Nursing Shift start times

I work on a 30 neuroscience inpatient unit at a large university teaching hospital. Our unit has become very busy with days having about a 60-75% turn over. My staff is exhausted at the end of the day because of the this turn over. We are looking at ways to improve pt care and take better care of ourselves. One thought has been to change our shift times, right now we are doing 12hrs 7a-730pm and 7p-730am. Would like to hear what other units are doing with their shift times

TY

dm

There are units that have one or two shifts start at 11am. That nurse can then be available to help with post op patients. Or I have heard of discharge and admission nurses...Nurses who are available to help with the admission process and discharge process to help the nurses out.

I work on a 30 neuroscience inpatient unit at a large university teaching hospital. Our unit has become very busy with days having about a 60-75% turn over. My staff is exhausted at the end of the day because of the this turn over. We are looking at ways to improve pt care and take better care of ourselves. One thought has been to change our shift times, right now we are doing 12hrs 7a-730pm and 7p-730am. Would like to hear what other units are doing with their shift times

TY

dm

I also work at a large hospital, and came from a larger university teaching hospital working critical care prior to that. What I love about my hospitals system is that they team every nurse with a CNA called a Care Partner. Care Partners take vital signs, empty foleys, record blood sugars, record I&O's and really work as a partner with the RN. I value my care partners so much and there are two specifically that I like working with so I will schedule myself to work with them because I trust their judgment and I know they give quality care, and ultimately it makes my day so much easier. I work 7a to 7p and with a good care partner system, it makes things so much easier. I can then concentrate on focused assessment and time with my patients.

Hope that offers a suggestion or at least some insight

for a 75% turn over rate it sounds like extra nurses would help. Especially if all the discharges and admits are on the same shift. I have done both 7-7:30, and 6:45-7:15 days and nights, and I like the 6:45 to 7:15 shift better. For some reason I have found that I leave work on time more often.

Michelle

With turn over rates that high, it sounds like there is another problem besides the times of shifts. Have you asked your staff why they are unhappy on the unit? Are they not happy with how the management team is running the unit? Do they feel like they aren't part of a team?

maybe I read it wrong but I assumed a daily 75% turn over rate was patient dc and admit. Can you clarify?