Many nurses, myself included, would rather not dwell on managing the finances of a clinic or hospital unit. Why would they? Nurses become nurses to serve patients. Most think that the role of making money should be left to the “penny pinchers”. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that we cannot, in any real capacity, serve our patients, without making a profit, so as health care professionals, we must be aware of the aspects that financially propel a business. In this discussion board, I will discuss how three business principles from Greg Fisher’s PowerPoint, “The Art of Business: The Top Ten Basic Business Principles” relate to my nursing unit. The three principles that I will discuss include:
1. Decide what you do (and what you do not do)
2. Decide what makes you different (and do it)
3. Expose yourself (tell the market what you do)
When I read Fisher’s principles, I realized that many of them apply to my business unit (Fisher, 2008). However, the three principles I chose either directly impact patient care or represent initiatives that we are rolling out.
I had the opportunity to act as our interim nurse manager for three years, serving under our associate director whose focus is the bottom line. Through
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I identified at least three principles that our unit is currently using. I chose them because they keep our unit financially solvent and allow us to treat patients with debilitating spinal diseases. However, these same principles are important to me because I understand the importance of providing specialized services to our patient population. These principles allow me the opportunity to improve patient health in a meaningful way. Often, the patients that I talk to report that their pain is decreased, or that they can now perform activities that they have performed in years. As a caregiver, hearing that is very rewarding and