how many patients for a new grad on the first day on the floor?

[Surgical_RN08]

i am going thru orientation and my manager said she is going to gradually build up my patient care load until i reach the max. we (me and my fellow co-horts) will start out with 1 then 2 and so on till we reach 5-6. but on another floor which is a med-surg floor also with 27 beds at the same hospital, the new grads stated they are getting 3-4 patients on the very first day (which was today) and they were doing "everything" with the preceptor just observing and being called as need (hmmm a bit scary, in my opinion). isnt that a bit much for the first day or should we also get that many pts on the first day????? these new grads on that particular floor says we are being "baby-ed" onto the job and we need more patients. its only the first week dude, i was like "did they really just state that, that was a slap in the face". probaly would seem a bit overwhelmed with that many to start out on the first day. i really love the way my mgr has it planned out. from last year my floor still has all of her new grads (9 total) and the other floor has no new grads from last year. i need some input from others about this.

[2bnursenikki82]

I'm in my last semester of school (two more weeks!!!) and our last semester is basically an internship. I'm up to a full patient load now, which is 5-6, depending on how we're staffed. I do all the charting and pass all the meds and do all the procedures, all my nurse does for me is pull my meds and check my charting and the big charts at the end of the day and call the MD for me. I'm going into ICU after graduation, but the internship has really boosted my confidence...yesterday I had all my assessments completed and totally charted by 10am...plus all my meds passed!!!!

[crunchymomx3]

First day I just followed a buddy (preceptor was on vacation) and helped out here and there to get the feel of the floor and paperwork. Second day I had 1 patient with my buddy and again I helped her out, and anyone else who needed help. Next week I plan to have 1-2 patients.

As one of the nurses said to me on my floor, take your time. Go slow and learn everything you can. Soon enough you will have enough patients to handle.

My orientation is 5 months, so I have that option and the hospital wants us to take whatever time we need. I know some places have much shorter orientations and don't have the option to go slow.

[crunchymomx3]

I should also mention that I am in a completely new hospital for me with all new policies, paperwork, computers, etc.I school I easily cared for 3-4 patients and still had time to help out others. Right now I am more focused on learning how this hospital works than caring for lots of patients.