How many couplets are you responsible for?

[zoo*moon]

i left my med-surg position because the 30-bed floor was regularly staffed with only 3 or 4 nurses. if one called in sick, they never found a replacement so it was one nurse with up to 10 patients. that was way too much for me. i worked there about 10 years. well so i found a new job to get new experience. i am on a postpartum floor, about the same size, but really double with both moms and babies. the usual assignment is 4 couplets. i was told standard of care allowed up to 5. i cannot believe this and thought i'd type my question on this board. last night, of my 4, i had two fresh c-sections and one had complications. mom and baby assessments are every 4 hours. it is way too much, too busy, too much to juggle. so much going on. not really much better than med-surg. i hoped to get at least a year experience but i don't think i can make it.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Any place where mgt says babies don't count obviously does not care about NRP/AAP and AWHONN standards and is truly a dangerous place to practice. I would not work there given any choice.

We get around 3-4 couplets and may take a GYN as well. The person with the lightest load "takes the door" meaning she triages rule-out patients. If the labor rule out is ruled in, then the couplets are taken from that nurse and divided up among the floor staff, so she can take care of the newly-admitted labor pt. Acuity is split among staff as much as possible, to include that of babies, so no one gets an unduly heavy load and therefore can miss something important.

And for what it costs to have a baby and be in the hospital our patients sure as heck deserve better than one overworked nurse for as many as seven or more couplets! That is ridiculous.

We are an LDRP floor so we all "do it all". We wear all hats and have to help each other out.

[MomX2andNurse]

Check you state regulations....in our state, 4 couplets is the max. You can have more, but rarely.

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

We usually have some mix of GYNs, antepartums, and m/b couplets. 5 adults is usually the max, regardless of how many babies. 5 couplets is hard - and it's totally impossible to give the care these pts deserve when I have 5 couplets. A gynie and four couplets = much easier, IMO.