[Franlpntorn]

Originally Posted by christvs

I'm in a large teaching hospital in MA. The med/surg floor I'm on uses a team nursing model, so each "team" has 8-10 patients, with one RN, one LPN, and one CNA. I think that is pretty good!

Your lucky...
our census is up to 21 and were lucky if we have 3 nurses and 1 CNA and managment still :Melody: can't say in polite company. We have a lot of turn q2hrs, feeding tubes, hip replacements, pneumonia cases, and doctors that won't send them home. ICU is packed 13 Pt, and we will get them on med/surg soon. ICU sends them out to the floor and we have no beds, we have a ECF here too and there full. Then we have a thing called SWING BED thats when we transfer them in the computer like a medicare bed, but we still have to do all the paper work like a new admit. That takes about an hour for the paper work. now on days there are 4 nurses, 3 CNA's, unit clerk just to put orders in the computer, this they can justify. I guess they think all we do on nights is sleep we don't have the time. Getting the call lights,
turns q2 that takes and hour, pass meds, charting , and anything the doctor might want you to do no dinner break, on top of it. For a whopping 15.77 and wonder why there is a shortage . Now for the best part I was asked if I could come in on my day off and work, ya I said yes, what was I going to say. 12 hrs 3 x a week takes a lot out of you. and of course when you get off it's your day off and all you do is sleep, or stay up and then your on a day schedule, but you might be called in. What do you do.

[grannynurse FNP student]

I have worked in a variety of hospitals, in upstate NY, NYC and Florida hospitals. And in a variety of units. The least number I have had is two patients, the most is eight.

Grannynurse

[nurse1986]

Originally Posted by Franlpntorn

What is you Pt to nurse numbers?
What state are you in?
Hospital or ECF?

From Ohio , LPN HCC RD
work assisted living , frail elderly
44 residents at this time no tech's
do nursing and directers and DON duties

[surveynurse]

I am a state surveyor. In a way all the nursing home residents in my state are patients of mine to me. That would be somewhere near 6,000.

[Franlpntorn]

Originally Posted by surveynurse

I am a state surveyor. In a way all the nursing home residents in my state are patients of mine to me. That would be somewhere near 6,000.

Surveynurse,
thats a lot of patients to take care of. But if you were back on the foor med /surg how many patients could you take care of and be SAFE.
Thats the real question. What is a safe number, ICU 2, med /surg 5, 6, 7, 8??
What is the number.
You see the problems and the solutions.
Last week I worked an extra 12 day we're short nurses, 3 days in a row
1st day 6, 2nd day 7, by the 3rd day 8. The patients were not hard but the other nurses had admit's so they were doing more paper work then me.
Maybe I question so much becuse I'm new but is there a safe number???????

[BGSRN]

Tele unit in MA. Average of 4-5 patients. Do not always have a secretary and/or a clinical. No charge nurse. RN may really be multi-tasking - including providing all physical care, physicans orders, run for supplies, etc, etc.

[nursetootsie]

oncology/med/surg mixture ~ 5 pts with a RN and a tech or LPN. If short staffed we take 6 but it's rare.

[surveynurse]

Franlpntorn: This is a tough issue. If staffing ratios are mandated by the State at a certain ratio (say 6:1 max), then some facilities would interpret that literally and possibly assign 6 very sick patients to one nurse. That would obviously not be safe.

Personally, I think it is better to not set a specific ratio but rather divide the patients by some sort of acuity system. That is just my opinion.

I know my state has taken a hands off approach on ratios and clearly stated that the regulations regarding quality of care need to be upheld. If the quality of care is not up to par (and the surveyor can link it to a staffing issue - which can be hard to do), then the facility can be cited for staffing.

[nurse1986]

Originally Posted by Franlpntorn

What is you Pt to nurse numbers?
What state are you in?
Hospital or ECF?

I work assisted living . My assisted living is not a social model, is is a medical model.
I care for 60 residents . Medications , Tx. and anything else they may need.

[1017sharonrn2003]

Currently I work for a small community hospital. Typically, I have 5-6 pts, total primary care. That includes call lights, getting people up for test, Turns Q2/h, education, meds, and anything else that comes along. I don't think it's fare to the pts for care givers to be spread so thin. Example, I've just started a blood transfusion and Mr X has to use the bathroom, I can't leave my pt for 15min, so Mr X has to wait or be incont? That's not right. We do have one tec most days, but they have limited amount of what they do so there's a lot of frustrating days at this hospital.