POLL: nurse-to-patient ratio

[j0yegan]

I know there are different acuity levels, but on your floor, what is the nurse-to-patient ratio? I just want to add them all into a visual-friendly poll.

(If you work with "couplets", include mom and baby as one patient).

[j0yegan]

36 patients to 1 nurse? This is why I will never work at an LTC.

[wirehead]

In home care 1:5 or 1:6 depending on if you have an admission or not. In sub-acute, 1:20 was common.

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

36 patients to 1 nurse? This is why I will never work at an LTC.

That's pretty standard where I live. Thank goodness I knew this before going to nursing school because I worked in SNFs and ALFs prior.

It is also one reason why I'm going to continue on to earn my RN/BSN so I'll have opportunities to work in acute care with much better ratios.

[FLAlleycat]

L&D--2 patients, with a triage pt here and there (1 pt with pushing)

Postpartum--10 patients (5 moms/5 babies)

Nursery--Any babies needing constant monitoring and any babies brought in at night so Mom can sleep

[Kay28]

I work on a locked inpatient psychiatric unit. We can have anywhere from 1:5 to 1:8 on my 3-11 shift. We have to do all of our own admissions, vital signs, and personal care as well.

[PHXRN1]

Med/Surg: 5:1 max on days, 6:1 max on nights.

PCU: 4:1 max on days, 5:1 max on nights.

These ratios are not flexible. They are not suggestions. As a clinical manager I oversee our Med/Surg units and advocate for the safety of our patients and for the safety/sanity of my nurses (and their license).

If we're short staffed and have patients waiting for beds from ED/PACU, I go into the count. Same goes for any other service line's Clinical Manager. If that's still not enough, guess what, we're full. Send out the Code Purple Phase I or II alert. ED goes on diversion (though honestly, that's mostly symbolic).

It amazes me that some facilities are willing to sacrifice the safety and happiness of staff and patients by giving them unsafe ratios.

[FineAgain]

I work nights on Med Surg; 6 patients is a good night, 5 is a great night. Most nights we have 7. But patients ALWAYS sleep all night, right?

[Clovery]

LTAC Hospital, telemetry unit. We typically have 5 or 6. About 75% of patients are either on vents or weaning on trach collar. The rest are usually complicated wound care patients, dialysis, IV antibiotics, or a combination of all these things. Most patients are incontinent. I never feel like I have enough time. We have to fill out an acuity assessment each shift but it never seems to affect the assignments.

[D.R.A.]

Med-surg we are often lucky to have 5 or fewer, many times fewer. But we are then expected to pull 7, 8, or more when we have a call in.

[D.R.A.]

Ironically, our night shift is staffed the same exact way, but often with extra nursing staff. They have only one aide at night. Max beds is 21 on my unit.

[Seasoned]

Google Congressional Bill H.R. 1907.IH

Soon it will against the law to be out of compliance with the minimum nurse staffing requirement.

An excerpt from the bill:

“(A) One patient in trauma emergency units.

(B) One patient in operating room units, provided that a minimum of 1 additional person provided that a minimum of 1 additional person serves as a scrub assistant in such unit.

C) Two patients in critical care units, including neonatal intensive care units, emergency critical care and intensive care units, labor and delivery units, coronary care units, acute respiratory care units, post anesthesia units, and burn units

(D) Three patients in emergency room units, pediatrics units, stepdown units, telemetry units, antepartum units, and combined labor, deliver, and postpartum units.

(E) Four patients in medical-surgical units, intermediate care nursery units, acute care psychiatric units, and other specialty care units.

(F) Five patients in rehabilitation units and skilled nursing units.

G) Six patients in postpartum (3 couplets) units and well-baby nursery units…”

Write your congress representation to support the bill ASAP. Thank and join the ANA (American Nurses Association) for working on this issue and getting nurses this far!!

:yes:Yea, Baby, Nurse Power!

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

Thanks for the info @ Seasoned...contacting my congress members ASAP...let's make this happen and FORCE employers to do so!!