I would like to get an idea on what other hospitals consider a safe Pt to nurse ratio. I work in a small rural hospital, last night we had 14 PTs, 3 nurses until 1am and 2 care techs all shift. This am, I talked with my DON and said it was too much to have 7 PTs, and the PTs were not getting the care they deserve and so on. I had a fresh surgical, bilat TKAs and c-section and abd hyst from the day before and 4 nebs and I could go on. It was crazy the beginning of the night, but did settle down after the 3rd nurse left. We are also responsible for the ER and doing all the paper work, that goes along with admits and ERs.
The point I am trying to make is that I expect myself to deliver a certain level of care to my PTs, and I couldn't do that last night. When approached, the DON, said that according to the accutity of PTs, we have enough nurses and with not having enough nurses to fill in, it would have to do. Monday night, she allowed an inuction to go on with only 2 nurses and 12 PTs, fresh c-section. It was "OK" because we had 2 care techs. I called the doctor and she was mad because, if she had known about the staffing issue, she would have cancelled the induction. The DON got mad because I called her in, she had to cover "on call" Well, it was crazy, almost one of the craziest nights I have had.
I would like some ideas on what you do in these situations. I am at a loss. I am so frustrated with this DON, I could go on and on, she is not a good leader and she is clueless about how to do her job (this is her 1st DON position, and talking to staff at her other hosp, they say she was the same there, but in QA)
HELP!! I am ready to walk away from this job I love and the staff are awesome! We are all in the same boat.
