Nurse-Patient Ratio in California (med-Surg/tele floor)

Haunted · Jul 18, 2005

Is this an acute care hospital or LTC facility? I believe the ratio is 1:5, and you should consider yourself one lucky duck to have that much ancillary help. Some facilities, especially here in So Cal, have reduced their CNA's and made the LVN, RN primary for those patients.

Nancy2 · Jul 19, 2005

Hello,
I'm Just Wondering What Is The Justified Nurse-patient Ratio In A Med-surg/tele Unit In California. I Just Started My Very First Nursing Job Yesterdat And The Patient-nurse Ratio In The Hospital I'm Working At Is 8:1 (with An Lpn Doing All The Po Meds, Dressing Changes, Ng Tubes, Cath; And 1 Nurse Tech Doing The Patient Care) Is This A Fair Ratio. I Noticed Yesterday When I Was Being Precepted, The Rn Mostly Did All The Iv's, Assessment, And Family-doctor Communication. I Just Want To Know If This Sounds Fair/justifed. Of Course, The Rn Is Still Responsible For All Those 8 Patients.
Thanks!

The nurse patient ratio is 1:5. The law satates that LVNs can make up 50% or less of the nursing staff. They must be under the direction of an RN or an MD according to their nurse practice act in California. Hope that helps.

pickledpepperRN · Jul 19, 2005

Here is the exact wording of the regulations. I did a "cut and paste" so only the telemetry ratio is included. I also made pertinent phrases bold. We have used these to our patients benefit.

70217. Nursing Service Staff.

(a) Hospitals shall provide staffing by licensed nurses, within the scope of their licensure in accordance with the following nurse-to-patient ratios. Licensed nurse means a registered nurse, licensed vocational nurse and, in psychiatric units only, a licensed psychiatric technician. Staffing for care not requiring a licensed nurse is not included within these ratios and shall be determined pursuant to the patient classification system.

No hospital shall assign a licensed nurse to a nursing unit or clinical area unless that hospital determines that the licensed nurse has demonstrated current competence in providing care in that area, and has also received orientation to that hospital's clinical area sufficient to provide competent care to patients in that area. The policies and procedures of the hospital shall contain the hospital's criteria for making this determination.

Licensed nurse-to-patient ratios represent the maximum number of patients that shall be assigned to one licensed nurse at any one time. "Assigned" means the licensed nurse has responsibility for the provision of care to a particular patient within his/her scope of practice. There shall be no averaging of the number of patients and the total number of licensed nurses on the unit during any one shift nor over any period of time. Only licensed nurses providing direct patient care shall be included in the ratios.

Nurse Administrators, Nurse Supervisors, Nurse Managers, and Charge Nurses, and other licensed nurses shall be included in the calculation of the licensed nurse-to-patient ratio only when those licensed nurses are engaged in providing direct patient care. When a Nurse Administrator, Nurse Supervisor, Nurse Manager, Charge Nurse or other licensed nurse is engaged in activities other than direct patient care, that nurse shall not be included in the ratio. Nurse Administrators, Nurse Supervisors, Nurse Managers, and Charge Nurses who have demonstrated current competence to the hospital in providing care on a particular unit may relieve licensed nurses during breaks, meals, and other routine, expected absences from the unit.

Licensed vocational nurses may constitute up to 50 percent of the licensed nurses assigned to patient care on any unit, except where registered nurses are required pursuant to the patient classification system or this section.

Nothing in this section shall prohibit a licensed nurse from assisting with specific tasks within the scope of his or her practice for a patient assigned to another nurse. "Assist" means that licensed nurses may provide patient care beyond their patient assignments if the tasks performed are specific and time-limited....

...(10) The licensed nurse-to-patient ratio in a telemetry unit shall be 1:5 or fewer at all times. Commencing January 1, 2008, the licensed nurse-to-patient ratio in a telemetry unit shall be 1:4 or fewer at all times. "Telemetry unit" is defined as a unit organized, operated, and maintained to provide care for and continuous cardiac monitoring of patients in a stable condition, having or suspected of having a cardiac condition or a disease requiring the electronic monitoring, recording, retrieval, and display of cardiac electrical signals. "Telemetry unit" as defined in these regulations does not include fetal monitoring nor fetal surveillance....

(b) In addition to the requirements of subsection (a), the hospital shall implement a patient classification system as defined in Section 70053.2 above for determining nursing care needs of individual patients that reflects the assessment, made by a registered nurse as specified at subsection 70215(a)(1), of patient requirements and provides for shift-by-shift staffing based on those requirements. The ratios specified in subsection (a) shall constitute the minimum number of registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, and in the case of psychiatric units, licensed psychiatric technicians, who shall be assigned to direct patient care. Additional staff in excess of these prescribed ratios, including non-licensed staff, shall be assigned in accordance with the hospital's documented patient classification system for determining nursing care requirements, considering factors that include the severity of the illness, the need for specialized equipment and technology, the complexity of clinical judgment needed to design, implement, and evaluate the patient care plan, the ability for self-care, and the licensure of the personnel required for care. The system developed by the hospital shall include, but not be limited to, the following elements:

(1) Individual patient care requirements.

