Best staffed specialty?????

[BeenThereDoneThat74]

i pose this question, because i am curious what everyone thinks. i've decided i'd like to work in the 'best staffed' specialty :chuckle . we all seem to think "the other units" get staffing priority. so i'm wondering if anyone will admit to working in a specialty that is (or better yet, has to be) the best staffed.

[MarySunshine]

I worked in a NICU before and I always HATED the days I had four babies. Usually I had 3. Four just isn't safe and you don't have any time to do any...you know...TEACHING to parents.

[suzanne4, RN]

Staffing numbers is not the final answer. You can be working in an ICU and the ratio is two patients maximum. If you are short-staffed that day, sure you will only have two patients, but they can be two extremely sick patients.

And in NICU, you do nhave to push isolettes, so it is not just lifting a 1 kg kid. And transport them to CT scan, MRI, just like the big people.

And if you are doing transport for your facility, you may lifting the isolette up also. Into an ambulance or helicopter, or fixed wing plane.

[julieK]

So, maybe I should rephrase. NOt 'what it's supposed to be' but what is actually happening? Other than in Ca (as a poster replied), are these ratios being maintained, unlike where I work, where peds BMT is supposed to be 2:1 (at most) or on heme/onc, where it should be 3 or 4:1?

I was looking to see which units are 'never touched' when staff needs to be redistributed, or if a sick call comes it, must be replaced?

I work heme-onc and we are 5-6:1 - sometimes 1-2 BMT pts per RN. VERY heavy.

[hrtprncss]

Hello I work in the unit and yes we get 1 to 1 or 1 to 2...But there are times when emergency comes up when one of ur patients becomes so unstable where you'd have to give one up to concentrate on one patient, which would lead to another RN to have 3 patients....which isn't so bad because everyone picks up and helps. Because when it happens to you, you expect and hope that people take your patient. But personally I think the best staffed unit? Definitely without question is the Cardiac Cath Lab....Though they'd have to be on call...

[julieK]

in my unit, it's 1:1, sometimes 2:1 - of course, that's in the or. i never have more than one pt at a time.

but do you find that you are often obligated to stay late when a surgery runs late, etc.?

what are the cons of or work (slightly ot, i know) since that sounds pretty great to me.

-julie in nyc

[grimmy, RN]

but do you find that you are often obligated to stay late when a surgery runs late, etc.?

what are the cons of or work (slightly ot, i know) since that sounds pretty great to me.

-julie in nyc

i am always asked if i want to stay late (if surgery is running long), and if i cannot stay (for whatever reason), there is relief found somehow. a lot depends upon the type of shift you'll wind up working (i work 7-1730), and take call every couple of weeks, one weekend every 2 months or so. ot is there - i think that is the norm for nursing, no matter what type. but or nursing requires a fine social skill of being able to listen to the team, how things are going, and how to gauge the situation. most of the time you can't actually see what is going on. you hear it in the surgical team's tone of voice. trouble-shooting technology and gizmos is important, too. that comes with time and training. the cons of or work is that you are behind the scenes in many ways. your contact with a conscious pt is very brief, but critical. you must have the cujones to speak up to anyone if you believe that sterile technique has been compromised in any way. conviction to pt advocacy must be true. that is the or rn's job, in an over-arching sort of perspective. a lot of nurses miss the face-to-face time with pts when they come to the or. some don't. some hate the personalities, and by sheer virtue of the size of the or table, we get in pretty close proximity. that can be overwhelming. there's so much technology, equipment, and lifting, and that can be daunting. like anything else, learning happens over time.

[kyti]

I have to put a plug in for my specialty. PACU has a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio and the patients come in, wake up, and move out.

[Nesher, BSN, RN]

I am in stem cell transplant land where our 6 bed IUC for transplant pts is 1:1, on the floor 1:2. Sickest folks in the hospital.