blueatheartRN

I work on a stepdown/floor unit, so our ratios vary depending on the # of stepdown pts... On day shift you can be 3 pt's/1 RN (with 2 SD pts), 4:1 (1 SD). On rare low-staffing occasions we may get 5 on day shift. On night shift we do 4:1 (2 SD) or 5:1 (1 SD). We have 2 CNA's for our floor, 16 pts to each of them, and 1 full-time secretary. We also have a free float charge RN on day shift and on night shift the CN has 1-2 pts.

We pretty routinely flush JP's on our floor... the ones put in for our agency have stopcocks on them, so we change the direction of fluid to toward the pt, clean the leur-lock, flush and then change the direction of fluid back toward the bulb so it can drain out.