Critical Care Staffing Patterns

[k.Sheldon]

I am a fairly experianced manager of an 10 bed ICU/CCU in a Suburban Hospital with an average daily census of 6 but lately we have been experiancing low census days. Lately my Chief Nursing Officer has asked me to staff the unit when census(1-2patients) is low with One RN and on assistive person ie tech, nurses aide. I have not felt that this is a safe staffing pattern. She feels that we have to think out of the box. My question is does any critical care unit staff in this manner?

------------------

Kate

[NurseRachet]

We always have 2 nurses in the ICU when the census is down to 1-2 patients. We have also opted to move the patient to the CCU area to adjust staffing since the level of care is the same. I agree, that is pretty skimpy staffing. Could your other nurse carry a pager and work elsewhere in the hospital? We sometimes do that also. Good luck.

[Mijourney]

Originally posted by k.Sheldon:

I am a fairly experianced manager of an 10 bed ICU/CCU in a Suburban Hospital with an average daily census of 6 but lately we have been experiancing low census days. Lately my Chief Nursing Officer has asked me to staff the unit when census(1-2patients) is low with One RN and on assistive person ie tech, nurses aide. I have not felt that this is a safe staffing pattern. She feels that we have to think out of the box. My question is does any critical care unit staff in this manner?

---------------------------------------------

Hi,

Thinking out of the box is not justified in this case. As previous posts have indicated, the ICU's I've worked in have a mandatory 2 RN minimum. Yes, the floors are short-staffed and there is a nursing shortage in many areas, but quality and safety should take priority over these issues. Advanced technology, demands of medical and hospital staff, and increased needs of patients and families makes the one RN ideal impractical. Wonder what JCAHO and other licensure agencies have to say about this?