Accepted a charge position...now a little nervous!

[PAERRN20]

Hi everyone. I have been trying to find a way out of the ED and have landed a charge nurse position. I have 2 years experience as a staff RN in a busy ED. I have never been a charge nurse but accepted a position on evening shift for a Rehab floor. There will be approx. 15 patients. Besides me, there will be 1 LPN and 1 CNA. Is this a decent ratio? I will not pass PO meds, just IV. Also there is another RN that works another wing of the department who would be available for questions or help if things get too busy. This postion is in a medium size hospital. Does this job sound doable?

[litbitblack, ASN, RN]

Yes it sounds doable.you will probably take a pt load also as 15 pts is too much for one nurse.

[NavyVet]

Certainly doable, I took pretty much the exact same position as my first nursing job. I've only been doing it 3 months, and kind of got defaulted the charge position since there is only 1 RN per shift on the unit. My unit is smaller, 10 beds and I get just 1 CNA to help. The unit has only had 5 people at a time due to the economy and fewer patients having elective surgery. If I get up to 10 I imagine management will assign a LPN to help out.

You have to keep in mind this is a Rehab unit, the workload isn't too bad. The patients have to be pretty stable and able to complete x number of hours of PT/OT a day (3 hours on my unit) or they can't come there. Pain meds, potty breaks, walking with patients, occasional feeds pretty much rounds out the day. You'll have to work with therapy so both of you can accomplish your goals for the day with the patients, but really, its not a bad gig. With your previous experience, I don't think you'll have any problems.

To be honest, I'd love to trade places with you! I need some excitement and challenging work. That being said, with the current economic climate, I am grateful to have any job at the moment:D