Is this common ?

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42 patients on the unit, my responsibilities are meds, treatments and tube feeds, trach cares and of course charting. Is this too much, or normal ratio nurse/patient?

Specializes in Licensed Practical Nurse.

yep the first two post basically outline my job description where i work!! its nuts, you see at my facility only the morining shift has two nurses, one charge and one med!! ok! now they're trying to making the med nurse do dressings and treatments on top of giving meds/feedings to 40 people!!! + pick up m.d orders when the doctor comes!! and what's left for the charge nurse to do- umm just sit there and write all day, while the med nurse is running like a chicken!! i left work with a headache yesterday!! picking up m.d orders takes like 45 min, giving my meds, starting and managing like 100 peg feedings,+ dressings, know wonder the med nurses are complaining!! thats why i work the night shift!!

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Specializes in Licensed Practical Nurse.
as an rn, i had 1 lpn and 9 cna's to 60 residents. the lpn and i divided the residents for tx, meds and charting and orders and so on , but i was ultimately responsible for everything the lpn did. i was forced to resign when one of the residents developed a stage four decubitus ulcer on her ankle because she was not being turned and repositioned and the buck's traction she was in was not properly cared for. i was the sacrifical nurse in that case. i was blamed. the huge load was way overwhelming.

will i go back to long term care? most likely not.

oh my goodness!! two nurses to 60 people, are there not state laws banning nurse to patient ratios like this?? this is why people flock in droves away from ltc, they give you a ton of work to do and if anything goes wrong you become the sacrificial lamb!!

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if it ever does ltc is in trouble. there will never be enough nurses to cover that. however, if by the slim margin it does happen that is just job security for the lvn's and we can stop talking about this move to phase of the lvn/pn or even better make the bsn entry level... now that i am done with my pms episode ...i digress

i suspect we would get nurses to come back into the field if we had a decent work environment and patient load.
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I've had up to 80 residents assigned in LTC and was the only licensed nurse in a facility with 52 residents, night shift. Yes, 42 residents is common.

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I worked at LTC before..The only way nurses survive there is to take short cuts...One nurse with so many patients, they cannot do all of the work..

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if it ever does ltc is in trouble. there will never be enough nurses to cover that. however, if by the slim margin it does happen that is just job security for the lvn's and we can stop talking about this move to phase of the lvn/pn or even better make the bsn entry level... now that i am done with my pms episode ...i digress

not necessarily: look what mandated ratios in acute care did in ca; it brought many nurses to california and back to the bedside. mandated ratios could have the same effect in ltc.

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Specializes in Vascular Access Nurse.
oh my goodness!! two nurses to 60 people, are there not state laws banning nurse to patient ratios like this?? this is why people flock in droves away from ltc, they give you a ton of work to do and if anything goes wrong you become the sacrificial lamb!!

2 nurses to 60 pts in ltc isn't bad....that's about the norm on 7-3 shift. now, when one of the nurses calls off...that's when the fun begins!! our don says she'd get in trouble if she passed meds...something to do with the don not supposed to be doing that? oh well, who needs a potty break anyway??

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our don says she'd get in trouble if she passed meds...something to do with the don not supposed to be doing that? oh well, who needs a potty break anyway??
oi vey.:trout:
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Yes, I have to make time for a potty break no matter what. Sometimes there is no time to EAT or DRINK :stone and I find myself getting faint after 8 hrs + running around, no food or water b/c NO TIME!!

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Did you hear about the big accident on the highway? When they were pulling people out of the cars they could spot the nurses.

They were the ones with the empty stomachs, the full bladders, and the chewed asses.

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:rotfl:

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Specializes in LTC, Urgent Care.
our don says she'd get in trouble if she passed meds...something to do with the don not supposed to be doing that? [/size]

i've never heard of that, but i know that none of the dons in my facility have ever worked the floor!

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