What is the nurse to patient ratio in your facility?

livefrmaust · Aug 16, 2006

work in SIU rehab

bed capacity 18

maximum pt load depends on number of quads/paras. generally 1 nurse :2 pts (both RN, En, Aides)with Rn allocated for meds if we are short staffed, there is a review if allocations.

i like the workload(when everything is runnign smoothly)

rn46 · May 1, 2007

Craven Regional Medical Center (CRMC) New Bern, NC Med/Surg is 5:1 Day Shift but it's going to 7:1, and there's no saying more can't happen.
Carteret General Hospital (CGH) Morehead City, NC Med/Surg is 8:1 Day Shift
Lenoir Memorial Hospital (LMH) Kinston, NC Med/Surg is 9:1 Day Shift

?:smiley_ab

Do you know anything about the E.R. ratio's at the above hospitals?

any other info. about staff if it is traveler friendly?

rn46

BOOYA · May 6, 2007

I Work In Acute Rehab Unit And We Have Anywhere From 5-8 Patients Per Nurse On Day Shift. We Have To Help The Aides Get The Patients Up And To The Dining Room For Breakfast And Lunch And We Have Staffings Four Days A Week. I Feel That Is Too Many Patients Per Nurse On Day Shift

hlfpnt, BSN, RN · May 21, 2007

What type of facility do you work at? Long Term Acute Care
How many beds? 80
How many nurses per bed? same as below
How many nurses per patient/resident? 1:6-7 (sometimes 8)
How many aides per bed? same as below
How many aides per patient/resident? 1:10-14
Are you satisfied with staffing levels at your facility? No
If not, do you think this impacts patient/resident health? Yes. Most of our pts have a very high acuity & due to lack of time, really don't get the care they need.
How much time do you estimate you actually spend directly with each of your patients/residents per shift? Maybe 45 min to an hour.
Thanks!
ELM

Most days I feel like I'm nursing the tasks & not the pts.

veronica2 · May 22, 2007

The ratio on our 34 bed med-surg unit is 4-5pts on day shift, 4-6 on eves and 6 on nights. We have 2-3 aides, depending on the census. Our charge nurse is generally not assigned patients on the day shift. the evening and night charge may have 1 to 3 patients. The staffing is acceptable, in comparison to other places, but nurses are still under constant time pressures to meet all patients and families needs. Of course we spend a lot of time in documentation, more so in the last few years with all the new joint commission and state mandates. We do not have electronic charting yet but will have in the next 2 years.

Tinamw · Jun 1, 2007

How many beds? 108

How many nurses per patient/resident? 1:36

How many aides per patient/resident? 3:36

Are you satisfied with staffing levels at your facility? No

If not, do you think this impacts patient/resident health? Yes.

How much time do you estimate you actually spend directly with each of your patients/residents per shift? do the math

WARNING! New Nurses

Think twice before accepting a job at a facility with this kind of workload. I had a week of training, right out of nursing school, before being put in charge of a floor. Shame on me, Shame on the Facility, Shame on the nursing board, and Shame on the state . :nono:

lpnstudentin2010, LPN · Jun 1, 2007

at the hospital i am a patient it depends on the ward.

most i am not sure because i have never asked

a couple of weeks ago i had some plastic bone put in my face and (for reasons i am not sure of) was put on the transplant ward. kids waiting for transplants and post transplant. the ratio in the day was 2 patients to 1 nurse. unless one was oreienting then it was 2:2. at night it was between 4-6 patients to one nurse. unless you get the nursing super (which i did one night) and then it is still 2:1.

By the way this is a pediatric hospital

SoCalif1979 · Jun 10, 2007

When I work on hospital floors the ratio cant get up to 6 patients to 1 nurse even is sub acute and med-surg units! I work registry, so the "problem and High maintenance" patients often all get sent to the registry nurse at the same time. This increases the load of the registry nurse and decreases time spent with the patient who really needs it.

When I work long term rehab, psych, and skilled nursing facilities, the ratio can easily be 40 patients to one nurse. The average is around 30 to 1. I refuse to work at facilities with a 40 to 1 ratio, the high ratios are scary enough. Tube feedings, Narcotics and Cardiac meds cannot be given within the scheduled times, special needs often are overlooked or short cuts are necessary and sad. I've stayed to complete the job right, and the facility will refuse to pay me. I just refuse to return to those facilities. The sad thing is that these facilities burn through staff and only the ones who don't care about the patients stay.

SoCalif1979 · Jun 10, 2007

The average ratio for a registry nurse on hospital floors of 6 patients to 1 nurse in during the day shift. Staff nurses will often have half of that depending on the census. Advice: never be a demanding patient - the facility will you give the short end of the stick in a way that will make it difficult for you prove or take litigary action.

Skilled nursing facilities make promises to families who expect individual and specialized care. Again with 30:1 patient/nurse ratio and 10:3 patient to aide ratio this isn't going to happen. Even at the higher end facilities. Being a conscientious nurse is very challenging. I like to feel good about a day's work so I'm very cautious about where I work.

SoCalif1979 · Jun 10, 2007

Most days I feel like I'm nursing the tasks & not the pts.

In skilled nursing rehab, psych, and long term rehab with a 30:1 patient to nurse ratio, on an eight hour shift, the average time spent with each patient during a shift is about 20 to 25 min. This is decreased if there is an admission or an incident like a fall or other injury or emergency illness occurs. This is a generous estimate not including time taken for documentation, reports, and charting (again with a smooth shift meaning no incidents or admissions). Each patient probably gets about 15 minutes.

I hate being rushed with patient care.

SoCalif1979 · Jun 10, 2007

55 bed unit, upon hire I was told there were 5 nurses per station (2 stations, meaning 10 nurses), which would be about 5 patients per nurse. In reality there were only 2 nurses per station so about 13-15 patients per nurse. THis was in an acute care setting so to me the nurse to patient ratio sucked!! I didn't stay at this place very long!!

:yelclap: GOOD FOR YOU! The more nurses that put up with dangerous understaffing the less likely the facilities are to correct this problem! I refuse to be put in dangerous situations like that. Nobody is going to look after your license but you! When something goes terribly wrong at facilities like these it all comes down on the nurse. I've seen that happen to a colleague.

luvpeplrn · Jun 10, 2007

I work on a 24 bed Med-Surge Floor. The nurse to patient ratio is 1:8 (at the most) for me anyway, I refuse to take anymore than that. Sometimes we get a med nurse if the acuity is high, and we always get an Aide, but most of the time it is an RN and an Aide for 1/2 the floor. :uhoh3: I think that this is too much to expect, but there are not a lot of options for work where I live.