nurse

Nurses Safety

Published

I would like to know what other hospitals are doing for staffing. I work on a medical surgical pediatric unit in small hospital. How many patients are you taking? what systems are being used to assess the acuity of the patients? we are taking up to 8 patients

any comments will be appreciated.

0 Votes
Specializes in acute/critical care.

Our straight med/surg nurses take 4 on days, 5 on PMs, and up to 6 on nights. There is some sort of acuity guideline but the hard and fast ratios have been negotiated by the union on our behalf, so management cannot run the ward with less staff than the ratios call for.

0 Votes
Specializes in Med/Surg.

WOW...Peds nurse/pt ratio has ALWAYS been less than the adult med/surg. I can tell you THAT's TOO MANY. Our ratio on avg is 5 (Extreme circumstances maybe 6) It has been my exp that the smaller hosp will pile it on you...I worked in one for years & didn't know it could be better. Good luck!!

0 Votes

We do not have peds patients all the time; however when we do have them it does not decrease to workload. our systems seems to be number based. every patient is worth one point unless they are immediate post op or less then 5 years old. However the number of patient and the acuity level are different. up to 8 eight pts with an acuity of 10. What system are other hospitals using to assess the acuity of the patients?

thank you for verifying that 8 is too many. Sometimes I feel like there is something wrong with me, I can not get out on time and given good care. I feel like I have to choose give good care or chart and get out on time.

0 Votes
Specializes in Trauma, Burn, Crticial Care.

4-5 on days, up to 6 at night.

0 Votes
Specializes in pediatrics, public health.

California, where I work, has patient ratio laws. The max for peds is 4 patients per nurse, day or night. For adults, it is 4 if they are on any kind of telemetry, otherwise 5.

When I first started working, I had a hard enough time keeping up with 4. After my first year, I had gotten to the point where I could imagine handling a 5th, though I was glad I didn't have to. I cannot imagine dealing with 8, and I would not want to be a nurse, a patient, or a mother of a patient with those kinds of ratios!

0 Votes
Specializes in Telemetry, IMCU, s/p Open Heart surgery.

I work on a step-down open heart/cardiac unit and our ratio is about 3-4 pts. On a bad night we'll take 5.

i used to work on a tele/med-surg unit straight out of nursing school where I took anywhere from 5-7 patients... it was so crazy, but it really helped me with time management!

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment