_melissa

On the unit I work we take care a lot of elderly patients, and most of them have a history of MRSA. If the patient's alzheimers hasn't kicked in and they remember they came from a nursing home we do a nasal swab to check to see if the MRSA is a current issue and they need to be a in private room somewhere with contact isloation signs on their door. If they tell us they came from home and don't have a history then we pass on the swabbing. The only time we swab anywhere else, like the axilla or perineal area, is if we receive a MD order to do so. Are there any other tests done on admission where you work to check for MRSA? And what about the hospital offering tests for the nurses? During our annual helth fair we only get the TB test done. I'm sure everyone I work with has MRSA and we don't even know it. -Melissa, RN

On the unit I work we take care a lot of elderly patients, and most of them have a history of MRSA. If the patient's alzheimers hasn't kicked in and they remember they came from a nursing home we do a nasal swab to check to see if the MRSA is a current issue and they need to be a in private room somewhere with contact isloation signs on their door. If they tell us they came from home and don't have a history then we pass on the swabbing. The only time we swab anywhere else, like the axilla or perineal area, is if we receive a MD order to do so. Are there any other tests done on admission where you work to check for MRSA? And what about the hospital offering tests for the nurses? During our annual helth fair we only get the TB test done. I'm sure everyone I work with has MRSA and we don't even know it. -Melissa, RN

I'm reposting this thread because I'm participating in a project for one of my BSN courses and need feedback. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. I know every hospital is different when it comes to the amount of patients a nurse is responsible for and a lot of times staffing plays a large part in that. I work on a Telemetry floor and the nurse-patient ratio used to be 1:8, which is too many as far as I'm comcerned. Granted the higher acuity patients would decrease the ratio, but many times we have stable and unstable in our groups and it's difficult to manage your time with 8 patients. What do the staffing ratios look like where you work? Recently, my floor decided to go to team nursing, where an RN, LPN, and PCA make up a team to care for 10 to 12 patients. It sounded like a great idea, but because staffing is so bad the teams are often up to 14-15 and even 18-19 when a team has 1 RN and 2 LPNs, which is unfair because the RN is ultimately responsible for all of those patients. Is there team nursing where you work and if so any tips on how you make it function effectively? Again, any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. -Melissa, RN

I know every hospital is different when it comes to the amount of patients a nurse is responsible for and a lot of times staffing plays a large part in that. I work on a Telemetry floor and the nurse-patient ratio used to be 1:8, which is too many as far as I'm comcerned. Granted the higher acuity patients would decrease the ratio, but many times we have stable and unstable in our groups and it's difficult to manage your time with 8 patients. What do the staffing ratios look like where you work? Recently, my floor decided to go to team nursing, where an RN, LPN, and PCA make up a team to care for 10 to 12 patients. It sounded like a great idea, but because staffing is so bad the teams are often up to 14-15 and even 18-19 when a team has 1 RN and 2 LPNs, which is unfair because the RN is ultimately responsible for all of those patients. Is there team nursing where you work and if so any tips on how you make it function effectively?