What is the maximum number of patients per nurse?

Specialties Med-Surg

Published

  1. How many patients per nurse?

107 members have participated

Worst Case Scenario:

  1. What is the maximum number of patients per nurse on your Medical/Surgical floor?
  2. Which shift?
  3. Which state?
  4. How often do you find yourself in such a situation?

Background:

When our nurses explained to our DON that it was not only unrealistic, but also unsafe for one nurse to take care of 12+ patients with minimal help on the night shift, he said that we were much better off than many other hospitals. Is that true?

max of 5:1 but most of the time I have 3-4.. I just felt extremely lucky and grateful for my job!;)

our unit does 4:1 with one nurse on the floor (gen. 4-5 nurses/floor) having 5 and no tech on the floor for nights and a unit sec. for days that does some vitals and some hard chart maintenance, transport scheduling etc...-- this is a recent change- we used to be standard 6:1 with a tech on both shifts and on nights the tech took on assisting 3pt's per nurse if there was only one or there was one tech for each side of the unit- we experimented with all nurses 4:1 and one nurse labeled "resource" having only 3 pt's- somehow this was unprofitable and after using this model as a compromise for getting rid of our techs within months they switched us to our current model still labeling one nurse as a "resource" but not actually giving them the ability to have fewer responsibilities to help other nurses.....

Specializes in ICU.

I'm finding I feel even sorrier for the CNAs than the nurses in most of the situations! I'm a new grad nurse, still finishing up as a CNA before I take the NCLEX next week and start my nursing job.

The floor I work on now is inpatient rehab: 5-6:1 for nurses, days or nights. It's been an almost impossible load because we have a lot of brain injuries with their fingers on the call bell every 30 seconds and a lot of strokes/spinal cords that require at least two people to get up... and since it is rehab, we get them up to the bathroom. Can't remember the last time anyone used a bedpan; we just don't do that on my floor. I wish we did!!!!

Usually, the CNAs get a max of 8 patients, but I've had more than 10 before. Often, when the nurses have six so do the CNAs, so a CNA and a nurse have the same six patients together. Even that feels like too little staffing when 5/6 of those patients are 2+ or lift transfers, or if they're slideboards with no upper body strength... sometimes the nurses and the CNAs are doing everything together because no one can get up to the bathroom with just one helper and the nurses end up staying three hours past their shift or more because they are essentially doing CNA duties with the CNA all day. Nurses need time to do assessments, pass meds, talk to the docs too... it's bad when they have 6 on days. It's sometimes more tolerable on nights.

At least when I only have 6-8 patients I can get their stuff done for them if they aren't 2+ assists. I love it when I have male patients because at least they can pee without getting out of bed. There are no foleys on my floor, so if a female has to pee they have to get up to the toilet or at least the bedside commode. It's not worth it to even try the female urinal because it just never fits right, no matter how hard you jam it in there... I seriously can't imagine having any more than 12 as a CNA. I'd just walk out... usually even with 8 I have been called over the intercom at least twice while I'm in each room and have another two or three rooms to go to when I get out of the one I'm in. If I had 20-something patients I'd just sit down and cry somewhere. You'd be lucky if you could answer 1 out of 5 calls in a situation like that. Yikes!

Specializes in L&D; Post-Op Med/Surg.

On nights we have had up to 7 patients, always at least 6, on a post-op med/surg high acuity floor.

IF we have a tech then it is never more than 1 for the entire 23 bed unit.

4 out of 6 of your patients will be fresh post-ops.

One charge nurse & depending on which one it is depends on whether you get any help from her.

Texas.

Cry most days & furious the others.

Wonder why the hell I got into nursing!

Have been there 1 year now & was told by a nurse that has been there for 5 years that every nurse that has filed Safe Harbor there has been fired within 2 weeks.

On a better note, I went to a job fair at a different hospital recently, & while it is unfortunately for another post-op med/surg unit, the most patients you can have is 6 due to the unit set-up & there is 1 tech to 2 nurses, a resource nurse that handles all admits/discharges, a helpful charge nurse, & the Dr's have to enter all their orders in the computer.

They just offered me the position. As soon as the background check results are in then I am turning in my 2 week notice.

FYI...my current job is so stressful that I am willing to end my 2-year new-grad contract with them & pay the remainder of what the hospital claimed the internship was worth, which is $4000.

I work on a med tele unit and during the day the nurses typically have 5-6 patients. I work night shifts and we typically have 6-7 patients but can have up to 9...which is so unsafe! As a new grad I would NOT feel safe taking care of 9 patients, and I have no issue letting patient flow know that when they continually let me know that I have admits all night long. It is for the safety of my patients after all!

I work on an acute med/surg tele floor: 7-8 on days and nights- no PCT's.

Specializes in Orthopedics/Surgical.

Combination orthopedics and surgical unit. RN 5:1-6:1 with 2-3 techs days, free charge always 6:1- 8:1 nights, free charge if not short (rare), only 3 night NT's for whole unit do not work same shifts.

Most nights I am free charge for the first four hours and then either have to take a team as team leader or I take a team as patient care to help the usually 1 or 2 techs we do have.

The nurse to patient ratio on ortho is worse due to high patient acuity.

Specializes in APRN.

Medical Oncology..

Days 1:4/5 with 2-3 techs.. Eve 1:5/6 with 2-3 techs .. Night 1:8/10 with 1-2 techs

Specializes in Medical-surgical telemetry.

Med tele. Max 4 on days, 5 eves, 6 noc. No CNA on noc

I work in Neurology. 3 of us work on 60 patients at day and two at night. Some 30 of those 60 are really bad and in most cases had bad strokes and can't move. I work in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We work 12 hours shifts.

12/24;12/48.

I am from New Mexico. We do not take more than 7 on the day shift, our nurse manager will come in and take patients before he has us take 8. Most of the time our ratios are 5 or 6 to 1, which I think is the maximum you should take for high quality care. 7 is the maximum amount for safe care and not the most high quality, attentive care. 12 + is crazy and dangerous. There is no way you can give safe care much less quality care to that many patients on any shift, your nurse manager needs to get out and care for that many patients so he can see for himself! Maybe that will make him staff better, then again it is your license on the line so he doesn't care.

12/24;12/48.

That's our schedule how we work. 12 hours day shift, 24 hours rest. Then 12 hours night shift, and after that 48 hours rest. But I do only day shifts, so I work 12 hours, and rest 36 hours. Which is very hard because on day we have incredible amount of job to do. We change diapers, sheets and pajamas on our patients that can't move 3-4 times a day.

Well in my country nurse unemployment is very high. In our hospitals almost 50% are non-medical staff. And nobody cares. You simply have to run all day and do job that 3 nurses should do. If you won't, they'll simply find another one to do it and fire you.

In Neurology at day shift we have 4-6 doctors and 3 nurses. And it si unbearable.

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