What is considered a busy unit?

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I am graduating in May and I had my very first interview for a New Graduate Labor and Delivery position today! Yay! :yeah:

During the interview I asked how many beds there were and at this particular hospital there are 18 LDRP beds and 11 post partum. There are 200 births/month on average.

I am wondering if this is considered a small unit and if 200 births/month is considered a low rate or a high rate?

Thanks all!!

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Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.

Congratulations on the interview! L&D positions are not easy to land so good luck!!

200 babies per month averages to about 6-7 babies per day and 2400 babies per year! I would say that is very busy!! The L&D at my current hospital (which serves a large portion of northern and eastern maine, has eight-10 labor beds and 25 post partum. They average probably 3-5 births per day. In contrast, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, one of the largest hospitals in northern new jersey, averaged 3,300 births per year.

I'm curious why there are fewer postpartum beds than labor? Usually postpartum patients stay 2-3 days, so you would think there would be up to 20 or more moms there at a time?

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

ANY nursing unit is busy. Each have their pros and cons.

It just depends on what you want to do.

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Thank you for your reply ashepherd! That really helped me to understand perspective! Thank you for the congrats.. I really hope I get it! I am very excites about the prospect and happy to know this would be a busy unit! Maybe I got the bed numbers incorrect for post partum, I was saying "200 per month" over and over trying to remember that since I wasn't sure what it meant and I wanted to be sure to research! :) It sounds like it was probably the other way around and 11 LDRP and 18 post partum! :)

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Good Luck with your interview!!!!

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

'Busy' to me is defined by how well you are staffed and what your facility is made to house. ;) We might have a low total census but if we aren't staffed for it we stay busy. If your unit has 30 beds and only 15 or so are occupied, most folks would consider that 'slow', assuming you're staffed appropriately.

My hospital averages about 400-500 births/month, and we do consider ourselves 'busy'. The hospital where I delivered my son averages about half that but it's also got about a third of the capacity so I'm sure they stay hopping too, all things considered. Sometimes the definition is relative. :)

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