nurse pt ratio?

[dedicatedstudent]

i'm precepting right now and i have a question. What is the average nurse patient ratio where you are? do you feel that it is too high? What is being done to lower it? i have had up to 5 patients and i feel that i am not able to do all that i would like to for each patient. the load feels very overwhelming. any prioritization suggestions and help with organizing my day.

[chenoaspirit, ASN, RN]

I have had up to 10 patients on med-surg. 8-9 is the normal and let me tell ya, its hard to tend to all of them like I should. I always feel like I am neglecting them all because I just cant be everywhere at once. It will never change, which is sad. I have had med errors due to the overload and lack of time and help. If someone calls in, we are really overloaded!

[cheshirecat]

I work on a surgical floor. We have 16 patients to 1 RN most of the time. We have HCA's to help. Usually 2 on an early 7-3, 1 on a late 2-10, and 1 on a night shift.

Yes, I am usually exhausted after my shifts.