(2) The patient care delivery system.

(3) Generally accepted standards of nursing practice, as well as elements reflective of the unique nature of the hospital's patient population.

© A written staffing plan shall be developed by the administrator of nursing service or a designee, based on patient care needs determined by the patient classification system. The staffing plan shall be developed and implemented for each patient care unit and shall specify patient care requirements and the staffing levels for registered nurses and other licensed and unlicensed personnel. In no case shall the staffing level for licensed nurses fall below the requirements of subsection (a). The plan shall include the following:

(1) Staffing requirements as determined by the patient classification system for each unit, documented on a day-to-day, shift-by-shift basis.

(2) The actual staff and staff mix provided, documented on a day-to-day, shift-by-shift basis.

(3) The variance between required and actual staffing patterns, documented on a day-to-day, shift-by-shift basis.

(d) In addition to the documentation required in subsections ©(1) through (3) above, the hospital shall keep a record of the actual registered nurse, licensed vocational nurse and licensed psychiatric technician assignments to individual patients by licensure category, documented on a day-to-day, shift-by-shift basis. The hospital shall retain:

(1) The staffing plan required in subsections ©(1) through (3) for the time period between licensing surveys, which includes the Consolidated Accreditation and Licensing Survey process, and

(2) The record of the actual registered nurse, licensed vocational nurse and licensed psychiatric technician assignments by licensure category for a minimum of one year.

(e) The reliability of the patient classification system for validating staffing requirements shall be reviewed at least annually by a committee appointed by the nursing administrator to determine whether or not the system accurately measures patient care needs.

(f) At least half of the members of the review committee shall be registered nurses who provide direct patient care.

(g) If the review reveals that adjustments are necessary in the patient classification system in order to assure accuracy in measuring patient care needs, such adjustments must be implemented within thirty (30) days of that determination.

(h) Hospitals shall develop and document a process by which all interested staff may provide input about the patient classification system, the system's required revisions, and the overall staffing plan.

(i) The administrator of nursing services shall not be designated to serve as a charge nurse or to have direct patient care responsibility, except as described in subsection (a) above.

(j) Registered nursing personnel shall:

(1) Assist the administrator of nursing service so that supervision of nursing care occurs on a 24-hour basis.

(2) Provide direct patient care.

(3) Provide clinical supervision and coordination of the care given by licensed vocational nurses and unlicensed nursing personnel.

(k) Each patient care unit shall have a registered nurse assigned, present and responsible for the patient care in the unit on each shift.

(l) A rural General Acute Care Hospital as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 1250(a), may apply for and be granted program flexibility for the requirements of subsection 70217(i) and for the personnel requirements of subsection (j)(1) above.

(m) Unlicensed personnel may be utilized as needed to assist with simple nursing procedures, subject to the requirements of competency validation. Hospital policies and procedures shall describe the responsibilities of unlicensed personnel and limit their duties to tasks that do not require licensure as a registered or vocational nurse.

(n) Nursing personnel from temporary nursing agencies shall not be responsible for a patient care unit without having demonstrated clinical and supervisory competence as defined by the hospital's standards of staff performance pursuant to the requirements of subsection 70213© above.

(o) Hospitals which utilize temporary nursing agencies shall have and adhere to a written procedure to orient and evaluate personnel from these sources. Such procedures shall require that personnel from temporary nursing agencies be evaluated as often, or more often, than staff employed directly by the hospital.

(p) All registered and licensed vocational nurses utilized in the hospital shall have current licenses. A method to document current licensure shall be established.

(q) The hospital shall plan for routine fluctuations in patient census. If a healthcare emergency causes a change in the number of patients on a unit, the hospital must demonstrate that prompt efforts were made to maintain required staffing levels. A healthcare emergency is defined for this purpose as an unpredictable or unavoidable occurrence at unscheduled or unpredictable intervals relating to healthcare delivery requiring immediate medical interventions and care.

mye614 · Jul 19, 2005

Is this an acute care hospital or LTC facility? I believe the ratio is 1:5, and you should consider yourself one lucky duck to have that much ancillary help. Some facilities, especially here in So Cal, have reduced their CNA's and made the LVN, RN primary for those patients.

