Nurse Patient ratio in NJ

i heard that there isn't any law set for a med/surg nurse to pt ratio. i know that the max pts on a tele floor is 6; ICU/CCU 1-2, but i dont think there is a set max for med/surg. i work on a ortho unit, and wish i only had 6 pt's at a time. sometimes i end up with 10-13pts. crazy and unsafe and exhausting

think the fact that a lot of places are starting to phase out LPN's is crazy - at least at this juncture. I'm very thankfuly that so far at the new hospital I'm at I haven't had to deal with more than 7 or 8 patients at a time (night shift) and it's mostly 5-6 most days. It's unionized and there are union regulations based on unit census to staff ratio which is much more favorable than my last job.

Wow, that is A LOT of patients to care for! How on earth are you supposed to avoid making mistakes when you must be running from pillar to post from the moment you step on the floor?

yeah they're phasing out LPN's in my hospital too. I think they're trying to push them out. Some are now working as Resp Therapists, most were put in a float pool. And now if we have an LPN floated to our floor we have to do their fall assessment for them, do the physical assessment for them, then open their note for them (the narrative) then co-sign the end. they just started to implement this policy this last month. some of the LPN's are better than some of the other RN's I've seen; especially if they have alot of experience.

I wonder... do hospitals get a break on their malpractice insurance if they have mostly RNs and few or no LPNs? Just trying to figure out why they would be trying to push out experienced LPNs...