pt to nurse ratio

[michellelpn]

What is the patient to nurse ratio where you work?

What shift do you work and what area of nursing are you employed in?

:) :) :) :) :) Michelle

[babs_rn]

I'm an agency nurse in the ICU/CCU of a facility where I was employed a long time ago and swore I would never be an employee of again...

ICU/CCU : One nurse - 1,2,or 3 patients. If working short, might have 4 if we get an admit. Keep in mind though, we do also get overflows and we more often than not have to quickly move patients out to the floor and get a stat clean on the room in order to get new patients in so you might be admitting 2-3 (per nurse) in a night, meaning you're actually caring for 5-6 patients in the unit (though not all at one time) by the time all is said and done. Not really that uncommon to do that.

On the floor in the same facility: the heaviest, sickest 35-bed floor right outside the ICU doors - days, 1:8 with 3 techs on the floor. Nights, 1:10 with 2 techs on the floor. Charge nurse doesn't take patients on days but does on nights. I used to work this 13 years ago and quit - they had a policy that if any nurse on the floor got written up for any reason, the charge nurse (me) got written up with her. Hey, I had 10 patients of my own too! One night we had call-ins and so it was just me and a float nurse from ICU and we had 34 patients, admitted one through the night which filled up the floor. Sheesh!!

On the med-surg/peds floor, they usually have 2 nurses for up to 18 patients with a tech on days but none on nights.

Babs

[OBNURSEHEATHER]

I work post partum/nursery. When I'm on the floor, I can expect 3-4 mother/baby "couplets". (Translates to 6-8 patients). When I'm in the nursery, I can expect that myself and another RN will be in charge of 20-45 newborns (depending on census). At the higher end, we sometimes get a third person.

Heather

[Bermuda]

Tele floor the 7a-7p shift is usually 4-5 for initial assignment but could end up with 7 by the end of your shift...transfers from the unit and new admits.... never know...but charge nurse is very good and watches out for her staff.....CVICU 1:1 for fresh CABG and if >24hrs/stable then 1:2.. a 12 bed unit....no PCA all RN's. Of course we all have bad days and good days....that is nursing...isn't it?:kiss

[pjmnrse]

In our Pediatric unit we usually have 12 patients total. 8 of those patients are on ventilators...2 of those are infants. For our 7p to 7a shift we have one RN one LPN and one RT

[chicagonurse]

I work in LTC 3pm-11:30pm. On the best of days I'll have 20 patients and 1 CNA. On the worse 45 dementia patients 3/4 of whom require total care with 3 CNAs. Management seems to only care about cost cutting. On an average day a spend 20 minutes figuring out charge slips eventhough I never get to spend that much time on a patient. The good CNAs have left due to short staffing and now the nurses talk about leaving.

[Teshiee]

I work in NICU the most you would get is 3. Based on acuity of the neonates. 1:1 if very critical has many drips and is on a ventilator, unstable. ECMO may have 2 nurses working on the infant depending on status!

[bjpeace]

When I work in SICU it's usually 1:2, however if the pt has high acuity (ex- CVVH, transplant, Crani w/ increased ICP) then it's 1:1. I've never seen 2:1 but have heard stories of crash and burns with multiple nurses. I have had to triple several times in SICU on night shift (days are well staffed) When I work in stepdown it's usually 1:4 - 5. Nights carries more pts.

[Tinaboo]

In the facility that I work in, there is one nurse and 1/2 of a unit manager to thirty patients on morning shift. One nurse to thirty patients on evenings, and one nurse to sixty patients on nights.

[bjpeace]

Tina -

What type of unit do you work in? And are there any techs to help? 1.5 to 30? How do you get anything done????