One more staffing question...

Specialties Psychiatric

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Specializes in psychiatric, rehab.

I am very new to psych nursing and nursing in general (grad in May), so I just wanted to know if I was being fed a bunch of bull.

I work at a 60 bed facility (30 adults, 30 adol and children) that has a varying population of patients. We accept pts who are highly acute, have low acuity and dual diagnosis detoxers. Because of the variability of the population, you never quite know what you are going to step into on the unit each morning. We recently got a new CEO who had decided we were over staffed. According to him, standards are five pts to one staff and that is what we are staffing for. Don't know where he got his degree but two techs and one charge nurse (me) to 33 pts doesn't quite add up. The med nurse (LVN) generally is on her own for both units so she might have over forty pts. I normally have about 25 pts.

The CEO is telling us we have a great staffing ratio that is the envy of psych hospitals everywhere. I don't quite swallow that one. How is everyone else's staffing? Is 25 pts to one (new) RN and two techs average staffing?

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

I don't understand how the manager says standards are five patients to one staff but staffs 8.3 patients to one staff. Where's the logic there?

However, I think 8 patients per staff person can be standard, although it's difficult...even more difficult if the patients are high acuity. Can the techs do charting or does the nurse have to do all of it?

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Specializes in psychiatric, rehab.

I do all the charting and most of the duties of a unit secretary as well. It gets pretty hectic when you have more then one doc on the unit.

As far as the math goes, well, consensus is that he failed math in grade school- I just have no other logical answer for that one.

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Specializes in Psych, ER, Resp/Med, LTC, Education.

I am not familiar with a free standing facility--when I worked on an inpatient unit at a large hospital --with 30 beds--adult only but including geri's--some with lots of medical problems--were were supose to have 5 nurses on days and 2 techs and were short staffed so we had 3 nurses and 2 sometimes 3 techs 10 patients each for meds and charting. ,and that included the charge having 10 patients. No LPNs and techs could not chart--it was too much and they lost like more then 1/2 the nurses because of this including me!!!

I'm in psych ER now and so the staffing is different because our duties are different and the routine is very different then inpatient. I am in awe when I read so many posts from nurses in free standing psych hospitals with 20-40 patients! That is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO unsafe!!!!!!! and I don't know how it is even possible to even do that many notes and meds for that many patients in 8 hours. Forget restraints, and medical tx--like wound care, folies, etc.

I would never work with numbers like that!!! Not for a hot second!!! Not willing to put my safety or licence at risk! --oh and all the units at the hospital I am at now--where we eval and admit to --are five patients to 1 RN--no med nurses, no LPNs. and they do have great MH techs.

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Specializes in Psychiatric, Detox/Rehab, Geriatrics.

the psych hospital i used to work at before would have one rn another rn or lpn doing meds and three psychiatric aides was the minimum staffing, and that was with about 27-30 patients. we would get one extra staff member if we had a one to one, and 2 extra staff members if there was a 2:1 etc.

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Specializes in Psychiatric, Detox/Rehab, Geriatrics.
I am not familiar with a free standing facility--when I worked on an inpatient unit at a large hospital --with 30 beds--adult only but including geri's--some with lots of medical problems--were were supose to have 5 nurses on days and 2 techs and were short staffed so we had 3 nurses and 2 sometimes 3 techs 10 patients each for meds and charting. ,and that included the charge having 10 patients. No LPNs and techs could not chart--it was too much and they lost like more then 1/2 the nurses because of this including me!!!

I'm in psych ER now and so the staffing is different because our duties are different and the routine is very different then inpatient. I am in awe when I read so many posts from nurses in free standing psych hospitals with 20-40 patients! That is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO unsafe!!!!!!! and I don't know how it is even possible to even do that many notes and meds for that many patients in 8 hours. Forget restraints, and medical tx--like wound care, folies, etc.

I would never work with numbers like that!!! Not for a hot second!!! Not willing to put my safety or licence at risk! --oh and all the units at the hospital I am at now--where we eval and admit to --are five patients to 1 RN--no med nurses, no LPNs. and they do have great MH techs.[/Q

do you mind saying what facility you work at now? that sounds like a nice place.

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Specializes in psychiatric, rehab.

Sounds like we are getting the short end of the stick- though to be fair the facility is trying to hire on. Just not a lot of nurses really seem interested in going into psych. At least not in this area anyway.

Truthfully, I am just biding my time trying to learn as much as I can before I end up back in a larger city. I am hopeful that the experience here will help me get a better job there in a few years.

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