Would you work in a hospital that pays less if nurse:patient ratios were better?

ilstu99 · Aug 25, 2008

Would you work in a hospital that pays slightly less (maybe $2 less an hour) if you knew you would have about half as many patients as at another hospital?

If that were the only difference?

Without a doubt.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Aug 25, 2008

Probably not. Maybe I'm jaded. I've worked for many companies that said one thing and delivered another, so anyone that offered me pie-in-the-sky ratios would have to have that backed up by my personal knowledge of someone who actually worked there.

Remember, ratios can change; salary probably won't change that drastically.

Of course, if you're talking a few cents, then maybe I'd go for it.

medsurgrnco, BSN, RN · Aug 25, 2008

Yes, I would. Nurses could easily make up the lost income by occasionally working an extra shift.

mondkmondk · Aug 25, 2008

Yes I would, definitely!

Blessings, Michelle

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Aug 25, 2008

All other things being equal, AND the ratio isn't just "better" but "good"? Absolutely.

Right now, if I take 8-9 patients a night, occasionally nailed with ten, hospital says it's fine. So "better" might mean 7-8 patients a night, occasionally 9. I'm not giving up a dime for that.

Give me no more than 6 patients a night, ever? And have the norm be five? Ok!

RNperdiem, RN · Aug 25, 2008

If the pay difference is not big and the ratios are for real I would consider changing jobs.

Of course don't forget to look at the whole picture. What auxillary personnel does the better ratio hospital use? How many CNA's per shift? Is there a unit secretary, and if so is there one for all shifts? Are sitters available?

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Aug 25, 2008

I'm actually talking about my hospital. None of my friends can understand why I took a job at a lower paying hospital...but...night shift = 14 patients, 6 nurses, and 2 aids. It's freaking awesome, while my friends have 8 patients and 1 aid at night. Granted, my floor is considered more critical, but 4 patients/nurse is the norm on the less critical floors.

SharonH, RN · Aug 25, 2008

$2/hr x 40 hours= $80/week x 52 weeks= $4160/yr x 5 years = $20,800 invested with an annual return of a lousy 8% over that 5 years = $30,517.00 difference in just 5 years alone. That's a big sacrifice.

The answer is no. I don't see why it has to be an either/or proposition. I am greedy; I want safe working conditions and adequate pay. Skimping on one while providing the other is disrespectful either way. I think I would stay and fight for lower ratios all the while looking for completely different employment.

RN1989 · Aug 25, 2008

As long as they didn't try to screw you some other way - absolutely.

RN1989 · Aug 25, 2008

I think I would stay and fight for lower ratios all the while looking for completely different employment.

That's the problem - we've been fighting for years and in the grand scheme of things - we have gotten NOWHERE.

And so people leave to "greener" pastures only to find more manure and then again, they look for another job while fighting the current job and are frustrated and irritated by the current employer. The cycle just keeps repeating. And after a while, people get tired of fighting all the time but never making any progress.

queenjean · Aug 25, 2008

I do work for less at a place where the conditions are better. We are talking a medical floor here, in a smallish hospital. I do take tele pts, but ICU is responsible for reading and monitoring their rhythm. No titrated drips or anything on my floor, no vents. We have RT all night, night time pharmacist (for entire hospital), and IV therapy until 10pm.

If I don't have an aide working with me, I start the night at 2-3 pts. We usually get a several admits during the noc, but a nurse working on her own never goes over 4 pts.

If I have a team (myself and an aide working together, aide not working with anyone else), I usually start the night with 5-6 pts, knowing I'll get an admit or two. Most nights a team ends with 6-7. On a bad night, we might end with 8. Maybe once a year we end with 9.

In the area hospitals that pay more, or have incentives like weekend option, the staffing is not nearly so good. Where I did clinicals, the nurses had 5-6 pts, but there was only 2-3 aides for a 50 bed floor. So the nurses still had to do most of the VS, personal care, etc. Where my friend works the weekend option at a different facility, he has 6-7 pts all by himself at night. No aide, no unit secretary, no help. Many are heavy, post op orthos. Another friend also worked weekend option at a different facility--she said she would start the day with 7 or 8, with again only one or two aides for the entire floor. She did it for 6 months and quit. Every one of them said the staffing was worse and the pts were sicker than on our medical and surgical floors in our little hospital.

All the other, larger area facilities involve a little more of a commute--anywhere from 10-50 miles one way, but pay anywhere from 2-10/hr more, not counting a weekend option. Still not worth it for me. Sometimes I want to have a greater variety, to work in a larger hospital. But I'm staying put. I earn less an hour, but enough to feel that I'm being paid; I can ride my scooter or bike to work every day; I know the staffing is always safe. I'm happy with that. I would seriously sign a 5 year contract with my hospital if they would offer weekend options. The weekend option is the only thing that I wish for!