I'm going to dump a full urinal....

Published

Specializes in ER.

...of smelly, nasty UTI pee on the (expensive) shoes of the next person who brings up my ED's "census" when planning staffing! :angryfire

We don't have a census, or grid, or count or any other fancy management words for our patient loads. A very wise friend once stood up to supervisor and told her, "Our census is the entire city that is outside our doors!" :smokin:

Sorry...just had to rant for a second. That is all.

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Specializes in ER OR LTC Code Blue Trauma Dog.

We used to call it the "Senseless Census"

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Specializes in ER; HBOT- lots others.

lolol.. srry. it was funny okay? because seriously, who in their right mind doesnt understand that? hahaha

try and have a better day!

-H-RN

Keep us updated on the census... and i say that czu you CANT dump it on MY shoes!!!

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Specializes in ED, ICU, Heme/Onc.

We were "overstaffed" about a month ago, but there was a 4 hour wait, 15 charts in the rack, fast track patients treated and released from the outpatient lab that gave us some chairs, the medical director and nurse managers out on the floor with a full patient load, and upper admin was trying to force flex two RNs. "Luckily", we had the docs rush the admit paperwork to justify our "overstaffing issue" and we now had too many "holding patients" for the holds staff to handle. God forbid the productivity numbers dip below 110%!

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Specializes in Case Mgmt, Anesthesia, ICU, ER, Dialysis.

Optilink is the bane of our existence.

Neurotrauma ICU. People who flew through the windshields. Tossed from the back of a horse. Thought it was a good idea to drink a suitcase of beer, and cut down a tree with a chainsaw in the middle of a thunderstorm. (True story!)

Heavy patients. Head injuries, new paras, quads, and that's not even counting the ones who come there because the trauma docs automatically write for us, even without neuro injuries.

We were listing them as "high" acuity, because they were! To take care of those people properly, it was one h*ll of a lot of work!

But it was showing we were understaffed on Optilink.

So we're no longer allowed to list people as "high" acuity, unless they are circling death's door on 5 vasoactive drips and organ procurement is sitting at the desk waiting to talk to the family.

The other night, I got a guy from the ER with an embolic CVA. History of serious hypercoaguability states - DVT, PE, previous CVA, etc.

He arrived in Biot's breathing - a BIG sign of increased ICP. We had to intubate, re-CT in the am, do his intake, do major labs for the Mannitol, etc. I ran my BUTT off, and was there until 11 am (shift ended at 7) trying to make sure everything got done and all the orders got written.

But he wasn't high acuity. WTHE.

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

We had a run over a few months of almost no patients after about 2 AM. We actually sent people (volunteers!) home. Right about the time we had new managers in the upper levels. They tried to make out like that was the norm all the time and cut staffing levels. Now that we are overflowing and constantly holding patients from obs. to ICU because there's no room in the inn: is there any noise about increasing staffing? Ah, no.

I'd just be happy with having my sceduled staffing numbers match the numbers we are supposed to have.

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I'd like to recommend a bed side commode...it's bigger!:yeah:

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