Omaha nurse:patient ratios

[tbanurse]

Good afternoon! I am currently in California, but my husband is discussing the possibility of moving to Omaha next year. Here in CA we have legal nurse patient ratios (1:5 in med/surg, 1:4 in tele, 1:2 in ER/ICU) and I am wondering what your ratios are in the Omaha area. I know there are several hospitals in the area, but can anyone give me specifics for any of these facilities? I know the pay is significantly lower in that area than here at home, and the idea of a huge pay cut along with an increase in patient load scares me! Anyone have any input? How about the best acute facilities? Thanks!

[loveanesthesia]

I think you will be pleasantly surprised about patient ratios. It's been awhile since I worked as an RN, but I traveled around the country, and Nebraska hospitals are well staffed. If I had a major medical event I'd much rather be in a hospital here than a lot of the other states I worked in. Also (I'm a native of Nebraska-full disclosure) the work ethic is good so generally you don't have to deal with co-workers trying to avoid work. You will have several major hospitals in Omaha to choose from, I can't really give you any specific advice on any, but haven't heard anything particularly bad on any of them. Welcome to "The Good Life"

[MamaGinger]

I use to work within the Alegent Health system when I first started nursing. I worked on a step down/cardiac unit, and I worked 12hr nights. Our pt load was 3-5pts at night, and days was 3-4pts.

Currently I work at Methodist Hospital as a cardiac nurse. Our pt load at night is 3-5pt's. If you are open heart recovery trained then that ratio goes down to 1:1 or 1:2 (we get our CABG/valve pt's from recovery and they come straight to us on the cadiac unit as long as they are extubated). I moved over to Methodist Hospital 6 years ago...it was a tough transition, but it has been well worth the time. At first I had a hard time transitioning over to Methodist, but they had a lot of nursing practices I wasn't use to (ie protocols, order sets, etc). One of the great things at Methodist is we are ranked nationally in cardiac care. Research based evidence is highly valued at Methodist.

Both hospitals I have experience at are NOT teaching schools...so if you are interested in a teaching school...I would go with Nebraska Medical Center or Creighton University Medical Center. They both happen to be our level 1 trauma centers as well.

As for pay...it depends on your experience level. I started out making $16/hr with differential 8 yrs ago. Now I'm making somewhere around $24/hr plus night differential. Hope this helps!