Published
Critical care is 1:1. Imagine constant monitoring for 2 to 4 patients. And you get a code blue. Or worse, 2 patients have cardiac/pulmonary arrest at the same time.
I have worked critical care for 5 years, and the only time we have 1:1s is fresh CABG, CRRT or a very sick patient on multiple pressors. You can work on any unit and have 2 patients arrest at the same time.
Critical care is 1:1. Imagine constant monitoring for 2 to 4 patients. And you get a code blue. Or worse, 2 patients have cardiac/pulmonary arrest at the same time.
The ICU I worked in was 1:2 or 3. We had 1:1 ratio on balloon pump patients. Which were very rare.
I did have a coworker whos 2 patients were coding at the same time. The one night hospitalist stood between the 2 of them to run the codes. They both died, she bagged her bodies and went home....
The ICU I worked in was 1:2 or 3. We had 1:1 ratio on balloon pump patients. Which were very rare.I did have a coworker whos 2 patients were coding at the same time. The one night hospitalist stood between the 2 of them to run the codes. They both died, she bagged her bodies and went home....
Oh my gracious this is so awful! No wonder nurses burn out so quickly....
It's 1:2 where I'm at.
I had a night recently where both of my patients crashed at the *exact* same time. A rarity, and I wouldn't have made it through the night without my coworkers, who are completely stellar.
Rarely do we have 1:1 patients but it does happen for those that are very critical.
Roozeyk
107 Posts
Are there units that still have one to one nurse/patient ratios, or have they long gone to the wayside?