What do you feel is a reasonable patient load in a medical-surgical ward??

[boban]

Just post the reasonable patient load for the nurse to manage in

1. medical ward

2. surgical ward

3. ICU

4. rehabilitation

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

It all depends on how the unit operates, how many techs, how many fresh post ops. Definitely no more than 6 on a med/surg floor, with the average being 4 or 5. With all the isolations you have these days, you have to be reasonable.

ICU usually has 2 pts as max. We have a cardiac care unit that staffs no more than 3 pts per nurse, but no charge nurse. That can be dicey sometimes without the logistical support. That unit is a MRSA free cardiac stepdown where the post open hearts go, plus other major surgeries such as lobectomies, endarectomies, ect. The tele unit I work on averages 3-5 pts, with a charge nurse signing off orders, but not as many techs as the med/surg unit. The desk gets really crazy because of the high turnover in a tele unit but I feel as if my pt load is doable.