how many patients do you have

melmiche · Nov 13, 2006

If you have 50 patients... GET ANOTHER JOB!!!! Turn and run it is a liability waiting to happen and you don't want it on your license.

RNMom2010 · Nov 23, 2006

I must have it really good! I work in a small Alzheimers assisted living facility and we have a max of 8 residents to care for, some of which do not need much assistance. Our whole facility has only 32 people in it! I work 2nd shift and have no nurse to answer to, we are independent and able to make care decisions on our own. I fully care for my wing of 8, cook, clean, pass meds, ADLs. I could not imagine having to care for 15 people that are full care! For those that do I commend you!!

MONTGOMERY · Nov 23, 2006

I Have Between 16 And 20. Cna Is Hard Work. I Went To School For Medication Aide And I Work As Both. Being A Cna Is Hard Work On The Back And Very Time Consuming. I Love My Work But Their Are Not Enough Hours In The Day

niko1999 RN BSN · Nov 26, 2006

I average about 9. I work 3-11, and those 9 are the people who dont require two people(i.e. sit stand people). However, those are the people who are also usually more particular about things and have to have things a certain way. But I am (usually)able to pop out those 9 people in about 3.5 hours-its just about time management is all at least with only 9 people, b/c even that wears thin quickly. Couldnt imagine anymore, and if I did more than that on a regular basis, Id quite

doubleplay · Dec 9, 2006

I had my first clinical day yesterday. It was myself and one other student to care for one resident. I would have no idea how you would take care of 8-18 residents. I would not think there would be enough hours to get everything done in one shift.

I have thought about working as a CNA while in the RN program, but after hearing the horror stories on here I'm not so sure. Does anyone think there is any difference in working at a nursing home, than at a hospital? I work at a hospital now, but in distibution. I would like to get patient care time but this overload scares me a bit.

meinschatz · Dec 11, 2006

i feel your pain...on average i have 12-14. i think more than 8 is just to much, but there just isn't a such thing as a pt to cna ratio. i also have to answer to about 6 different nurses, i'd much prefer if i was assigned to one nurse and i cared for just her/his pts. that way there would be continuity of care and i wouldn't be scrambling around to find this nurse for this pt, that nurse for that pt, etc....sometimes i have one nursing needing me to assist her with wound care, another nurse asking for me to help put a pt back to bed, and another nurse asking me to help hold a pt in dt's while she gives a med. this is the problem you run in to when you have more than one nurse to answer to. it would be the same as 3 dr's showing up on the floor for rounds at the same time and one nurse had a pt from each of the dr's. if this happened on a daily basis it would be a huge headache for the nurse, but this is something that i go through everyday.
just my thoughts on the subject,
jay

Well, I normally have 18 patients in the hospital MED. SURG/RENAL. It could be so overwhelming sometimes when most of your clients are heavy (means total/foley/needs a lot of assistance) then thats too much. But not all days are like that, it varies. So as a CNA one shouldreally tune in for the workload we can only do as much. Of course nurses and other CNA's are there to assist so that you don't have to handle it by yourself. Say for example, if you need to change the patients' bed and he is total you as a CNA must ask for help. You can compromise hurting your back. Work should be taken as fun and enjoyable but I undersantd it is easy said thatn done.

NurseGirl08 · Dec 20, 2006

I work evening shifts at a nursing home in SD and I usually have about 12-16 residents.

nurseangel47 · Dec 20, 2006

Usually work second shift. Usually have between 28 to 30 residents with no LPN helping. Usually about 4, sometimes 5 CNAs, most of whom barely get their work done in a timely or thorough enough frame for my or the facility's expectations, TONS of meds to get down these pts. gullets, plus documentation, falls, other injuries to document, followup on, sending those out that are doing poorly, deaths, family members demands...it's just too much most of the time for one RN...that's the reason I quit my most recent job in LTC to pursue other than nursing career!

Veronica27 · Jan 23, 2007

it depends on our census and staffing that night. in my facility/on my floor there is 3 wings and we have 57 beds on the [color=#333333]dementia unit i work on.

[color=#333333]normally for 2nd shift i would have around 14 just depends on what wing im on.

[color=#333333]we normally have 4 girls on that floor for 2nd shift, and you get a full wing and split the 3rd wing.. if that makes sense?

autumn_arkansas · Nov 15, 2007

Me and a partner usually take on about 31 residents a day .

DreamyEyes · Nov 15, 2007

I think we have around 22 residents for 2 aides during day shift; But this is in assisted living, so some of the residents are independent.

ShyGecko · Nov 15, 2007

When we are fully staffed for a night (which seems to be rare as of right now) we have 6-8 (usually closer to 8) patients between two nurses. We have 24 beds on each floor with the possibility of 26 if we utilize the treatment rooms as pt rooms. When we are short staffed, they typically only have two CNA's signed up to work each night, so we each get 12 or so pt's. I work in a Children's Hospital on a floor with children between the ages of newborn to 2 years old. It can be difficult when we have babies whose parents don't visit at all so they are completely dependent on us to feed them and such. We have volunteers that can sit and rock or interact with lonely babies, but they can't feed them or anything like that. We are lucky to have the benefit of mostly helpful nurses that are willing to do vitals, baths, and such to help us out.