ICU staffing guidelines

[radblt]

i work in a rural hospital that the administration has decided to reduce the number of rn's in the icu core staffing. currently, we staff with 2 rn's if there are 4 or less patients in the unit. for 5-6 patients we can add one rn, for 7-8 patients we add an additional rn. we also monitor 16 telemetry beds for the facility-there is no monitor tech. while the hospital is not large (

also, is anyone aware of some literature that specifically addresses icu staffing guidelines? we are very concerned for the well-being of our patients as well as our nursing licenses.

[indiananursemeg]

I work in a small hospital with a 5-bed "special care unit", which is our ICU. We staff 1 RN at all times who is responsible for total care of up to 3 patients, and monitoring and reading up to 8 telemetry's. I was wondering if this is common in small hospitals, or if additional help, such as an aide or secretary are staffed as well. We are supposed to get an additional nurse, and RN or LPN, for more than 3 patients. Depending on patient acuity, it is possible to have 2 nurses for 3 patients. Is it common to have one nurse alone? It's hard to get assistance turning cleaning, doing dressing changes and patients usually have to wait while I search for help.

[LaRose]

It is not safe to leave one RN in any acute care setting alone or with just an aide or LPN/LVN. There need to be 2 RNs when even 1 patient is in this type of setting. Look for safety guidelines.