Has your hospital census been abnormally low this season?

labrador4122, RN · Oct 1, 2008

hi there. i work at a medium sized hospital on the east coast of fl, about an hour east of orlando, on a cardiovascular floor. it really seems like our census has been lower much longer than usual this year. they keep calling nurses "off" on our floor! just wondering if anyone else has had the same observation at your place of work?

yes!!!!!!!!

apparently it is all over, at my buddy's hospital, she is called "off" often and asked me how was my hospital and it is same, with low census.

they call us "off" or we float to another unit, which has been my case week after week. i end up going to nicu or picu (and honest, i do not like hearing crying babies all night--- i love babies though, but do not like them crying!) :sniff:

we both work in medium sized usually very busy hospitals. i work in peds and my buddy in adults.

llg, PhD, RN · Oct 1, 2008

Yes ... at my hospital, too. Where are the patients?

Tweety, BSN, RN · Oct 4, 2008

We've been bursting at the seems this summer when the census is usually low. I usually look forward to the break and drop in census and don't mind being canceled here and therebut not this summer.

However, a friend at another private hospital in town says they are down, being canceled and floated. Go figure.

I think the economy is keeping people away from Florida. I'm concerned for this winter, to see if the snowbirds and tourist come back in the same numbers as years past.

Bella RN, BSN, MSN · Oct 5, 2008

Yes I am in Tampa at a trauma center and the census has been low in all the units. They have been sending people home early and/or canceling nurses due to budget and low census.

I used to love to go home early in the past...I would often volunteer. But now I find myself signing up for overtime shifts and they are always canceled.

I am truly considering traveling nursing and getting away from here. NOt because of the low cenus but I want a change. :rolleyes: So i will see what happens.

The thought of taking a contract or traveling nursing frightening also because i have seen people have their contract cancelled or they are the first to be sent home....go figure:clown:

suehp · Oct 6, 2008

Hi there. I work at a medium sized hospital on the east coast of FL, about an hour east of Orlando, on a cardiovascular floor. It really seems like our census has been lower much longer than usual this year. They keep calling nurses "off" on our floor! Just wondering if anyone else has had the same observation at your place of work?

Whereabouts on the east coast? I am on the east coast too!

Our quiet season started a little late this year but now the quiet season doesnt seem to end. I work on Orthopedics and we are constantly being called off - once in a while is ok but it seems to be weekly at the moment.

lpnflorida · Oct 7, 2008

Same here in southwest florida, while it has picked up a bit these past two weeks,, summer was awful. Hope season actually arrives this year. I find it scarey economy appears to be affecting everyone.

ZooMommyRN, ADN, RN · Oct 8, 2008

We've started slowing down, hoping they pick up, I'm .9 as it is, less than 3 shifts a week kills the budget

RN__ DUDE · Dec 10, 2008

It has been a while since anyone posted on this matter. I am at a level one trauma center in the NW as an ICU nurse. This last month has been slowing down tremendously. Most ICU's have been 1/2 to 3/4 full and one of them has been closed a couple of times. It is somewhat speculative to try and explain what is the source. People that come to ICU don't exactly choose whether or not to be there. They don't choose to be septic, require open heart surgery, or be involved in trauma accidents. I can only think that is is a terrible coincidence regarding the timing of the economy. One other possibility is that with fewer elective surgeries, there is a quantifiable proportion who are not developing complications from the surgery that they would otherwise be having. It could get a little rough out there for a while. Some here have said this type of low census occured back in the late 80's/early 90's. This is the time when your greatest asset is versatility, your ability to work in multiple units of the hospital.

VU RN BSN · Dec 12, 2008

My father just spent a week at Brandon Regional Hospital, in the Tampa Bay area. Despite the economy, this hospital was busy busy. Had to wait several hours in the Rapid Admission Unit (their post ER / pre floor admit area) for a tele bed to open up. My Dad's tele floor appeared to usually be full. Dad was initially in a double room with a roommate, and roommate turnover was fast. When one roommate was discharged and went home, a new one would replace them in less than 2 hours.

Dad had to have a cardiac cath, and the cath lab was very busy and their schedule was packed. So much so, that his "10:00am" cardiac cath wasn't sone until 3:00pm, they were so backed up.

Dad got an ICD a couple days later, and his EP cardiologist had to "squeeze him in" as a 7:30am first case of the day, because this EP cardiologist already had a packed schedule doing EP studies and cardiac ablations all day long.

Post ICD placement, Dad waited in the cardiac recovery room for 8 hours, waiting for a cardiovascular progressive care unit bed to open up. The CVPCU had been completely full, we were told, and they finally had a couple CVPCU patients discharged in the late afternoon / early evening. Also, in that cardiac recovery room, the joint was jumping, they were very busy, lots of patients.

Yes, I know the economy is horrible and many people have lost their health insurance. But, perhaps cardiac nursing is recession proof?? I mean, lets face it, whether a person has health insurance or not, if a person is having an MI, doctors and nurses have a responsibility to try to save their life. Whether the economy is good or bad is not going to change the fact that heart disease is the #1 killer in the USA and sadly people are having MIs every day. Even people who no longer have health insurance will most likely dial 911 if they have an episode of severe chest pain and difficulty breathing, and if the staff in the ER believe they are having an MI, the hospital has a duty and a responsibility to try to save their life.

:redbeathe

chescat58, RNC-NIC · Dec 12, 2008

We have 8 hospitals in our system and overall the census has been down however I work at Winnie Palmer Hospital and we are busting. We have 130 babies in a 112 bed NICU. But our hospital put a hiring freeze on starting yesterday.

pangyaw · Feb 1, 2010

I work here in Northeastern part of US...this is the first hospital I worked with. I was frustrated of having a mandatory low census time. its 12 hours cut off in 2 weeks pay...peds unit was closed, on and off ccu and icu closed. I worked in Ortho/ neuro unit 30 beds before now they added Surgical pts. I worked w/ nurses who floated from peds, ccu and icu. It makes me frustrated to the fact that there is no sense of security in the job. I thought somewhere in Florida will be better but thanks for your info. I think its all over...nobody wants to get sick these days, I bet!