Team Nursing vs. Primary Nursing

[eborgelt]

The hospital I have worked at for the last year uses primary nursing. On days, an RN takes 4 patients and on nights, an RN takes 5-6. There is one aide on nights and 2-3 aides on days. No LPNs.

I will start at a different hospital in August where they use team nursing. An RN, an LPN, and an aide take 8 patients. Does anyone work with team nursing? Does it work okay. Any suggestions on making the transition?

Thanks, Elizabeth RN

[live4today, RN]

Hello Elizabeth :)

I have worked in hospitals that utilized both primary and team nursing. I preferred the primary nursing better when the patient load wasn't more than four patients per nurse. Otherwise, more than four is way too much (for me anyway). In doing primary nursing, it gave me the chance to build a better report with each patient, not feel rushed with only four patients, and that made all the difference to me.

Team nursing in a military hospital is great, but in a civilian hospital I found it to be way too chaotic. In the military hospitals, teamwork was quite disciplined and meshed together more fluently than in civilian hospitals I've worked at in years past.

The best "civilian hospital team nursing" experience I had was at this one hospital I worked at years ago. I worked the eight hour nightshift. The staff decided ourselves that each team would make rounds together...helping each other as a team. We would put supplies, linen, etc. on a pushcart that we wheeled from room to room. The beds that needed changing due to being soiled were changed by "the team" (RN, LPN, CNA), snacks would be passed, water pitchers refilled, etc., etc., and vitals would be taken. [i preferred taking my own vitals on patients that were more critical than the walky talky patients, or on those patients whose health condition was listed as fair to poor. Otherwise, the CNA would take the vitals. Of course, this was back in the late 1980's. With today's nursing carrying a heavy patient load, CNAs are more of a godsend than they are given recognition for. I used to be one before becoming a nurse, and I don't remember it being as chaotic then as it is for CNAs today.] Cheers to CNAs everwhere! :cheers:

So, to me THAT's good team nursing at its finest! :)