AONL Launches Nurse Manager Span of Accountability Index, ROI Calculator Pilot

Following months of planning, the AONL Nurse Manager Span of Accountability Index and Return on Investment Calculator pilot are launching at five health care organizations. They are CommonSpirit in Chicago, North Georgia Health System in Gainesville, Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Ky., UK HealthCare in Lexington, Ky., and West Virginia University Health System in Morgantown.

The Nurse Manager Span of Accountability Index is a validated nine-question tool identifying workload and staffing improvement opportunities, with the potential to inform ROI projections.

Co-designed by AONL and the Healthcare Financial Management Association, the ROI calculator assists nurse leaders in building financial business cases for nurse-centric investments, including span of accountability justification. Integrating financial metrics such as net present value, internal rate of return and annual inflation rate, the tool calculates institutional data and evidence-based benchmarks to project five-year returns on investment. The tool supports nurse leader engagement in financial discussions and decisions, and the ROI calculator is adaptable to support both individual projects and bundled initiatives. This valuable tool will contribute to strengthening nurse leaders' understanding of financial language, the nursing-finance relationship, budget justifications and financial strategies.