the lvn at our unit works as a pct with 4 patients, she can also give their medications and if they are catheters she can start and end their tx and do catheter dressing care.
we have a 24 chair unit and the lvn is usually on the side of the room where the charge nurse is so she can help the cn by taking 4, out of 12 of her patients, leaving the cn 8 pts. the other 12 patients are managed by another rn. all our rn's assess, pass meds and are responsible for 12 pts. each (this doesn't include the cia's and other paperwork that we do). this leaves the cn doing the same amount of work with 8 pts plus her charge duties. when the doctors are making rounds the day gets even longer with things to do for both rn's on duty. i don't know if i want to be cn anytime soon although i'm sure she makes a much larger hourly wage than i do.
Jun 17, '12 by ICAN!the lvn at our unit works as a pct with 4 patients, she can also give their medications and if they are catheters she can start and end their tx and do catheter dressing care.