PCT/Nurse Tech: How many patients do you have?

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I started working as a nurse tech recently on a med/surg floor. I am assigned 12 patients. I find that I can barely do it. And even at that I go home feeling like I didn't do as a good a job as I knew I should have.......but I just run out of time becuase it is such a huge load.

Usually about half of the patients are Total care and about half are on isolation, so some are both. There are 24 patients on the floor with 2 techs. I am finding myself very overwhelmed. I'd like to hear about how many patients you care for, if the nurses help you out much and some tricks to make my life easier.

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Holy Crap! I find that six or seven is heavy! At our hospital, a tech only has 12 if a lot of people call in sick and there end up with only two techs. Try another hospital or another department within your own hospital.

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Specializes in Telemetry, Med-Surg, ED, Psych.

the pca's on my unit usually have the whole floor by themselves - 26 patients for 1 pca

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Day shift we have 8 or 9, 11 if there's a call out. Evening 11. Overnights either 15 or 22 depending on the number of nurses.

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Specializes in SICU/CVICU.

I usually have anywhere from 8 to 15.

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Specializes in LTC.

I work overnights the staffing grid states that I can have anywhere from 12-23 patients as a single CNA. Due to staffing I've had an upwards of 33.

First thing I would do is ask for advice of the other techs on the floor. If they've been around I'm sure they have some tips and tricks.

Second thing, get your nurses involved with helping you. Your not a super hero and you can't take on everything yourself.

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Specializes in Telemetry, M/S.

I have 16 on a m/s floor. Some nights I hit the ground running and don't stop till I clock out. Many times I've gone home with my back screaming!

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Specializes in LTC.

I work 3-11 in a nursing home and I have 10 people to an assignment. Sometimes I work in a section where no one is alert and they're all total care. Lots of them have behavioral issues. The section where I work most of the time has a mix of eeeeeverything. I honestly think this one is harder, because about half of the 30 people are alert and want everything done a certain way, at a certain time, and they're on the bell constantly. So on top of chasing alarms all night because the confused people keep standing up or climbing out of bed you have people ringing and then getting mad because they always go to the bathroom at 7:15 and it's now 7:20 and according to them they've been "waiting for an hour" lol. And then they'll ring again 2 minutes after you bring them back because the curtain needs to be moved over 3 inches or they want you to open the window an inch... no, more than that. Okay close it a little. Now open it a little more. How much is it open now?

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It depends on the floor census, how many NA/PCT there are, and *which* NA/PCT you'll be working with. I usually get 5-18 patients. If there are a lot of patients that need complete care, then it does seem like you can't get anything done because those patients take up so much time. But if you have co-workers who are helpful, you can make it through. If you're working with lazy co-workers, it'll be a long day.

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We have two for our 42-bed floor, so if we're full (and we often are), they each have 21 pt's. Too heavy of a load IMO, especially since we've basically become a nursing home on telemetry, lol.

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

I was a PCT on a med-surg floor when I was in nursing school. I would be responsible for anywhere from 12-37pts. It was alot of work, to much, now that I look back. I am really glad that the floor I work on as an RN tries to keep PCT's with no more than 10pts.

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Specializes in MS, ED.

If I'm on 3-11, usually 10-12. If it's overnight, 15-20.

Best,

Southern

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