[eternal student]

I am a nurse practice coordinator for a rehab unit in Brisbane Australia. I would love to hear of any effective models of nursing care for rehab patients.
Our nursing hours per patient day is 4.0.
We have a mixture of RN's and EN's, who are medication endorsed.
I would be particularly interested in innovative shift start and stop times to maximise staff numbers and staff satisfaction.
Looking forward to hearing from my colleagues from all over this small world of ours.
ann

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mimi

[debross]

I am the nurse manager on a 15 bed rehabilitation unit that has a mix of neuro and orthopedic patients. My nursing care hours are 6.8 ,which does not include myself, the unit clerk, and the transport aide. We usually have 3 RN's and 3 NA's on the 7-3shift, 2 and 2 on 3-11 and 2 and one on 11-7. We have tried different hours including 12 hour shifts but keep coming back to these. We do bring in a nursing assistant at 6 a.m. on days that we need to get dialysis patient's to the dialysis unit early so they can get back to do their therapies. Hope this is of some help.
Debby

[Lynley]

I work in a 28 bed rehab ward in Dunedin, New Zealand. We do the standard 8 hour shifts but also do some short shifts to cope with peak times.

In addition to our RN's and EN's we also use rehabilitaiton assistants. The RN's and EN's do the 8 hour shifts but some of our rehab assistants do the short shifts. We have an 8-1 and a 5-9 to cope with the demands of getting people up in the morning, dealing with mealtimes and helping people to bed.

[jhf0174]

At the Rehab Hosptal where I work, both 12-hour shifts & 8-hour shifts are utilized, with some staff even choosing to pick up 4-hour shifts! It works really well and staff turn over is very small. So is staffing shortage! The staff has a lot of input in when they work. The hospital did have to implement a "miss a week-end shift, make it up the next week-end" policy this year. I think that was in response to a very few individuals. By the way, what is an "EN"? Is it like a QMA (Qualified Medical Assistant) who can pass meds and do only non-invasive procedures?