Amount of residents responsible for in a day?

yousoldtheworld · Mar 10, 2011

If that facility has 9 each, I'd consider yourself lucky and stay there. Most places have considerably more than that.

We have 12 each when we are fully staffed, which we NEVER are, and on a normal day have 14-16 each. These are all 100 percent total care residents, unable to walk or bear weight. And you're right, you CAN'T take proper care of them with this ratio. And if you read through the boards here, you'll find it's something that all of us struggle with.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Mar 10, 2011

What gets me is that there is always a manipulative time-suck person thrown in with the total cares. I can do 9 total care people and feel like I didn't neglect anyone. But 8 total care people and someone more alert who is always on the bell and plays games to keep you at their beck and call? That's when I get stressed because I am skipping out on toileting and hydration for the others.

vtmainer · Mar 10, 2011

I cannot see how it can be done... On my clinical day, I had one lady to feed who was a total assist, and it took me a half hour just to feed her, and she still didn't finish eating. How do you manage to feed a multitude of residents and be sure they're eating enough without the food sitting there for an extended period of time?

yousoldtheworld · Mar 10, 2011

At my facility, we have 41 total feeds. Needless to say, dinnertime lasts from 5 p.m. until about 7:30. And then they wonder why we have a hard time getting 15 residents cleaned up and into bed between 7:30 and 10, and that time is also supposed to include our lunch break. We also usually have 5 showers per night, and many of our residents don't get home from school and workshop until dinnertime, so we cant' do it before.

In short, you get a routine, and you work out what you can do and what you have to take shortcuts on. It's hard. But you get better at it once you get working.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Mar 10, 2011

We usually feed 2-3 people at once. While one is working on tasting and swallowing what's in her mouth, you give the other one a bite. Things seem less rushed that way- each resident has more time per mouthful and you're getting things done with less time spent waiting for one person to swallow while you think to yourself "oh god I have so much to do."

CoffeemateCNA · Mar 10, 2011

Same thing for toileting. If you toilet them all one at a time, you will never ever get done. Put one person in the bathroom, leave them, put another person in the bathroom, leave them, and put another person in the bathroom. By that time the first person (should) will be done and then you can get them all off in that order. Of course, you can't do this if they are high fall risks, so you have to know your residents and make judgements appropriately.

LaterAlligator · Mar 10, 2011

I work in a dementia facility and typically have 10 residents on each run per shift. Usually not all of them are total care, but sometimes they are, just depending on which hall I'm on. At my job, the thing that takes the longest is that a fair amount of the residents that can't walk also require a mechanical lift. We're forever trying to hunt down a free sit-to-stand so that we can transfer someone. It wastes so much time! But we only have a couple of the machines, so there you have it.

Poi Dog · Mar 10, 2011

Depending on what shift I work, I have anywhere from 22 - 8 patients.

Dorali, BSN, LPN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

I have about 18 people on my hall, which is a little less than usual (one is out at the hospital, another recently passed, etc.) I have a partner to work with though. Routine & teamwork are the secrets. We will split up for some. With the others that are lifts, I usually get them ready as much as possible alone, lift pads underneath, dressed, etc. Then go get the lift and help and pop them all up quickly since the work is done. Same with 2-person transfers. I dress them in bed with briefs & pants up to their knees and we go back and finish up. I am always willing to help others so they will come and help me. The ones that won't/don't help out are the ones I don't go out of my way for.

As for feeding, we also feed about 3 or 4 at once. We have big U shaped tables and the CNAs sit on the inside. Give one a bite, then the next. Some of them are fully capable of feeding themselves, but are used to being fed so they don't. You might see if that's true for some of your residents.

CoffeemateCNA · Mar 10, 2011

Some of them are fully capable of feeding themselves, but are used to being fed so they don't. You might see if that's true for some of your residents.

^^Agreed.

If residents have the ability to do a task, they need to do it themselves as much as possible, or otherwise they will lose it. There are many people that can feed themselves independently, but because they take so long, staff just end up feeding them to help move things along. If this is the case, get those residents up FIRST and make sure they are the first to be taken to the dining room and served, if possible. This will give them as much time as they need to eat, help them retain their independence, and take a bit of the load off of you. Everyone wins.

KareBear0609 · Mar 10, 2011

9 isn't so bad. Last night I had 14 people and 4 showers (complete bed changes for those residents as well). You have to learn to work fast, but that will come with time.