What is your nurse to pt ratio....and how many is too many?

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I work on a surgery floor. We have everything from lap nissens, choles, appys to lung/kidney/hips. You see a lot of different things. If you work on a unit like this....what is your average nurse to pt ratio?

10 to 12 pts per nurse on a med-surg floor nights if one of the scheduled nurses calls in, which is frequent. With 10-12 pts it's not patient care, it is paper care. And it becomes a 15-hr shift. Very infrequently it is as low as 7 pts nights which makes one feel like a real nurse. Staffing used to be better when the premium offered for extra shifts was as much as $40/hr ("shift bidding") but that was cut to an extra $10/hr more and people feel it's not usually worth it because you still end up working short-staffed.

The CEO has said in private that he had 11 pts when he was a nurse so if we nurses get that many it shouldn't be a problem, while at the same time he claims that the hospital has a 1:5 ratio and anything higher is just errent, which is patently untrue. He has no compassion for nurses on the line. It is all about the bottom line.

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Oh, I forgot telemetry...we're med-surg telemetry. Last week one overnight I had 12 pts (another nurse had 12 and the thrid nurse had 13 pts), and 8 of those 12 were telemetry. Last night I had 10 pts, five of whom were telemetry. A few nights ago I had only 8 pts total overnight and that was like heaven.

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how is it legal to have that much patient

are the patient getting quality care

more than 7 is too much

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WOW! Sounds like you are a great supervisor. We do our own blood sugars, chart, & MAR checks as well as our own documentation. I have been looking at other hospitals trying to find one that I think will be a good fit. Teamwork at my hospital depends on who you work with. I thought it was getting better.....then I was called in to work another shift. Promised there would be 3 nurses on the unit...get there & we only had 2! Myself & another nurse took care of (kinda) a total of 21 pts. that day. There was constant discharging & admitting all day long....while also getting some of them back from surgery. It was horrible we had pt's charts throwed up in a pile because we did not have time to dc them nor take off any orders. We went in at 7a & left at 10p....We started charting our initial assessments that night around 8p. I am definately on my way out the door!

Just a quick question, I am a nursing student and was wondering why a R.N. would not be checking their own MAR chart????? I certainly couldn't see an Aide doing that part. I am a brand new student, so just learning the basics. I just automatically thought a nurse would be accountable for their own MAR checks.

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Specializes in Tele, Med-Surg, MICU.

On a post surgery floor - 4/5 on days and evenings, 5/6 for nights, with a care partner doing vitals, I & O's, blood sugars. And clerks who help with orders on days and evenings. As low as 3 patients on a slow day. Large, metropolitan research hospital. Pts include trauma, transplant, colorectal, vascular.

WOW after reading everyone's posts I am grateful for where I work! :nurse:

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Specializes in Telemetry, Med-Surg, ED, Psych.

I work on a mixed Med/Surg/Tele/Oncology unit. We utilize TEAM nursing with Registered Nurses and Certified Nurse Assistants. The nurse to patient ratio (since I am in California) for my type of unit is 5 patients to every 1 nurse, and 10 patients to every 1 CNA.

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Specializes in med/surg, ER, SDS.

We have anywhere from 4 to 9 up to 11 depending on the census(25 bed facility). We have 2 nurses on during the day with a float nurse who tends the ER, 3 aides(they're the best) plus our DON.Evening we have 2 nurses and 2 aides(dito to them) At night it is 2 nurses and 1 aide(be lost without her). We also tend the ER in the evening and night shifts. Only when there are 3 or more ERs or a code do we call anyone in.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Cardiac, Med-Surg.

I work on a very busy med-surg floor days with a usual ratio of 4:1 or 5:1 - sometimes 6:1. This is primary care nursing and we are responsible for every aspect of patient care with some adl and vs help from aides (who are frequently floated off the floor) Some days all I seem to do is pass meds, do tx and answer call bells. I have no idea how you can manage 7, 8 or 10 patients! Our LPNs take their own assignments and the RNs are responsible for their assigned LPNs' discharges, admission assessments, IV pushes, care plans, etc. as well as their own.

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MY NURSE/PTS RATIO IS 6/1 ON A HEAVY FLOOR. :nuke: AS FOR THE QUESTION OFF HOW MANY IS TOO MANY, THE ANSWER DEPENDS ON THE PATIENTS' ACUITY LEVEL.:coollook:

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

These posts really scare me... I work nights on med-surg step-down, and max out at 4... I have taken 5 if, say, someone goes home sick or we get a new admit at like 3am and don't want to call anyone in... but 10??? I don't know if it's regional (my area is actually almost saturated with nurses..) or b/c my hospital is union... but reading these things makes me terrified to ever travel or move anyplace noew...

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

Well i hit my limit last week. When they were calling me for a new surg and a new admit,, at the same time,, and i already had 11 patients. I refused any new patients. They were pulling my LPN back to her unit, and i was NOT going to be left with 13 patients and 1 CNA. They got my message, and knew i ment business when i blew.

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our goal is 1:4 on a day shift.

it happens sometimes. we're the only unit in our hospital that's fully staffed. considering there's nursing shortage, it'll be hard to meet this .

i work on a surgery floor. we have everything from lap nissens, choles, appys to lung/kidney/hips. you see a lot of different things. if you work on a unit like this....what is your average nurse to pt ratio?
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