patient nurse ratio 4:1 in California next year?

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patient nurse ratio 4:1 in California next year? Is that true? I know right now, it is 5:1/ Can everybody talks about the patient nurse ratio in your hospital and floor? Right now, my hospital med-surg floor it is 5:1 in the day shift and 6:1 in the night shift/

According to CNA (which got the ratio law passed) ... ratios will go down to 4 on tele units in 2008 ... not med surg.

http://www.calnurses.org/assets/pdf/ratios/ratios_basics_unit_0704.pdf

Stepdown will go down from 4 to 3 in 2008 also. Specialty care (not sure what that is exactly) will go down from five to four also ...

But, apparently, not med surg.

:typing

I remember the example of a specialty unit was an oncology unit.

From the regulations:

The licensed nurse-to-patient ratio in a specialty care unit shall be 1:5 or fewer at all times.

Commencing January 1, 2008, the licensed nurse-to-patient ratio in a specialty care unit shall be 1:4 or fewer at all times.

A specialty care unit is defined as a unit which is organized, operated, and maintained to provide care for a specific medical condition or a specific patient population.

Services provided in these units are more specialized to meet the needs of patients with the specific condition or disease process than that which is required on medical/surgical units, and is not otherwise covered by subdivision .

http://www.dhs.ca.gov/lnc/pubnotice/NTPR/R-37-01_Regulation_Text.pdf

Statement of reasons: http://www.dhs.ca.gov/lnc/pubnotice/NTPR/R-37-01_FAQ2182004.pdf

Specializes in MedSurg, Ortho, Neuro, StepDown, Rehab.

I live in the southern part of Georgia, a hospital I worked at one year ago, on a Surgical floor (nights) would be 7 or sometimes 8:1. I can't wait until Jan. 2008............:monkeydance:

I live in the southern part of Georgia, a hospital I worked at one year ago, on a Surgical floor (nights) would be 7 or sometimes 8:1. I can't wait until Jan. 2008............:monkeydance:

Was the hospital in California?

The ratio law is only in the state of California for now. I don't this Georgia has nurse to patient ratios (yet).

There are states where nurses are lobbying for a ratio law: http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/

I Always Wondered Is The Nurse Pt Ratio Only For The Rn I Use To Work At A La County Hospital And They Only Use That Rule For The Rn Not The Lvn. The Rn Would Get 2-3 Pts And The Lvn Would 9-10 Pts On The Same Unit.whats The Deal With That??:icon_roll

I Always Wondered Is The Nurse Pt Ratio Only For The Rn I Use To Work At A La County Hospital And They Only Use That Rule For The Rn Not The Lvn. The Rn Would Get 2-3 Pts And The Lvn Would 9-10 Pts On The Same Unit.whats The Deal With That??:icon_roll

I must be getting old cause reading a post where every word is capitalized is hard on my eyes.:uhoh21:

P.S. I also cant wait until 2008. We take up to 5 pt right now on my tele/TCU floor. Four is a great number.

I Always Wondered Is The Nurse Pt Ratio Only For The Rn I Use To Work At A La County Hospital And They Only Use That Rule For The Rn Not The Lvn. The Rn Would Get 2-3 Pts And The Lvn Would 9-10 Pts On The Same Unit.whats The Deal With That??:icon_roll

How long ago was this? The ratio laws have only been around for a few years. It's my understanding that they apply to "nurses" - whether RN or LPN. Pls correct me if I'm wrong.

It may have been that the RN and LVN were supposed to be a team on the LVNs 9-10 patients but the reality may have been the LVNs doing most, if not all, of the nursing care, except for a few legally restricted nursing tasks.

I quit in summer 2006 and that was what they were doing. I was there for 8 years.At first they did not respect lvn's the used them as cna's for about 6 of the 8 years that I was there. but when the new law came they started hiring them again and gave the rn's about 2-3 pts and the lvn 7-9 pts there excuse was that the rns had to cover the lvn's pts if there was an "emergency" which rarely to never happend on a stroke rehan unit of 25 pts.

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