Build the financial case for nursing investments with a repeatable framework grounded in your organization’s own data.
Nursing investments can influence quality, patient safety, workforce stability, operational efficiency, and financial performance. For nurse leaders, the challenge is turning those contributions — and the resources required to support them — into a business case that gives leaders a strong financial basis for investment decisions.
The CNO’s ROI framework for nursing investment decisions provides a practical methodology for establishing the cost of the current model, evaluating where nursing resources are being used today, and comparing future investment options. It starts with operational data health systems already collect and can be refined as priorities and performance change.
How does the ROI framework define nursing enterprise value?
Five value drivers connect nursing practice to measurable organizational outcomes: quality and evidence-based practice, patient safety through standardized practice, competency assurance, high standards of professional practice, and clinical innovation and continuous improvement. Each driver helps leaders quantify the resources required to support nursing performance and identify where greater standardization or external support could create organizational value.
How can the executive brief help you calculate ROI?
Download the brief for practical guidance on:
- Establishing a current-state baseline using your workforce, education, and operational data
- Applying a financial methodology to procedure maintenance, practice, standardization, clinical education, continuing education, and RN turnover
- Using benchmark ranges when organization-specific data is incomplete
- Comparing annual baseline cost with a proposed investment to estimate annual value and initial payback
- Building a financial business case that nursing and finance can use to evaluate investment options