patient to tech rations

cdsavannah59, CNA · Aug 24, 2015

I work as PCT in the mother/baby unit. We only have one tech on duty each 12 hour shift and 25 patient rooms. Rooms are full on most days and I have to do vitals 3 times a shift, mom vitals only on first round because nurse must check baby vitals first at start of shift, the other two times I take vitals I check mom and baby vitals. It is very time consuming to do 50 sets of vitals each of those rounds if all rooms are full. In between that I give newborns their first bath. It sounds like a Easy job, but it's very repetitive and wears me out by the end of shift lol.

Quetzalcoatl · Aug 28, 2015

Load depends on your unit type. It also seems to depend on the budget of each unit and how idiotic the unit managers are. Surigcal units would ideally have fewer patients per CNA than ambulatory ones, but that's not always the case. I work on a surgical unit and we have 12 patients each max unless we're very short-staffed. I once worked on a mostly ambulatory telemetry unit and had 21 beds in the evenings.

Quetzalcoatl · Aug 28, 2015

I work as PCT in the mother/baby unit. We only have one tech on duty each 12 hour shift and 25 patient rooms. Rooms are full on most days and I have to do vitals 3 times a shift, mom vitals only on first round because nurse must check baby vitals first at start of shift, the other two times I take vitals I check mom and baby vitals. It is very time consuming to do 50 sets of vitals each of those rounds if all rooms are full. In between that I give newborns their first bath. It sounds like a Easy job, but it's very repetitive and wears me out by the end of shift lol.

That's a heavy load. You have to wash 25 babies yourself? I hope you don't have to assist with setting up or aiding the mothers in bathing. Sounds like your nurses need to take some of that on.

cdsavannah59, CNA · Aug 29, 2015

No thankfully not all 25 babies( more if multiples birth) are not all born on same day, and must be at given a first bath after they reach 6 hours old before giving baby their first bath. So the highest births in 24 hours is about 17 babies which means I wash about half those on high birth rate days and next shifts get the newbies ( not yet six hours old) Also with 25 rooms some patients are just arriving, some been there one day, two days or three. Most moms go home on day two or three, that's why rooms always full. If mom wants a second baby bath, it's up to her to learn how to wash her newborn, we demonstrate first bath to them since most babies are bathed in moms room. The good thing is that the moms themselves usually never ask us to help bath them ( moms) as most women are healthy and don't want us washing her lol.

cdsavannah59, CNA · Aug 29, 2015

Regarding the nurses helping wash babies, there are nurses that will help wash their patient baby if they see I don't have time. Then I work with some nurses I have never seen help wash a baby. At start of shift I can usually determine if I'm going to get any help in baby washing just by seeing nurse name on room assignments. If it's the non helper on duty I know I will definitely be washing her little patient lol. Also because I get so many nurses demanding I wash their baby, we have a set standard in washing in birth order to keep it fair.

PulmNP25, BSN, RN · Sep 4, 2015

Med/tele med/surg 12-14 fully staffed with 3 techs. Short staffed 20-21. 40 private beds in my unit

cocoa_puff · Sep 9, 2015

Med-Surg/Obs/Oncology/Tele floors, usually have 12-14 patients. On a good day, I have 10 with lots of discharges. Once at shift change, I had 3 patients left (started with 12) :) On step-down, I've had 12 max, but most of them are ACHS accuchecks, q4h vitals, contact isolation, and incontinent/total care.

Princess Bubblegum · Sep 10, 2015

Cardiac surgery/medical telemetry, 36 bed unit... On day shift we ideally have 7-9 patients each, but they're pretty heavy care.

johsonmichelle · Sep 13, 2015

It's interesting to hear the ratios. I mostly deal with post op patients and they are very needy. They want to be bathed and sheets changed everyday and they call every little thing.Some want to be treated like total care patients when they are fully capable of doing things for themselves.