Patient Nurse Ratio & Working Conditions In A Magnet Hospital.

[KMULL002, BSN]

I Work Nights(7pm To 7am. My Problem Is With The Patient Nurse Ratios In My Hospital Which Varies From 5-7. I've Heard That It May Go Up To 8 Patients Per One Nurse. I Work On A Surgical Floor, We Also Have Neuro, And Bariatric Patients; In Fact We Get Lots Of Patients With Heart Problems Too. I Have Floated To The Renal/oncologogy Floors, Iccu, And Fast Track. The Nurses Are Overworked And The Patients Do Not Get The Care They Deserve Because Of This. There Are Things We Miss Eg Pts Complaints Get Overlooked Or Forgotten Because I Have Another Patient Who's Having An Mi, Or Another Patient Getting A Blood Transfusion, And Another One Who's Bleeding Too Much Post Op. I Am A Nurse For 8 Months And The Older Nurses Tell Me How Good I Have It Well I Don't Agree. I Feel Patient Safety Is Of Utmost Importance. How Can I Manage Their Care If I Cannot Even Find The Time To Come In And Check On Them To See How They Are Doing? I Rely Heavily On My Pct's(patient Care Techs) Too But Ultimately, I Am Responsible. My Pct's Are Overworked Too. 3 Nights Ago My Pct Had 16 Patients. This Kind Of Nurse/patient, Pct/patient Ratio Is Not Safe For The Patients. The Patients Deserve Much Better Than This. I Was Proud To Be Working At A Magnet Hospital Because I Felt Like That Was Prestigious And Hard To Attain And I Also Felt Like Magnet Hospitals Have Happy Nurses. Well, I Work At A Magnet Hospital And I Am Extremely Unhappy. I Want To Continue Where I Work But I Need My Number Of Patients To Decrease. Also, When I Need A Pct For Something, They Are So Overworked Sometimes, They Get Stressed When I Ask For Something Simple. The Overall Attitude On My Floor And The Other Floors I've Worked Is Stress And Discontent. I Have Asked For A Meeting With Management To Discuss Patient Safety, Patient Nurse Ratios, And I Also Want A Mock Code. I Had A Patient Code The Other Day And It Was Disorganized. The Code Cart Didn't Even Have The Sheet On It That We Are Supposed To Fill Out During The Incident. I Don't Want Anyone To Get In Trouble Where I Work, I Just Want Better Working Conditions For Me, My Coworkers, And Mostly My Patients. Unfortunately, I Am A New Nurse And This Hospital Is The Only Hospital I've Worked Since Becoming A Nurse. I Have Friends Who Work For Other Hospitals And I Don't Know If The "grass Is Greener" Elsewhere. I Understand That California Has A New Law Regarding This Issue But Does That Mean The Pay Goes Down? What Can I Do Help Create A Better Working Environment For Myself(other Than Contacting The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ancc) And My Charge, Supervisor, And Director As I've Already Done)? Do I Have Valid Arguments Or Is This Just What Nursing Is All About? Am I Just A Glorified Drug Pusher? What Have Your Experiences Been Like? I Kept My Cool During The Code The Other Day But After It Was Over And My Patient Died, I Just Lost It And Started Crying. I'm Proud That I Was Able To Cry Because That Means I'm Dealing With My Emotions And That I Care. I Don't Want To Become Hardened Or Immuned To The Fact That People Die. The Same Time Of My Code Another Patient Pulled Out His Iv And Blah Blah Blah, You Know Because You Are A Nurse. I No Longer Look Forward To Going To Work As I Used To. I Want To Look Forward To Going To Work Again And I Want To Feel Like I Make A Difference.

[labrador4122, RN]

I work at a magnet hospital and it is great. no complaints.

but if you feel they are not good, then you need to change it. it's your license on the line.

[loewe0860]

I am working in California with the mandated ratio of 5:1 and let me tell you that we still struggle to care for our patients as the acuity has changed drastically. In our tele unit we have a ratio of 1:4 and 1 CNA for 15 patients at times for 20 patients. this means I am responsible for 4 patients and have to give total care. Not ideal either. What is the soltuion - I do not know but ratios is not necessarily it. We need to change how nursing care is viewed by the hospital/administration and this is where Magnet comes in to play a huge role. If your hospital is magnet you should be able to approach your manager and talk about your concerns and patient safety.

Good luck, and do not give up, it ani't an easy ride thats for sure.

:-)

loewe0860

[blondegenes]

I urge you all to check this safe staffing site as an extension of American Nurses Association;

http://www.safestaffingsaveslives.org/default.aspx

I have some questions about it myself, but I urge you to take the poll and back the ANA and any other organization that is working toward nurse/patient ratios that will not burn out nurses and risk patient care.

I am currently working acute med/surg on nights 7pm to 7am (which really means I'm in half an hour early and clock out half an hour later due to change of shift report, and my patient ratios have been as high as 1:7.

If our patient ration goes down to 1:4 we have to do total care, including CNA stuff and unit secretary things.

Because we have a unit secretary who spends much more time playing video games than she does inputting orders and doing her job, we have been penalized by only having her onboard until midnight any given night.

Again,,put your questions to the ANA, read the specifics, take the survey/poll and support legislation that favors treating nurses well.

The federal government is doing lots of studies on why they lose so many hospital nurses each year, and why so many leave the field altogether,,,let them know exactly why!