I work on a 31 bed telemetry unit. we are currently at a ration of 7:1 with a charge nurse who take 3 pts. We have drips on our floor/post cabg/dialysis, and whenever there is no room in ICU we take them when the Dr. downgrades them also if a pt on any other floor except for icu who is started on drip is sent to us, of course unless the drip involves titration or if the pt is intubated.
Normal Day to Day Scenario, I might have all 7 on tele 1 to 2 might be post cabg, and i most likely have a couple on drips. I have 7 assessments, 7 different charts to check, etc etc,
Problem:
they want to change the ratio to 8:1 with a free charge... I like the free charge thing BUT.... if we are running around looking like a blur to our patients now i can only imagine who this is going to work... and for get it if a pt goes bad.
We have all expressed our concerns to our manager and he said "you can tell me whatever you want Im not going to change my mind you are wasting your time"... we feel dismissed and are very scared of the consequences if anything were go down with a pt. We have not had anyone from administration come and talk to us or make us aware of these changes let alone get our feedback... My fellow nurses are meeting tomorrow at someones house to see what our next move should be, I feel we need to stick together and stand up for ourselves and protect our pts, and our licenses.
Please can some of you all tell me you thoughts I would love to know what others think
I'm sorry that's awful, I agree you should go up the chain, but maybe you could enlist the help of some of the medical staff who agree and are sympathetic? This happened on a unit I worked on. We were ignored until our intensivist got involved. He basically involved the Medical Director who told admin that they wouldn't admit patients to the hospital if the ratio was dangerous.
BTW we didn't actually approach him, he noticed how crazy the unit was and overheard some of the nurses talking about how scary it was....
Thanks everyone my mind is racing and I can't wait to show my fellow floor nurses this forum tonight.... Keep it coming we need all the advice and opinions we can get I will definitely keep u all posted about tonights meeting.... Again thanks and who else is going to advocate for us nurses but ourselves
8:1 doesn't just sound dangerous...it IS dangerous. You have some very good advice here. Safe Harbor has always gotten the attention of the higher-ups.With 7:1 I am surprised that it hasn't been done earlier.Good luck!
KJStarling
77 Posts
I'm sorry that's awful, I agree you should go up the chain, but maybe you could enlist the help of some of the medical staff who agree and are sympathetic? This happened on a unit I worked on. We were ignored until our intensivist got involved. He basically involved the Medical Director who told admin that they wouldn't admit patients to the hospital if the ratio was dangerous.
BTW we didn't actually approach him, he noticed how crazy the unit was and overheard some of the nurses talking about how scary it was....
I am sorry.