10-15 patients?

Published

I applied for a new job at a rebabilitation hospital. Their nurse to patient ratio is 10-15 patients at night. They have paper MARS. They have 2-3 PCTs. This sounds like a lot of patients to me. The patients aren't as acute, maybe just a couple of IVF running they said. There still is an occasional antibiotic. The nurses don't draw blood from central lines... they have an IV therapist do that. Still... sounds like a lot. I get 6-7 usually at night in a med/onc floor. Does anyone have an idea of what 10-15 patients is like on a rebailitation hospital at night translated to a regular hospital general medical floor? One good thing is you don't get any new admissions at night.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU's, every type.

I can tell you unfortunately, that in my hospital, a union hospital, that 10-15 is the standard ratio on med surg. floors. Although beyond unaccepatble, it is the standard. knowing that this "can be done" on med surg. I'd think it possible on less acute.

know that I've never worked in either, but the nurses seem to do it. Do I think it's a safe ratio, ..... not sure, in rehab, I'm thinking your pain meds and assessments are less, as well as documentation.

May I suggest you spend 6 hours or so shadowing a nurse in this setting to find ot what your in for... the change of pace could be nice, along with the ability to interact and teach.... assuming this facility doesn't BOG you down with charting. Tough choice, but again they "should" be less acute, the turn over less and you know them for weeks, see progress and report should be quick.

Again, to be sure, invest some time shadowing first. GOOD luck,

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg.

Our rehab unit has 10:1 ratio at night. The thought is they are to promote sleep and there isn't much to do. Yeah right.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

10-15 patients is not safe, It doesn't matter what floor or what shift.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

15 patients per nurse is very common on rehab units. Rehab is considered a form of post-acute LTC, and everyone knows that LTC facilities are infamous for sticking their nurses with outrageous patient loads. There is also a high turnover rate of nurses in rehab due to the amount of work involved.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
10-15 patients is not safe, It doesn't matter what floor or what shift.
At my previous LTC job during the 11-7 shift, I took care of 66 patients. It is unsafe, but it can be done with good time management.

I now care for 18 patients at another facility that is more upscale.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

is that a typo? 66 patients! Wow, your a better person than me! I worked too hard for my license.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
is that a typo? 66 patients! Wow, your a better person than me! I worked too hard for my license.
I am an LVN and not too many hospitals seem to bother to hire us anymore. My options are limited to home health, LTC, hospice, rehab, sub-acute, psych, and outpatient clinics. I have no choice but to work in a nursing home and deal with the large loads of patients.
Up Vote Up Vote ×

When I worked 11-7 in LTC I had 50 patients a night. Actually as the only RN was responsible for all 100 residents. Didn't stay in LTC too long didn't like the care that was given(or not given as it should have been due to lack of staffing). On a good night we had three CNA's in both wings.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Family.

I work in rehab and can have as many as 14 pts, although levels haven't yet been that high since I've been there (november of 05). It's hard to get used to, but it's not too bad once you do. The work is very steady at night with higher numbers. I may not complete my charting until mn, and I like to chart ASAP, I don't put it off. After MN, it's time to do the MAR and 24 hr checks, so depending on how many new admits there were that day, you could be 2 hrs doing that. The most pts I've had so far is 12, but I much prefer 8. We have 2 aides who do toileting and nurses and cna's rotate 2hr checks, 1 does it even hrs and 1 does it odd. We don't have many IV's at all and the few we do get are usually for blood or fluids to improve renal fxn. The worst time of the shift is at the end when everybody wants to pee at one time and the cna's are giving showers. We don't have a secretary after 2300, but it's very rare that we get new orders at night.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

When I worked in rehab, we had 6 patients each and were busy. At 8 we started complaining.

I think I had 10 patients once when I worked in rehab. I was in charge, too, and with another RN and one CNA. We had 21 patients total.

You have to understand, rehab is not Tele, and rehab is not Med-Surg. Most of the clients are stable. The entire year I worked there, I never had anyone code on me because we were good at catching that sort of thing early and getting them out of there. It can get VERY busy. One good thing about the facility I worked for is we ALWAYS had good staffing except the one time I mentioned above, and that was actually a slow night. I really loved my time there. Everyone worked as a team.

Rehab is a great area to go into if you want to see people who are moderately well and/or getting well.

My facility also paid really, really well. What scares nurses away is all of the heavy lifting we do, especially if you work with SCIs and CVAs often.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion