[pickledpepperRN]

That staffing seems good for average med'surg patients.
A lot depends on the acuity and experience of the staff.

[SakredStrega]

That's about what my hospital has, too. I'm so glad our Charge Nurse doesn't take pts. because I always ask her so many questions. heheh However, if we get slammed, our charges will take pts. then.

[marie-francoise]

Here are some links in regard to the Aiken study, in case they're of help:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12387650

http://www.dpeaflcio.org/programs/factsheets/fs_aiken.pdf

[TiggerBelly]

30 bed Med Unit
6 RNs with 5 patients a peice
2-3 CNAs
1 Charge nurse
1 Unit Secretary

[LadysSolo]

That sounds like wonderful staffing to me. I am currently an NP, 2 years our of the hospital, but we had 1 RN to 6-7 pts with one aide per 14 pts. As a comparison, I "moonlight" as an RN for agency on weekends, and our state (in their infinite wisdom) feels that it is safe to pass meds on 45 (yes, 45!!) pts in a NH. Last weekend, out of 45 pts, I had 22 diabetics with accuchecks, 12 breathing treatments, and a tube feed and a straight cath with the med pass!!! I won't go back there again!

[charmsRN]

I work in southern ms, my hosp is less than 100 beds. we used to have awesome staffing- day shift starting with 4-5 and night shift starting with 5-6 with the charge never starting with pts unless in state of desperation. well, our population has tripled due to hurricane and staff is stretched to max b/c they are having to take 7-8 pts. my hosp is in the process of many changes and we are trying to cut corners. but the main concern is the safety of our pts. Acuity of pts should be the main factor when deciding staffing, not numbers.

[misschelei]

Here's one for ya....dh just called from work to vent for 30 seconds. He's a new grad LPN just a few weeks off orientation. He was floated to the surgical floor. There are 15-16 patients and he's alone down there with 1 RN and 2 aids and they are slammed. With the new laws further limiting what LPNs can do that RN must be ready to pull her hair out. Lucky for her he knows what he's doing...he was one of the best aids in the hospital before he became a nurse. He was in a hurry so the only words of wisdom I could quickly come up with were "try not to kill anyone...love you."

[tiredofnursing]

I work a med/surg floor in TN. I work 7pm-7am. Our load is 7-10 patients. If we are lucky we have 3 techs for 28 pts. Many times it is 1 RN, 2 LPNS and 26 pts.

[becmeister]

close but no cigar. I work in a major University Hospital in CA, on a step down. Our ratio is 2-3pts, CNA with 5-6 patients, float RN(no assignment), Unit Secretary and resource is out of count. We have a Rapid Response team in addition to the Code Blue Team to aid if a patient is going downhill. Our med-surg units are a 3-4 ratio, CNA, Float RN, Resource out of count. We staff by acuity, not the ratio law. I hope this helps. We have many traveler nurses that are signing on, they don't want to travel to the East Coast now where ratios are unsafe. You can thank Rose Ann Demoro for the progress. We still have a long way to go.

[becmeister]

Geez, you couldn't pay me enough to work that floor, how awful for you. I'd work at Starbucks instead. You don't have to worry about killing somebody there if you make a mistake.