What is your nurse-patient ratio?

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  1. by Jun 27, '12
    I'm a new grad RN about to start on a med-surg floor. I was told that on days I will have 4-5 patients and on nights 7-8. Does this sound normal/manageable?
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    by Starfish, RN Jun 27, '12 10:27 am
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  3. 52 Comments so far...

  4. Jun 27, '12 by
    Where I was at I had fresh post-ops (<3 days), feeding tubes, NGS, trachs on o2, broken limbs, serious wound dressing changes and wound vacs, nephrostomy, colostomy, caths, PICCs, peripheral IVs, etc., etc., as well as acute psych issues, and many many dementia patients with behaviors/geri-psych issues...

    And my ratio was 1:53. with 2 aides, sometimes 3.
  5. Asst. Admin
    Jun 27, '12 by
    When I interviewed for a med/surg position at a regional hospital about a year and a half ago, I was told that day shift had between 6 and 7 patients and nights would have between 7 and 8 patients.

    By the way, this floor also accepted oncology overflow patients. I declined the job offer for a variety of reasons.
    sweetgeorgia and Jessy_RN like this.
  6. Jun 27, '12 by
    That ratio on med-surg sounds typical of most hospitals. Dayshift is a lot busier than night shift with more med passes and patients needing to be fed. 8 patients sounds like too much...however, I know of some facilities where 7 to 8 patients is typical of dayshift with night shift having up to 10 patients (way unsafe). Take the job, learn, even if you don't like it get your golden year of experience. Good luck.
  7. Jun 27, '12 by
    1:3 during days (1:4 if short-staffed, which is somewhat rare). 1:4 overnight. I'm on a telemetry unit.
    tlh65 and sweetgeorgia like this.
  8. Jun 27, '12 by
    I'm on a ~30 bed gero-med unit. Some pts are somewhat independent, most are on falls precautions (bed alarms, assist oob), and maybe a third need help with feeding and incontinence. Some ostomies, ng/peg tubes, foleys and central lines. Not much surgery. Days is 4-5 pts, nights 4-6. Days there are usually 3 techs, nights 2 (I think we're going to be getting an additional pct per shift soon).
  9. Jun 28, '12 by
    Quote from JZ_RN
    Where I was at I had fresh post-ops (<3 days), feeding tubes, NGS, trachs on o2, broken limbs, serious wound dressing changes and wound vacs, nephrostomy, colostomy, caths, PICCs, peripheral IVs, etc., etc., as well as acute psych issues, and many many dementia patients with behaviors/geri-psych issues...

    And my ratio was 1:53. with 2 aides, sometimes 3.
    Where was this so I never, ever go there??

    Seriously, 1 RN with 2-3 aides for 53 fresh post op patients?? Did I read that right?? How did you get anything done??

    When I did Med/Surg Telemetry (and my medsurg was post-op open heart patients) we had 5-6 on days and 6-7 on nights.
    DeLanaHarvickWannabe likes this.
  10. Asst. Admin
    Jun 28, '12 by
    Quote from DebblesRN
    Seriously, 1 RN with 2-3 aides for 53 fresh post op patients?? Did I read that right?? How did you get anything done??
    This person was probably working on a Medicare rehab unit at a nursing home. Yes, nursing homes receive post-op patients due to heavy pressure to discharge from the hospital as quickly as possible.
  11. Jun 28, '12 by
    I work in an ICU. The nurse patient ratio is 1:2. Unless someone is on the balloon pump or a fresh open heart, than it's 1:1.
  12. Jun 28, '12 by
    Morning...
    I'm on a Med/Surg unit in Orange County NY
    6:1 on days covering 2 pt's of an LPN
    8:1 nights