DougDaRN

Hello all, Just wanted your thoughts on an issue that came up at work. Some background info. I work as an RN(almost 2 years of experience) at a California based SNF that has 4 floors holding patients ranging from 25-31 patients each floor. To my knowledge CNA to patient ratios are supposed to go as follows AM 1:8 PM 1:12 NOC 1:21 (correct me if I'm wrong.) We have a 4th floor where we have all our new admissions and is considered a PUI floor. The other 3 floors are either LTC, skilled, or a mix of both. Through DPH we are told to wear an N95 and a faceshield/goggles at all times. Only in the PUI floor are we supposed to don a gown and gloves before entering a patient's room. On schedule there are 3 "regular" cnas assigned to their respective floors. The following CNA already put in her 2 weeks notice to resigning. I came to work my NOC shift as charge nurse/noc supervisor and there were 6 cnas scheduled for NOC shift so ideally 1 floor CNA each and 2 cnas floating. I'm the only RN in the building which makes me the supervisor of the building. I get a call from one of my cnas who was clocked in already while I'm receiving report for my floor. She complains to me that she won't float from the 4th(PUI) floor and the 3rd floor because it is too much of a workload and that the floors she's floating from are heavy. I tell her every floor has it's heavy patients/fall risks/demanding patients and that she'll only be taking 8 patients at the PUI floor and 10 on the other floor. She tells me this isn't fair and will make this her last day working at the SNF. Moments later I get another call from another charge nurse from another floor saying that the CNA that I just had a talk with just left the building turning off her phone and abandoning her patient assignment. This left the building with 5 cnas taking care of 116 patients. I reported this to my DON and DSD. My DSD calls me in the morning telling me I should not have made her float from a PUI floor. My plan of action should have been to have 2 cnas on the PUI floor and and then 1 male CNA float 3 floors. She told me we're not supposed to float anyone from the PUI floor as our mitigation plan for COVID. The DSD then tells me, she can't report the CNA to the state for abandonment now because the CNA can report the SNF for not following the mitigation plan. I was furious to hear that my decision with how I split my cnas that night was wrong. 3 of my cnas are over 60 years old and my DSD wanted me to float the only male CNA of the NOC shift who was also over 60 to float 3 floors. That would leave each CNA not on the PUI floor with about 25 patients if the floater took 6-7 patients each floor. I couldn't get anymore CNAs to work, no one from the previous shift wanted to stay and no one from AM could come in early to help. I just did what I thought was fair for the whole building. Was I wrong in that situation? What could I have done differently? Getting any input would help clear my mind. Thanks!