staffing patterns

I too am interested in staffing patterns in LTC. I work in a 45 bed intermediate care facility and try to staff 1 cna for every 9 or 10 residents. We also employ a bath aide and a restoriative aide. I have 2 LPN's per shift with the exception of 10-6 then only 1. My staff still comes up with reasons why we need more help. Our case mix index is around.82 so the work should be getting done. We also staff a CNA helper on 6-2 and 2-10 who does a lot of indirect resident care such as passing fresh water, making beds, helping pass meal trays, etc. I think I'm adequately staffed but my workers don't.

Originally posted by GRN:

Dear, Fellow Nurses

I need your assistance, I work in a geriatric-psych unit. I am trying to get our staffing number increased. Currently we have 1 aide to 10 patients and two nurses. Our unit has the capiblity to hold 24 patients, and if we are full the most staff we have is 2 aides and a ws. If I could show other psych-unit around the country have more staff i'm hoping this will help. I would appreiciate any information available about staffing patterns. As well as activities that you all involve patients in.

Thank you!

Tabitha

Our facility has 3 different units: mine is 47 bed residents are ICF(usual capacity 39), for this I have scheduled 2 nurses and 4 CNAs on days and pms, on Nights I have 1 nurse and 2 CNAs. The other 2 units are medicare with some private pay, there are a total of 54 beds, usual capacity is 49 (many have opted to pay extra so 3 double rooms have one person, so the staffing is 1 nurse usually with a med assistant and 3 CNAs.

We also have an admission nurse so the floor nurse is not 100% responsible for all admissions and we have a restorative aide that works from 1100-1930.

I am not saying this is what it looks like everyday, but this is how we schedule it. If we cannot get a call-in replaced we all have to pitch in and help.

Nancy, could you clarify for me why the "medicare" units, while they have essentially the same number of patients, have substantially less staff than your unit? Is it an acuity issue or a financial one? Since I am really not familiar with long term care I need some education about how things work.

Thanks for any info you can offer.

Originally posted by Nancy1:

Our facility has 3 different units: mine is 47 bed residents are ICF(usual capacity 39), for this I have scheduled 2 nurses and 4 CNAs on days and pms, on Nights I have 1 nurse and 2 CNAs. The other 2 units are medicare with some private pay, there are a total of 54 beds, usual capacity is 49 (many have opted to pay extra so 3 double rooms have one person, so the staffing is 1 nurse usually with a med assistant and 3 CNAs.

We also have an admission nurse so the floor nurse is not 100% responsible for all admissions and we have a restorative aide that works from 1100-1930.

I am not saying this is what it looks like everyday, but this is how we schedule it. If we cannot get a call-in replaced we all have to pitch in and help.