elRae

Hi again~for those of you who work in situations where you do not have a dedicated charge nurse, how do you handle the responsibility? On my unit (37 beds), we take turns. The problem is, in addition to being charge, we also have a team of 5-6 tele patients and we no longer have a secretary. All the calls go to the charge phone, and that is a TON of calls, especially since we still have a no visitor policy in place. Essentially, the charge is doing three full time jobs, charge, secretary, and RN. No surprise that patient care usually suffers. Wondering how other units manage and looking for suggestions to bring to my manager. Staffing is a constant issue and this is probably the number one complaint about our floor. Thanks for the insight!

I'm wondering about acuity tools? Does anybody actually use them? I've only worked in one hospital and most of my clinical were here too, so I don't know much else. We are always very busy and fill beds almost as soon as patients are discharged. Due to the physical layout of my unit, teams are assigned based on proximity, not acuity. This could mean one nurse has six walker-talker's, while another has six complete care. Just wondering how other places assign their patient loads, hoping to bring some ideas to my manager and initiate some changes. Thanks!