Does this add up?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.

1 RN+ 1 LPN for a team of 8 patients=1 RN + 1/2 tech for 7 patients. My department head thinks this is a fair distribution of the patient load and at the time she explained it to me, it made sense but now I do not agree. I don't see how having a tech that I have to share with another RN is equivalent to having another dedicated licensed nurse for your team only even if they do take one extra patient. That just doesn't add up to me.

You give your LPN meds to do, do all 8 assessments yourself, the tech can help with turning and chnging briefs when you need a 3rd pair of hands, ie: fat pt, you and the LPN give pain meds as they call. Dressing changes can be doled out as time permits for the two of you. Tech to do vitals and FSBS for both RN's. If this is night shift, LPN does mar cks and you do other paper work.

sounds better than 7 pts by myself and share a tech w/peds, down the hall.

Specializes in Critical Care.

Sharon,

What was the acuity of the patient load? Did your manager give a heavier assignment to the team with the LPN? Short staffing is commonplace these days and the nurses are definately overworked especially on the med-surg floors. I don't think there is a good answer.

Better staffing than i ever have, we have 31 pts, either 2 rns and an lpn or 3 rns. usually only 1 aide.

31 patients and 3 nurses??????

ha ha ha ha ha ha

Most of the time I take care of 32 ALONE!!!!

I would LOVE to have only 10 patients to myself.....

Even in LTC, 32 patients by yourself is 30 too many some days.....

Marla

Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.
Originally posted by kewlnurse

Better staffing than i ever have, we have 31 pts, either 2 rns and an lpn or 3 rns. usually only 1 aide.

What area are you working in? When I started out in nursing 10 years ago on a pediatric floor we had 15 patients each on nights with 1 NA per team and no IV team, did some of our own phlebotomy, you get the picture. In retrospect I can't believe I didn't kill anyone.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.
Originally posted by BadBird

Sharon,

What was the acuity of the patient load? Did your manager give a heavier assignment to the team with the LPN? Short staffing is commonplace these days and the nurses are definately overworked especially on the med-surg floors. I don't think there is a good answer.

Acuity is not factored into the assignment which was part of my gripe. Actually I am fully aware that 7 patients is not a big load(it's a surgical floor). But I was upset when at the top of the shift I received 2 of those patients from PACU plus a transfer from the ICU(head injury with a trach) and they wanted to bring them all at the same time. When I protested and suggested that perhaps they can spread the wealth so that one person isn't slammed when you have a team with 2 nurses and perhaps they could take one more patient it was explained to me that it really isn't inequitable at all. So they compromised and brought the transfer and one of the postops who was in restraints at the same time(literally following each other down the hall) and gave me 30 minutes and then brought the other post-op. Big whoop!

I just don't think that a team with two nurses and no tech is equal to a team with one nurse and half a tech.

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