Emergency department nurse to patient ratio

[delrionurse]

What is your patient ratio? Tech, no tech?

[FiremedicMike, RN, EMT-P]

delrionurse said:

What is your patient ratio? Tech, no tech?

Typically 4:1 RN to patient, occasionally you may have a 5th for a hallway bed but we move them into rooms pretty quickly.

We're divided into zones, z1 has 8 beds, z2 has 12, z3 has 8, and z5 is fast track.

RNs will cross cover within their zone to help out their zone nurse when needed.  We'll also have 1-2 float RNs who help check in our medics, discharge patients, and then are the primary nurse for our critical care rooms.

From there, when the positions are staffed, each zone will get an LPN and/or tech.  We're down to two medics and when they're working they pretty much float around the department and help with IVs and labs. 

On a perfect day each zone would have both, on an awful day it may just be the RNs covering their zone and helping the other RN in their zone. 
 

overall it's a pretty smooth setup, although I've only ever worked as a nurse in this ED so there may be better ways of doing it.

[delrionurse]

FiremedicMike said:

Typically 4:1 RN to patient, occasionally you may have a 5th for a hallway bed but we move them into rooms pretty quickly.

re may be better ways of doing it.

It sounds like you have a well organized emergency department. We're 6:1. Not safe.