Floor nursing without techs/aides

taz628, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2009

My unit is SUPPOSED to have 1 aide/tech/CNA staffed for night shift. However, as of late, we've been running without one. We're a 14 bed step down unit, 7 nurses fully staffed. 5 nurses are 2:1 assignment, 1 nurse is a 3:1, and the charge takes 1. It's NUTS when we don't have an aide, particularly from 7p-11p 'cause that's bath time. We have insulin drips w/ Q2 sugars, restocking of room carts/rooms, frequent turns, etc that the aides primarily take care of. They also do EKG's when we need them - which is a GREAT help 'cause we're usually running around getting meds and other things when we need an EKG done. =P I hate it when we don't have an aide working overnight... luckily we have one tonight for a change. :)

mommybess, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2009

1. What kind of floor? Postpartum

2. Ratio patient:nurse? 8:1

3. Is it functional? Yes

4. Have you worked in an environment that had aides/techs before? How did it compare? Yes, much nicer to have techs

5. What other support staff do you have, that those of us with techs/aides might not? None

Bill E. Rubin · Mar 25, 2009

I work on the only all-RN unit in my hospital. It's a general medical/telemetry unit with a pretty acute population. We generally have 3 pts per RN during the day and 4 at night. Occasionally we have PCA's for sitters if we need a 1:1 and it is really nice to have, though I wouldn't want to have PCA's at the risk of having higher pt ratios.

BGgirl · Mar 25, 2009

1. What kind of floor? tele step-down and m/s pulmonary

2. Ratio patient:nurse?4:1 on nights on tele and 5:1 on m/s

3. Is it functional? depends on what day you're talking about. Both floors can be super busy.

4. Have you worked in an environment that had aides/techs before? How did it compare? When we did have aides we were teamed and the aide was assigned to us. We then took 8 patients and an aide and it could be bad or good depending on your patients and the aide you're with

5. What other support staff do you have, that those of us with techs/aides might not?none

Mandylou · Mar 25, 2009

1. What kind of floor? med-surg/ ortho (they do have aides on dayshift)

2. Ratio patient:nurse? 1 rn to 9-13 pts, 1 lpn to 5-6 pts (sometimes up to 9)

3. Is it functional? we struggle to get everything done

4. Have you worked in an environment that had aides/techs before? How did it compare? yes, much better

5. What other support staff do you have, that those of us with techs/aides might not? lpns