Post Partum nurse Pt ratio

[nursecaresalot]

Hi everyone I am applying to a postpartum floor. I worked in an LDRP before but did very little L&D mostly special care nursery, post partum, and new born nursery. I have heard it can be up to as many as 6 mom/baby pts is this true? I really like to spend time with my pts and I have found four to be quite a task if they are new moms and breast feeding! I would love to hear what your nurse pt ratio is in PP to get an idea of what I may be looking at!

[eden]

We are supposed to only have 3-4 mom/baby pairs but if it is busy then yes, we have as many as 6. It sucks when we do because they don't get all the attention they need but at the same time a stable mom and baby is not the priority, a labouring mom must be the priority on an LDRP.

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

We range anywhere from 3-5 couplets, charting/teaching/labs for both mom and baby. It does indeed suck to have 5....go home after that feeling like I gave everyone the bare minimum.

[Lonlai20]

I work on a postpartum unit and on a given day I can have 8 couplets at a time . In addition we are required to float to the NBN and there is only 1 RN and 1 PCA assigned to the nursery at a time. We have lots of methadone moms and babies who require a higher level of care. I work for a teaching hospital and the acuity level of our patients are high. These women present with no or limited Prenatal care past or present drug use and various disease process, which includes diabetes, CHTN, HIV/AIDS and obesity.

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[Twinmom06, ASN, APN]

the OB unit I worked on this summer was a max of 4 couplets (we had a total of 14 PP rooms) and often if there were too few nurses scheduled or the unit couldn't get an NRP certified float the LPN's that were the scrub techs would also take a patient or 2 - and we also had GYN pt's on PP -

[Britrn04, BSN, MSN, RN]

I have worked in many States and the facilities I worked at try to keep it at 4 couplets (CA, DC, OH, SC, VA). Look up AWHONN standards and see how they compare. If a unit is staffed correctly, 4 should be max. A good facility tries to run with AWHONN standards! Sometimes I have had less if I had a Mother on Mg+ or PP bleed. More than 4 couplets makes for crappy/unsafe care depending on acuity!

I would personally just ask right out on the interview what the ratio is!

[melmarie23, MSN, RN]

where I work is 1:3 couplets. We are LDRP too (in labor or for inductions is 1:1)

[PinkNBlue, BSN, RN]

We usually have 4 couplets, depending on acuity and the census.

[nursecaresalot]

I Have a 2nd phone interview tomorrow for ob unit hoping to get post partum floor. My exp is more with nursery and level 2 nicu but I did float to postpartum.any suggestions on what to highlight about my exp ...or what a pp manager is looking for in a new hire rn...I really enjoy mother baby Care and really want to get this position...any suggestions would be much appreciated.