What is the maximum number of patients per nurse?

Specialties Med-Surg

Published

  1. How many patients per nurse?

107 members have participated

Worst Case Scenario:

  1. What is the maximum number of patients per nurse on your Medical/Surgical floor?
  2. Which shift?
  3. Which state?
  4. How often do you find yourself in such a situation?

Background:

When our nurses explained to our DON that it was not only unrealistic, but also unsafe for one nurse to take care of 12+ patients with minimal help on the night shift, he said that we were much better off than many other hospitals. Is that true?

Specializes in cadiac-thoracic post sx.

WOW!!! I can't believe some of these patient nurse ratio.... makes me think I got it reeaalllyy good!!

South Carolina

Stepdown CVICU 18 beds

Days 3-4 patients with 3 techs

Nites 3-5 (rarely 5 only if there is a call out) with 1 to 2 techs.

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Pennsylvania, Medical Surgical Floor

We mostly have 5:1 or 6:1 on evenings. Night usually they have 7:1. We also now have team nursing as well where we work with 8:1 with LPN. But unlike the other posts, LPN's can only help with meds and dressing changes etc. RN do orders, assessments on all 8, IV pushs, coordinate care. That ends up being too much. I know the optimum nurse patient ratio is 4:1. There really is no excuse where I live why we do not have a better ration b/c there are more nurses than jobs. It just come down to the almighty $.

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We usually have 5-6 on nights, but I've had as many as 7... and we have no techs on nights. Day shift often has the same ratio as we do, with 1-2 techs and a secretary. I really think 6-7 is too many, so any more than that is insane!

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

I work in LTC and have 32 patients with a TMA and 3-4 NAR's

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Memphis, TN

36 bed floor pt load is usually 7-8 patients. Usually very busy pts.

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dose anyone know what ratio is for aid then?? what seems to be the worst hour for aid....i am a 2nd yrs NS..just got a aid position...any advise would be great!!thanks :")

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Specializes in med/surg, hospice.

The last med/surg job I had was nights, 4-6 patients/RN (charge took up to 4), we had 1 CNA if our census was >13. Seems they always base staffing strictly by numbers and not by acuity. I could have 6 patients, no crisis and have a great night but then you could have 4 patients and they're all in crisis and have a night when you couldn't even take a quick break to go to the bathroom! I always found that getting an admit or a fresh post op at the beginning of your shift made it difficult to stay within your routine. I'm so glad not to be in med/surg anymore, I'm currently looking to get back into hospice work. Oh, and this is Oregon by the way.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Oncology.

I work on a 36 bed unit, on a typical day I will either have 9 or 12 pts with a CNA and a LPN on my team (RN, LPN, CNA team assigned to each set of pts; if there are 4 RNs, 4 LPNs and 4 CNAs, each RN/LPN/CNA has 9 pts, if there is only 3 of each, each has 12. So if there are 4 of each, a RN, LPN, and CNA will tag team rooms 63-71, for instance).

RNs do assessments, teaching, problem solving, mediating, and push IV meds that LPNs can't. LPNs give the majority of the meds. CNAs do pt care (baths, toileting, etc).

We're a medical-surgical/oncology floor. We get a little bit of everything, with some chemotherapy thrown in. We also charge our own pts (meaning there is no charge nurse on the floor, we do all admits and discharges and handle crises ourselves without passing the buck).

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Med-surg

Arkansas

Where I work we almost always have a 7:1 ratio on night and 6:1 on days. Charge nurse usually dosent take pts unless theres a call in. Our aids usually have about 10-11 pts apiece. It sounds like where youre at is extremely dangerous and exhausting, Id be finding another place to work!

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I didn't realize how completely different it is from one hospital to the next. It's good to hear all of this to know what to compare your job to.

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Specializes in NICU.

The hospital I do clinicals in utilizes team nursing

12 patients for an RN, LPN, and Care Aid.

I'm in Michigan

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I'm a new RN working night shift on a medical floor. The most patients I've had was 10 (completely on my own)with an aide who was caring for my patients plus 10 more. Usually, I get 10 patients and a LPN cares 2-4 of those patients. Being new I wasn't so sure that this is typical or even safe practice.

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