Published Apr 29, 2011
JennyBSN
12 Posts
I just interviewed for a registered nurse position as a new graduate. I was told that the nurse to patient ratio is 10-12 patients per nurse that sounds very scary! Is that even safe? Please let me know the nurse to patient ratio in the hospitals in New York (5 boroughs especially) I am looking for another hospital to apply. I think I might decline the offer if offered. Please specify if it is night or day shift. I need advice I'd like to know what nurse to patient ratio you think is safe on a regular basis. Thanks a MILLION!!!
I'm LOST!!!!
N.U.R.S.E.
131 Posts
Go online and look it up possibly with the board of nursing , dept of health od maybe the jcaho bka joint commission
Ayrman
83 Posts
10-12??? Are we talking long-term care pts. or actual acutely ill people? LTC is one thing but if this is an actual acute care floor my advise, sincerely offered, is not to walk but run like there is no tomorrow.
My hospital has a maximum of 7 pts per nurse on nights, and that is the Med-Surg floor. The ratio only goes down from there, with max 6 on nocs for Telemetry, and 3:1 for ICU if the patients are stable, and 2:1 the norm and 1:1 for unstable ICU pts.
Darkfield
50 Posts
exact same at my place a little further upstate. 7 max at night on med surg and it only goes down. I worked days with a 5-6 max and it was unbelievably busy and sometimes unsafe. Would never take more pts.
10-12??? Are we talking long-term care pts. or actual acutely ill people? LTC is one thing but if this is an actual acute care floor my advise, sincerely offered, is not to walk but run like there is no tomorrow.Thank you so much for that advice. It is actually real acutely ill patients. Its a med surg floor/roaming alert and telemetry. Although I'm a new grad it sounded like it is too many patients to me. Thank you for letting me know that it is!Ayrman
Thank you so much for that advice. It is actually real acutely ill patients. Its a med surg floor/roaming alert and telemetry. Although I'm a new grad it sounded like it is too many patients to me. Thank you for letting me know that it is!
I don't know what to do I need a job soon but at what expense!? I'm so torn! I want to protect my license and well being also.
Da_Milk_of_Amnesia, MSN
514 Posts
at my old hospital the med/surg floors had up to 10 PTs
PCU was 5:1
ICU/CCU 3:1
- Those are all the maxes
CalidthreeN
25 Posts
At lenox hill it's 6 to 9 patients per nurse. But usually about 7 on a med surg floor there. Cardiac I've been told is 5 to 1
nurse2033, MSN, RN
3 Articles; 2,133 Posts
What is the type of unit?
IT'S A COMBINATION MED/SURG UNIT IT HAS PATIENTS WITH TELEMETRY AND THEY ALL ARE ON ROAMING ALERT SO THEY HAVE THE BRACELET ON TOP OF IT! So as mentioned I was wondering if having 10-12 pts safe? But after asking around I think it's not. Thanks for asking.
ChocoholicRN
213 Posts
On nights we have anywhere from 5-7 patients assuming we are fully staffed and all beds are full, which is usually the case. Sometimes on surgical floors the acuity might be lower because you start with say, 4 patients, expect 2-3 to come from the PACU so the beds stay booked, but then the patient may not stabilize until the morning which means you never actually got the additional patients. But 10-12?? That's a lot and sounds very unsafe, I wouldn't risk it.
ReWritten
69 Posts
Med-Surg/Tele and 10 patients? I'd turn it down. I work nights on a Med-Surg/Tele floor, and we get 5-7. One really horrible night I had 8 and almost tore my hair out. But we also only have 1 or 0 CNAs on my floor.
I'd be worried you'd be risking your license.
MiamiNrs
13 Posts
Don't do it! You might feel like you desperately need a job right now, but I don't think you should even consider this one. It might end up costing more in the long run. I think the people who would make the decision to give a nurse 10+ patients are not nurses or haven't worked on the floor in such a long time that they have forgotten what it's like.