Do your charge nurses have assignments?

allnurses Guide · Jan 11, 2009

No unit I've ever worked in had the charge take a patient. How can you run the unit and take care of a patient at the same time?

nrsang97, BSN, RN · Jan 12, 2009

It gets so difficult some nights. We have been trying to get this chaned, but we are told that since we only have 16 beds we should be fine by upper management.

cardiorn04 · Jan 12, 2009

For almost a year, we did not take patients (unless we were really short-staffed). It was nice to be able to mentor the new grads and help out as needed. We also have a checklist of multiple tasks to be done (to satisfy JCAHO, Medicare, etc), which is time-consuming and cumbersome.

For the last week, management has decided that the charge should take patients again. It has not gone well at all. We (charges) are expected to take an assignment, be responsible for the unit, be available to help staff, mentor new grads (which all come to night shift) AND do our checklist. For the last week, I have felt that I have given my patients sub-standard care and have been staying over at least an hour after my shift is over to finish my charting and paperwork.

Charge Nurses should not have to take patients!

myfairyprincess · Jan 12, 2009

Our charge nurses in CCU take two patients until we have 8 or more patients on the floor. It is absurd, especially when most of the nurses on nights are new and ask lots of questions and need lots of guidance.

catshowlady · Jan 13, 2009

I work in a smaller hospital that has only one ICU, for all types of pts. Our charge nurse is supposed to be in charge on days without pts, but sometimes, if we are short-staffed, she ends up having to take pts. On nights, our charge nurse is expected to take an assignment. That said, I work 11a-11p, and the night charge is not suppsed to have pts during the 7p-11p period, and then she or he takes my pts when I leave. On weekends, we usually do not have enough staff on days or nights, and the charge nurse ends up taking an assignment too.

It really does work better to have the charge nurse do charge only, rather than take a pt assignment. Days or nights. Nights, for whatever reason, seems to get more "train wrecks" that require 1:1 or sometimes 2 nurses to 1 pt.

stoli · Jan 14, 2009

In our CCU charge takes a full assignment , never open for admit, and often is responsible for making sure the unit is properly staffed ......calling staff at home if there is a shortage or to cancel if not needed . We also just started RRT and charge may have 1-pt and on RRT.

perkizme · Jan 14, 2009

Our hospital doesnt have a permanent charge RN structure (staff that is only charge). So a designated nurse is charge for a shift and usu. has a patient. Some managers try to get it budget approved to have a charge RN without assignment but do to lack of staffing, charge RNs usu have to have an assignment. We usu can get around this by having float pool and agency nurses on board so that charge can be without. We have a busy 24-bed MICU with the arrest bed in a level 1 trauma so charge with assignment can be rather hard. We just try to give charge 2 stable vents or something equivalent that will be rather easy and no chance for an admit. Occasionally charge will have to carry the RRT pager for the arrest bed but that's usu if the RN with the arrest bed has to give up the pager because of another admit that has to come in or to relieve for lunch or something.

allnurses Guide · Jan 14, 2009

In our CCU charge takes a full assignment , never open for admit, and often is responsible for making sure the unit is properly staffed ......calling staff at home if there is a shortage or to cancel if not needed . We also just started RRT and charge may have 1-pt and on RRT.

It seems extremely unsafe for any nurse to have an assignment and be on RRT.

Medwynn · Jan 15, 2009

Usually only happens when our staffing is tight and an emergent balloon pump and/or open heart comes in. The supervisor will take over the charge nurse position.

pink85 · Jan 16, 2009

Our charge never takes patients.

Thank goodness for this site. I always griped about our unit but I have learned that we have it pretty darned good on a lot of things from Christmas bonus to staffing!

sweetlilnurse77 · Feb 1, 2009

We usually have 1-2 patient assignments + charge. Wish that it could change, but with the economy and the ever-rising nursing shortage--I don't see a solution for this at our hospital anytime soon. We are also on a hiring freeze and do not take travel nurses. AAAAHHHH!