Centinela Hospital ER so scary

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I need advise on if and what to do about this hospitals ER practices. I have good friends working there. They are now being assigned patients 6:1 ratio. Regardless of the acuity.  The nurses are having 4 ICU patients with 2 tele patients, and it is humanly impossible to preform safe nursing. or safe patient care. Is this hospital following pandemic guide lines. If so how is that safe for any one? Who can intervene, or expose them. The staff is so overwhelmed, they go home in tears and don't want to go back. It scares me to think California has stooped this low. No one wins. Can the calif nurses union get involved?  Any input would be appreciated,,

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The thing is, these are not normal times.  Hospitals are stretched thin with beds, staffing, resources during this pandemic.  Is it right?  No, but it is what it is.  There are not enough beds and nurses to go around.  This is the time we, as nurses have to step up and accept that things are not our usual normal and do what we can with what we have.

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Specializes in Dialysis.
11 hours ago, diane e said:

I need advise on if and what to do about this hospitals ER practices. I have good friends working there. They are now being assigned patients 6:1 ratio. Regardless of the acuity.  The nurses are having 4 ICU patients with 2 tele patients, and it is humanly impossible to preform safe nursing. or safe patient care. Is this hospital following pandemic guide lines. If so how is that safe for any one? Who can intervene, or expose them. The staff is so overwhelmed, they go home in tears and don't want to go back. It scares me to think California has stooped this low. No one wins. Can the calif nurses union get involved?  Any input would be appreciated,,

If you're not a nurse there, you need to leave it alone. If a nurse there is having issues, they can report it to CA BON. But, I remember reading recently, possibly on here on AN, that someone in CA did report their hospital only to be given a reply like PPs, which is honestly how it is everywhere right now. Everyone is doing the best that they can, with the resources that they have

ETA: the CA nurses union was involved with the answer as far as I know

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Specializes in ER.

Our healthcare system is becoming unsustainable. We are all being held hostage by unrealistic standards and expectations.

We have a population that is unhealthy,  beset with chronic ailments that are a direct result of our collective lives of excess. The pandemic is merely tipping the scales. Our society has been teetering on the brink for some time.

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12 hours ago, diane e said:

I need advise on if and what to do about this hospitals ER practices. I have good friends working there. They are now being assigned patients 6:1 ratio. Regardless of the acuity.  The nurses are having 4 ICU patients with 2 tele patients, and it is humanly impossible to preform safe nursing. or safe patient care. Is this hospital following pandemic guide lines. If so how is that safe for any one? Who can intervene, or expose them. The staff is so overwhelmed, they go home in tears and don't want to go back. It scares me to think California has stooped this low. No one wins. Can the calif nurses union get involved?  Any input would be appreciated,,

I'm in Southern California and seeing the same thing at my hospital ...forced overtime, and everyone out of ratio, with no CNAs and no charge nurses. We're even without a house officer, at times. It's awful at the moment.

Staff are becoming exhausted and calling off, which unfortunately makes things even worse. New employees aren't sticking around, either (for obvious reasons). I know my hospital normally staffs well, but they don't know that.

Besides turning patients away, there's not much that can be done. If there's no staff, then there's no staff. I've just been doing the best that I can with what I have to work with. The care patients are receiving is not ideal, to be honest. It's better than no care at all, though.

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HI, I appreciate your reply. You mentioned the care right now is not ideal, and better then no care at all. I am an RN with 36 years ER experience in a level 1 trauma center. What I am concerned about is our license. We are unable to safely care for these patients. When you are expected to titrate drips, on intubated patients 2 and 3 at a time. With 4 tele patients needing all their meds. Corners will be cut, meds will be missed. Patients have suffered. Who will be held accountable? Families don't understand the system and will look for the reasons their family member died. Ultimately they will blame and possible go after the primary nurse. Last week my hospital left an altered pt in the hall for 3 hours. He was having an ischemic stroke. By the time he got into the ER. the time frame for tpa had passed. He did not do well. I am all for better triaging or screening of patients. Every day you get the chronic complainer, or pain med seekers. They can be put on hold , or told to see their primary MD. They often take up beds unnecessarily.  

Maybe I am just venting, but also am aware of the consequences when nurses are overwhelmed and overworked. Patients and families are the real victims,, 

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

This is the consequence of a pandemic that has exceeded the capacity of some hospitals in the state to provide the safe nurse staffing standard as we know it. I've heard reports of worse case scenarios early in the pandemic in Queens, NY...as in step down units were converted to ICU's and at times, the bedside ICU nurse is actually a PACU or cath lab nurse, or worse, a Nurse Practitioner from a surgical service asked to help as an extra set of hands. 

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