Do You Deliver Safe Patient Care?

nrsang97, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2008

1. How many patient's do you care for on your floor?
2. What type of floor do you work on?
3. Do you feel like you are able to deliver safe and effective care considering your patient load?
4. How often do you feel that you are not able to deliver safe care?

1. I have 1-2 patients on a daily basis and rarely do I if ever have 3.

2. I work in a neuro intensive care unit.

3. I am able to give save competent care. Some days it dosen't always feel effective. Sometimes the workload can be real busy even if just 2 patients. Sometimes there is no easy assignment.

4. There isn't very often that I feel I can't deliver safe care. I usually feel that sometimes one patient who is not as sick gets short changed with the at times difficult workload. Or if I am charge with a full assignment.

loriangel14, RN · Feb 16, 2008

1. I care for 4 pts. on days and 6 on evenings.

2. I work in a complex continuing care facility.

3. I do feel that I deliver safe care most of the time. Hourly rounding

does happen and that gives me a feeling that my care is safe.

4. Once in a while something critical happens on the floor and get

preoccupied with one pt. and I worry about covering the rest,

fortunately I work in a supportive environment so we all cover

each other.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2008

1. I have 65 patients.

2. I work the night shift on a traditional LTC unit at a nursing home.

3. I don't feel like I can provide safe care with this patient load. If all of my patients are breathing and pulsating when my shift ends, that's the best I can hope for.

4. I feel this is unsafe on a nightly basis.

AnneP726 · Feb 16, 2008

1. I normally have 5 patients, 1 of them an admit, ED or post-op

2. I work on a surgical/medical unit in a small community hospital (280 beds, 32 on our unit)

3. Most of the time I feel care is safe an effective, the exception being if something critical happens or if we end up short staffed and my patient load is higher (today I had 6 plus an ED admit)

4. Infrequent, maybe once a month working full time

husker_rn, RN · Feb 16, 2008

! I had anywhere from7-8 pts; somenights 6 with total pt care. At the start I had up to 12 at times.

2. I worked in an LTAC on a med-surg floor.

3. I gave the best care I could give but went home many nights feeling it should have been better.

4. I felt that way almost nightly.

That's why I am in LTC at a place where people matter more than profit.

locolorenzo22, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2008

1. How many patient's do you care for on your floor?
2. What type of floor do you work on?
3. Do you feel like you are able to deliver safe and effective care considering your patient load?
4. How often do you feel that you are not able to deliver safe care?

From a tech:

1. Generally 12-15 a night...depending on census...although last week I had 24 by myself....

2. Ortho/Neuro

3. NO! Often my total cares are lucky to get pericare, and changed on time...all the acutal with it people take up my time with hilton requests....I used to be able to wash total cares on nights...

4. 1-2 x a month....although it's been more often lately....

EmmaG, RN · Feb 16, 2008

1. How many patient's do you care for on your floor?

Varies with my contract. I've had 1-2 up to 8.

2. What type of floor do you work on?

Med/surg/tele/oncology.

3. Do you feel like you are able to deliver safe and effective care considering your patient load?

Safe, yes. Sometimes not as effective as I'd like to be. I've been very lucky so far; on every assignment I've had terrific staff to work with, in that they do pitch in and help when I feel I'm overwhelmed.

4. How often do you feel that you are not able to deliver safe care?

I haven't really felt unsafe, but many times leave disappointed that only the bare minimum was accomplished, and worried that I may have missed something. Please note that it isn't the number of patients that make it hectic; my worst shifts--- hands down--- have been the ones with the fewest (and most acutely ill) patients.

KrissyPRN · Feb 16, 2008

1. I am the RN with no tech and up to 8 patients.

2. Mental Health & Addictions 23 hour observation unit

3. Most of the time I feel it is unsafe for both the patient and myself. I wouldn't say I don't feel my care is effective. Most of the time I feel I don't have enough time to spend with my patients.

4. I would say more often than not I feel it is an unsafe working environment due to staffing.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Feb 16, 2008

1. How many patient's do you care for on your floor?

I usually get 4-6, with a tech.

2. What type of floor do you work on?

Telemetry/Med-Surg

3. Do you feel like you are able to deliver safe and effective care considering your patient load?

Yep.

4. How often do you feel that you are not able to deliver safe care?

It's pretty rare on my unit.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Feb 16, 2008

1. i work in a clinic, but i would say that i encounter at least 15 patients for various reasons; patient teaching, medications, sending to er, or direct admission to the floors

2. i work in adult primary care clinic. we see everything from soup to nuts, and if we can't solve the situation within our area, we send the patients to our subspecialty clinics.

3. most times, i say that the care i render is safe, in that there are no medication mistakes made, but i do not have time to give the teaching i so desire to due to the sheer volume of patients that i see, as well as language and cultural barriers.

4. see number three

Lorie P. · Feb 16, 2008

i usually have 6-9 pts per shift.

i work on a med-surg floor that get anything from chest pain, drug overdose, chf, copd even at times psy pts and any and everything in between.

i don't always have the time to give the care i feel each pt deserves due to a high pt load and most of them total care. sometimes not even safe care, due to bed alarms going off and being tied up with a whiner that thinks he/she is at the hilton.

i realize that i can only do so much and do the very best i can .