I really need to understand something and am asking for some help here. I need to understand how many nurses on this board function in a charge nurse role. In addition, I would also like to know how many are required to take patients in that role? Finally, when you are in charge, how many patients do you normally assign to your staff nurses as well as yourself (if you are required to have a patient assignment)?
I am really struggling with this at my present position. I function as the charge nurse, along with some of the other nurses. We rotate the charge responsibility. However, when I am in charge, it always seems like I am taking a full load. Today I was charge of the floor and had a 6 patient load. I left work this afternoon feeling terrible about the quality of care I gave my patients today and really need to understand if this is what nursing has come too.
Thanks to everyone for helping me with this issue.
