What is the maximum number of patients per nurse on your Medical/Surgical floor?
Which shift?
Which state?
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?
I work m/s onc: 5 is minimum, 6-7 is typical, 8 on bad night. Once i ended my shift with 10 when another hospital had to divert their ER to us & we short with a call in and no float. We have a charge with a full team and usually 2 cna's.
I work days in north MS on a Med-Surg observation unit. We are trying to move to a 1:5 ratio, but the hospital has been so full lately that we are usually at 1:6. With all the D/C's and admissions, it is extremely busy. I would love to find a place with a 1:4-5 ratio.
Hi! I'm only in Highschool and I really want to work with in inside the body. Anatomy! I don't want to be a doctor because its to much pressure .. But I've been reviewing all these comments and I'm reconsidering becoming a surgical nurse, I don't deal well with pressure and too much stress can really mess with me to the point were I just want to sleep my life away. Would nursing do this to me?? I need help. I want to make good money and work in a job I love !! I don't want to wake up every morning dreading to come to work.
Hi! I'm only in Highschool and I really want to work with in inside the body. Anatomy! I don't want to be a doctor because its to much pressure .. But I've been reviewing all these comments and I'm reconsidering becoming a surgical nurse, I don't deal well with pressure and too much stress can really mess with me to the point were I just want to sleep my life away. Would nursing do this to me?? I need help. I want to make good money and work in a job I love !! I don't want to wake up every morning dreading to come to work.
It is a high-stress environment - no doubt, you'll have to work hard to earn every penny, and then some! Choosing to become a nurse is choosing to learn to manage multiple (often unreasonable, unnecessary) stressors all at once - even before you think you are capable of it. Many times, it can feel like a thankless job.
However, that doesn't mean there are no happy nurses - some are fortunate to find near-ideal employers/working conditions at some point in their career - the others just choose to be happy in spite of their circumstances.
Our unit has about 66? beds. We just opened a new progressive care wing with 12 high intensity patients.
Day RNs have typically 4-5 with occassionally 6. Nights we typically have 6 (Ocassionally 5 with an empty room and generally get an admission). We have about 5-6 techs, 2 charge nurses who don't take patients.
The nurses on the progressive wing on both days and nights have 3 patients with no tech (they buddy up to do the turning, bathing, vitals, etc). Occassionally they have 4, but on those times they'll have a 1 tech.
I'm 6 months out of college on night shift, 6 is typical and can be okay or hell depending on the people... 4-5 is ideal for me but it rarely ever happens.
Intermediate care 3 with primary model nursing and 4 on a team on days and pms
6 pts with no tech care at night.
we feel our ratios are unsafe I would never take 12 pts. our pts are fairly involved. not all med surg pts are the same nor are the standards of care so comparisons may not be a fair. where i used to work i would have 8 pts with a cna assigned to all 8 pts on nights. that was no big deal at all for me but while they were all needing acute care they weren't monitored to the standard they are where i work now.
I've already experienced 20 pts in medical ward alone, in the Philippines, Alone in the STROKE UNIT for 10 patients, the worst duty ive ever had.... Now Im in LIBYA more or less 30 patients to Two nurses on duty only, Which is supposed to be 6:1 maximum..
These ratios are TERRIFYING oh my gosh. I work on a 38 bed med/surg unit (focus on nephrology/urology pts and we take vents from ICU) in a mid-sized hospital in ND. Our ratios are 3-4:1 on days and evenings; 5:1 on nights (with the occasional 6:1 if absolutely necessary). And we don't even have laws that mandate these ratios, this is the standard for our unit!
ETA: As for aides, we have 5 on days, 4 on evenings, and 2 on nights.
We use the RN/LPN model of nursing - the LPN's do meds/IVPB and the RN's do all of the assessments, pushes and RN interventions for 7-8 patients - no nursing assistants.
We have 30 beds. Supposed ot be a max of 5:1 with charge out of an assignment, and we get a third tech at 23 patients, second tech at 14. I've seen us as high as 6:1 and 7:1, I work nights. Day shift usually sits at 4:1 and never goes above 5:1. There's usually a Unit Clerk about half the time & the charge is supposed to double as unit clerk. This is all in Ohio.
we're a mixed tele, med/surg, peds and sub-ICU critical access hospital. We get up to 8 each on nights, here. Sometimes with drips, blood transfusions, etc. We get most of the admissions on night shift, so even if we only have 3 or 4 patients at shift change, we may end up with 6 or 7. I feel like it's a lot, but I also am considered a "new grad" because my LPN experience didn't count as nursing experience when I got my RN and started looking for RN jobs..the other thing is that the particular county I work in is the poorest in the state, so I am underpaid not only by national average but also by state average....but....I am looking at it as a "learning experience" and am trying to remain grateful that I found a job in a hospital as a new grad RN since most of my graduating class (15) still haven't found RN jobs.
I'm in California on nights, 5:1 on both shifts. No LVNs. We get 1 CNA for up to 27 patients, and 2 CNAs for 28+ patients on nights. Day shift gets two CNAs for 24 patients and 3 for 34 patients.
RNlmk
18 Posts
I work m/s onc: 5 is minimum, 6-7 is typical, 8 on bad night. Once i ended my shift with 10 when another hospital had to divert their ER to us & we short with a call in and no float. We have a charge with a full team and usually 2 cna's.