Florida Hospital cesnses seem to be very low...

[Gr8Dane]

*EDIT* Sorry about my spelling lol..

I work in acute med surg now for 5 years, and this is absolutely the slowest I have ever seen us.

Our census atm is 14 patients on a 40 bed unit Med/Surg Unit! And even our telemetry floors are half load.

I am wondering if its the economy forcing people not to come to the hospital but to their general physician even for more serious issues.

I am searching for part time work as I am called off from work twice a pay period (Thats basically a weeks pay considering I work 7pm-7am). They rotate call offs so its not biased but it hurts especially when all my PDO's are used up from calloffs as they have been for two months.

Of course it doesn't stop the seekers and abusers from coming who have no insurance and never pay a dime for their treatment but thats another post for another time.

Are you having the same problems with low patient census? Is this the future of healthcare or isolated to where I am at in Central Florida?

[TigerGalLE, BSN, RN]

low census in SC also... Fine with me. I got called off for the 1st time in a year and a half last night... I was so excited!! I work on a pulmonary floor so I'm sure when flu season hits and when cold weather sets in we will be busy again. I better enjoy it while it lasts.

[blinks14]

Our hospital is full to the brim. Practically overflowing. I work on a surgical cardiac unit and someone always needs a cath or open heart surgery or is in CHF, because we are the overflow for that unit as well.

[Pudnluv, ASN, RN]

Here in Central New York, our census is up from previous years. I guess all those folks who usually go to Florida are in our hospitals! There are job openings at all the hospitals around here and not enough nurses to fill the positions. The nursing shortage is in full swing here. So maybe you southern folk would like to consider a move up north? The weather sucks, but the heat is always on at work!