I was curious to find out what your typical Med-Surg ratios are during day and night and what state you are in. I know there was another post a year or two ago about ratios but I don't think it asked the state. I ask because my new employee orientation training has had mostly nurses from other areas. A few of the facilitators came from other areas as well. It seems to be a trend that certain regions have higher ratios overall. Also seems the new grad experience was much "harsher" too. One facilitator has been a nurse for a long time and was a Police officer and homicide detective before nursing and said that was nothing compared to how brutal nursing was. He also said his first year as a new grad was hell and he had a high patient ratio, that when he moved here and they warned him what our ratios might be that he was shocked with how "low" the ratios were.
I know ICU is a smaller ratio, usually 1:2 and that seems to be pretty common everywhere but I am amazed at some of the ratios I read here. I have only been on the other side of healthcare since living in my current state and I have been in two healthcare companies and seen their ratios. Which are pretty similar and the nurses rarely have what you are told you CAN have. Only times I have seen them have the "max" amount we are told of is if it's a new admission towards the end of shift.
So anyway, I was just curious if there seems to be any correlation between the ratios and the part of the country you are in.
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TheCommuter, BSN, RN
102 Articles; 27,612 Posts
County hospital in Fort Worth, TX: Med/surg - 5:1 on days, 6:1 on nights
Small regional hospital in Weatherford, TX: Med/surg - 6:1 on days, 7:1 to 8:1 on nights
I work at an acute rehab hospital. Ratios vary from 6:1 to 12:1 on both days and nights. I have had up to 13 patients.