Patient Load

I had 5 patients on the medical floor I floated to. I thought THAT was a lot. :chuckle

we have 7 to 8 at the hospital i work at, i think that is way toooooo many. then you have to account for the discharges and new admissions you get throughout your 12 hour shift. its not very safe in my opinion. plus people are on so many meds and acuity is high.

erin

acuity has a lot to do with what I consider too much for a pt load. I think that for safety sake only the sickest of your patients x the total number of pts =greatest possible load allowable. I think the most ever in a med surg setting should be no more than 6. Providing you have a tech or NA to assist. Your UAP unlicensed assistive personnel helps some.

Routinely I have 8 patients of my own that I have to do PO meds, dressings, treatments, beds, baths, etc. Then, I take care of all the IV fluids, IV meds, IV starts etc on all 16 patients on the floor. However, the other RN will help out, say, if I had to hang blood, or Mag that I had to watch the patient for a while with. Some days are ok and some are really bad.

One of the catch all floors I once worked on , would have up to 11 patients at night, usually 8 or 9 then gain a few more at 11pm. It plain sucked and was dangerous. These hospitals don't give a crap about you. Out of those 11 I could have 2 or 3 on a cardiac monitor.