BellaSRN

We had a CNA on all shifts, but lost three CNAs recently to a nearby hospital and have had trouble recruiting. In the meantime we've been floating in help when we need it and scheduling a CNA on nights. Even though it'll cost a lot, I think I am going to have to hire agency to keep the nurses I have and recruit with better ratios.

We have thirteen patients max though we are not always full. We try to keep the ratio at 1:4, so I schedule three nurses a shift. We don't always have CNA in the unit but on high census days we float a CNA to help. We don't always have vent patients, but when I have trouble staffing is when we get vent patients and I am scrambling to get an additional nurse to help out. If I schedule four or five nurses regularly when there are no vent patients, I will run into trouble meeting budget. Any ideas?

I am a new NM in a stepdown unit. I am struggling to get my staffing levels correct and handling crunch time. I feel like somedays I get the staffing right but with our census changes I am panicking and calling in nurses begging them to work an extra shift on other days. Any advice on how to set up staffing so I am not always feeling this crunch?

I am a new NM in a stepdown unit and I am struggling to keep the nurses from leaving. Our unit has had some retention issues in the past. Any advice on how to keep the nurses around? I don't want to blow my budget on agency hours.