budget covers the day-to-day expenses of running a healthcare facility, including salaries, supplies, utilities, and other recurring costs. While operating budgets are essential for maintaining the facility’s daily operations, they do not typically include large, one-time purchases like mechanical ventilators.

Choice D Reason

A unit of service budget is used to allocate costs based on the volume of services provided, such as the number of patient visits or procedures performed. This type of budget helps in managing and predicting costs associated with specific services but is not used for purchasing high-cost equipment like mechanical ventilators.