I work in a Community Hospital here in the Valley. Our unit consists of 40 beds. I've read a post here regarding the Nurse-Patient Act. Its says for a telemetry unit the ratio is 1:5, does that mean with no LVN and Nurse Tech. I'm just trying to make sense of my job. In our unit 1:8 but with help from the LPN and Nurse Tech.....I'm confused..................... :uhoh21:

pickledpepperRN · Jul 19, 2005

The position of the California Nurses association is that the ratios are RN ratios. Each patient must have an RN assigned. SO if you have four patients and supervise an LVN who has four patients you have eight, which exceeds the ratio of five. It is unfair to the patients, to ythe RN, and to the LVN. I've been the LVN with the choice of making independent decisions outside my scope of practice or not doing an intervention our patient needed. They don't pay LVNs for the extra responsibility.

Our telemetry/step down unit staffs stable telemetry patients 1:5 and vent patients or those with unstable vital signs 1:3. There is always an LVN scheduled who will be assigned to work with the RNs whose patientshave a high acuity. For the rest one CNA is assigned to two RNs.

This is the section of regulations licensing hospitals that spell out their responsibility to assign each patient to a registered nurse and what the RN MUST do:

TITLE 22. Social Security

Division 5. Licensing and Certification of Health Facilities, Home Health Agencies, Clinics, and Referral Agencies

Chapter 1. General Acute Care Hospitals

Article 3. Basic Services

70215. Planning and Implementing Patient Care.

a) A registered nurse shall directly provide:

(1) Ongoing patient assessments as defined in the Business and Professions Code, Section 2725(d). Such assessments shall be performed, and the findings documented in the patient's medical record, for each shift, and upon receipt of the patient when he/she is transferred to another patient care area.

(2) The planning, supervision, implementation, and evaluation of the nursing care provided to each patient. The implementation of nursing care may be delegated by the registered nurse responsible for the patient to other licensed nursing staff, or may be assigned to unlicensed staff, subject to any limitations of their licensure, certification, level of validated competency, and/or regulation.

(3) The assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation of patient education, including ongoing discharge teaching of each patient. Any assignment of specific patient education tasks to patient care personnel shall be made by the registered nurse responsible for the patient.

(b) The planning and delivery of patient care shall reflect all elements of the nursing process: assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, intervention, evaluation and, as circumstances require, patient advocacy, and shall be initiated by a registered nurse at the time of admission.

© The nursing plan for the patient's care shall be discussed with and developed as a result of coordination with the patient, the patient's family, or other representatives, when appropriate and staff of other disciplines involved in the care of the patient.

(d) Information related to the patient's initial assessment and reassessments, nursing diagnosis, plan, intervention, evaluation, and patient advocacy shall be permanently recorded in the patient's medical record.

pickledpepperRN · Jul 19, 2005

I work in a Community Hospital here in the Valley ( Antelope Valley Hospital). Our unit consists of 40 beds. I've read a post here regarding the Nurse-Patient Act. Its says for a telemetry unit the ratio is 1:5, does that mean with no LVN and Nurse Tech. I'm just trying to make sense of my job. In our unit 1:8 but with help from the LPN and Nurse Tech.....I'm confused..................... :uhoh21:

The staffing may meet the letter of the law. That depends on many variables. How does it seem to you?

Do you think you and your fellow caregivers are able to give safe, effective, therapeutic care?

Can you staff up when acuity is higher than usual.

Are the LVNs experienced, telemetry trained, and working within their scope?

Is there a monitor observer?

Are the RNs experienced and tele trained with ACLS?

Are the patients stable/

The nursing process is a good way to start. What is your assessment of your unit?

I would talk with my colleagues. If you all agree that it is unsafe you need to act. If it is OK then good. As with a patient you would monitor the situation.

bufo69 · Sep 4, 2009

Unfortunately, though the CNA says the law is meant for RN-patient ratios, this is most definately NOT how the bill was written. The bill's language states "Licensed Nurse" not "Registered Nurse" and so an RN, LVN or Psych Tech in mental health units are exchangable. Thus, before the law on med-surg I had a team of one RN, LVN and aide for about 10 patients. Now, the hospital fired all the secretaries and aides and I have primary care of my 5 patients and legal responsibility to oversee the LVN's 5 patients as well. Do the math and you'll see things were better before AB 394. If the LVN's patients have q 1 hr IV pain meds...whew, I'm fried!

mlbnocnurse · Sep 20, 2009

"Now, the hospital fired all the secretaries and aides and I have primary care of my 5 patients and legal responsibility to oversee the LVN's 5 patients as well. Do the math and you'll see things were better before AB 394. If the LVN's patients have q 1 hr IV pain meds...whew, I'm fried!"

Where are you working? If you are working w/ the above ratios in a hospital, you do NOT met the mandated ratios. You are legally responsible for a total of 10 pts, not the ratio of 1-5 you should have. I know that there are some hospitals that have the RN's on the floor divide the LVN's patients which only adds 1-2 patients to the RN's patient load. This is not legal either. There are RN's that have fought the use of LVN's & won. THe CNA (CA Nurses Assoc) has helped fight this.