nursing conditions in Aussie land far better in US?

suzanne4, RN · Dec 18, 2005

Depends on which area of the hospital that you are working in, as well as the expected type of unit in the US. Nurses have more rsponsibilities in the US than in many other countries to begin with.

If you can be more specific, then it will be easier to help you..:)

maria_oz · Dec 19, 2005

i work in a respiratory unit as a clinical nurse specialist. in our HDU, one nurse handles 2 patients and in all normal wards 1 nurse is to 4 patients. whats the nurse:patient ratio there?

SmilingBluEyes · Dec 19, 2005

oh it varies so much by location and state. In med-surg, it can vary from 1 RN to 5-6 patients all the way up to 1 RN: 11 plus (with a CNA or LPN working w/him or her). It varies a lot. Depends on whom you ask.

And ICU and other areas vary even more. Just can't generalize and give you a picture nationwide more specific than that.

suzanne4, RN · Dec 19, 2005

Standards for ICU are one nurse to two patients; sometimes a patient is a 1:1 or even requires two nurses for the one patient. You will find some facilities in some states that will actually use 1 nurse for 3 patients, but that doesn't meet national standards.

And there are hospitals where every patient on a ventilator is considered a 1:1.

fergus51 · Dec 19, 2005

One poster from Australia said that all their vented patients are 1:1 there. I have never worked in a hospital where that was the case, though I've heard they exist. It does sound like the patient loads are better in Aussie...

suzanne4, RN · Dec 19, 2005

There are actually some hospitals in the US where that still is the case.

Surprising, isn't it?

fergus51 · Dec 19, 2005

There are actually some hospitals in the US where that still is the case.
Surprising, isn't it?

Shocking to me. I actually think I would be bored stiff if I had only on stable vented patient, but I think it would be nice if babies on oscillators or jets were automatically 1:1.

maria_oz · Dec 19, 2005

thats true! one nurse handles one ventilated patient. and thats the standard here in australia. otherwise ull be in trouble with the union. yep, our nursing union here has a strong say about patient ratios.

we also have 6 weeks paid holiday leave. how about in the US?:)

SmilingBluEyes · Dec 19, 2005

You get that much paid leave, IF you earn it.

melsay, LPN · Dec 21, 2005

thats true! one nurse handles one ventilated patient. and thats the standard here in australia. otherwise ull be in trouble with the union. yep, our nursing union here has a strong say about patient ratios.
we also have 6 weeks paid holiday leave. how about in the US?:)

My hubby from OZ, I couldnt BELIEVE it when he told me about how much time workes get off there for holiday. When he moved here 6 years ago, he found out the ugly truth, here in the US it's work, work , work, and we (I) feel guilty when I DO take a vacation(for a week) b/c that means the nurses working are having to work harder because of me being off...grrrr

maria_oz · Dec 21, 2005

yep! we get 6 weeks paid holiday every year. we also have one ADO (accrude day off) per month. that means we get paid for 8 hrs without going to work once a month. permanent full time staffs work only 38 hrs per week, over that is already overtime = 2.5 pay. sick leave also accumulates. we have pet leave, compassionate leave, study leave, and all the sorts of leave i think. :)

maria