Nurse:Patient Ratios on Surgical wards

Fiona59 · Apr 8, 2009

On the ideal (fully staffed) day shift three to four patients (can be fresh post-ops, transfers from ICU, or general surgical care), evenings: four to five, nights (again depending on staffing situation seven to ten).

Time management is your biggest challenge, along with developing a good set of assessment skills. After a while you learn to trust that niggling feeling in your gut about your patients. It's up to you to communicate with the drs. about concerns because half the time the rounds are done before 0600 and the patients are too sleepy to be their own advocate.

nic900 · Jul 22, 2009

SN2011,

On our unit, we have 5 patients on day shift and 6 on nights; however, I am from a small town and we have a small hospital with a growing population. Also, we often might not have all surgical patients. We might have 4 medical patients and 2 surgical patients or 2 surgical patients, 1 medical patient and 1 OB patient. It can be very busy but surgical is a great place to learn time management and increase your skills, knowledge base and confidence.

Good luck

4chun_cookie · Jul 22, 2009

I think it really depends on staffing... I was at this one community hospital on the busy surgical unit (ortho, GI, general sugeries) for my last placement, an RN and LPN teams up for a group of 9 patients. They divides the assignment. And where I once worked on a cardiac surgery (ICU step down) unit, RNs typically have at least 4 patient load. if it's a bad day for staffing, it maybe 6.

:)

Angelofdeth · Jul 22, 2009

Fort McMurray...

Day shift 4-7 (usually 5-6)

Nights 4-9 (again usually 5-6)

LilNurse2b143 · Nov 18, 2009

I work at a Community hospital. I am a night RN 7p-7a..we have anywhere between 8-11 patients on our surgical unit!!! It's crazy, unfair, understaffed, and unsafe!

Fiona59 · Nov 18, 2009

I work at a Community hospital. I am a night RN 7p-7a..we have anywhere between 8-11 patients on our surgical unit!!! It's crazy, unfair, understaffed, and unsafe!

I was going to say call your union until I realized you were in the US.

When it happens like that up here the RNs and LPNs file official safety complaints to their unions and the hospital has to investigate why it happened. Then we usually get staffed to a safe ratio for a while...

ruralgirl08 · Nov 21, 2009

Hi, In Ontario, we are supposed to have 4 patients to 1 nurse on days (7am-7pm,) and 6:1 on nights. We also do total care for pts, so we don't have aids to help us. It can still be a hefty workload, getting baths ect. done each day, on top of everything else. But at the end of the busy day, it is usually manageable. When we are understaffed, which happens occasionally (only b/c there is no one to call in), we are usually 5:1 on days, and 7-8:1 nights.