Mountain View Hospital has adopted a standard cost accounting system for evaluation and control of nursing labor. Diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), instituted by the U.S. government for health insurance reimbursement, are used as the output measure in the standard cost system. A DRG is a patient classification scheme that perceives hospitals to be multiproduct firms where inpatient treatment procedures are related to the numbers and types of patient ailments treated. Mountain View Hospital has developed standard nursing times for the treatment of each DRG classification, and nursing labor hours are assumed to vary with the number of DRGs treated within a time period.

The nursing unit on the fourth floor treats patients with four DRG classifications. The unit is staffed with registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and aides. Following are the standard nursing hours and salary rates:

Following are the results of operations for the fourth-floor nursing unit for the month of May:

The accountant for Mountain View Hospital calculated the following standard times for the fourth floor nursing unit for May:

The hospital calculates labor variances for each reporting period by labor classification (RN, LPN, aide). The variances are used by nursing supervisors and hospital administration to evaluate the performance of nursing labor.
Required Calculate the total nursing labor variance for the fourth floor nursing unit of Mountain View Hospital for May, indicating how much of this variance is attributed to the following for each class of hospital workers:

a. Labor efficiency

b. Rate differences

Transcribed Image Text:

FOURTH-FLOOR NURSING UNIT STANDARD HOURS DRG CLASSIFICATION 1 2 3 4 STANDARD HOURLY RATES RN LPN Aide RN LPN AIDE 6 4 5 202 26 16 10 10 12 57 4 10 $12 00 6