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

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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?

Specializes in ICU, Psych.

No, but I would take higher pay along with a lower patient to nurse ratio and more support personnel.:roll

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

No, I would not take less pay for lower nurse/pt ratios, because I do not think pts should be looked at in terms of ratios. I feel that a universal acuity system is in order!

Our hospital staffs according to acuity (although it isn't perfect), and it seems to be a much better way to operate.

You all know what I'm talking about: one night, I can have 5 pts and skate through like a breeze. On other nights, 3 pts with higher acuitys can keep you hopping like a mad hare!

Just my:twocents:: I will NEVER endorse mandated nurse/pt ratios, because I do not feel that these numbers alone take the bigger picture into consideration.

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Just my:twocents:: I will NEVER endorse mandated nurse/pt ratios, because I do not feel that these numbers alone take the bigger picture into consideration.

You are right, mandated ratios do not tell the whole story.

Unfortunately the employers (as a whole) will not fix the staffing unless the government forces them to do so. It is a lot easier to get the politicians to understand number of patients than to try to explain acuity and get them to pass laws that acuity must be used.

Acuity is not quantitative enough to get everyone on the same page. Most hospitals I know staff by acuity - and the CNOs idea of high acuity is a heck of a lot different than the bedside staff's idea of high acuity!

Since CA has gotten through to someone by getting mandated ratios - and overall the CA nurses seem a little happier with that than the rest of us - I'm all for ratios if it gets part of the job done rather than none of the job done.

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Specializes in Pediatrics (Burn ICU, CVICU).
No, I would not take less pay for lower nurse/pt ratios, because I do not think pts should be looked at in terms of ratios. I feel that a universal acuity system is in order!

Our hospital staffs according to acuity (although it isn't perfect), and it seems to be a much better way to operate.

You all know what I'm talking about: one night, I can have 5 pts and skate through like a breeze. On other nights, 3 pts with higher acuitys can keep you hopping like a mad hare!

Just my:twocents:: I will NEVER endorse mandated nurse/pt ratios, because I do not feel that these numbers alone take the bigger picture into consideration.

I agree 100%. Our hospital also does acuity-based staffing and I truly believe that is why our pt loads are so reasonable.

Of course, the RN for the pt actually assigns the acutiy levels (not a manager who hasn't cared for the pt), so I'm sure this is a big reason it does work well.

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yes, if I was guaranteed only 4 patients on med/surg with possiblity of only one admission, if they give me 5 then I get NO admission, there would have to be some sort of contract that stipulates if the ratio is violated I get more money

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Specializes in Gyn Onc, OB, L&D, HH/Hospice/Palliative.

without a doubt, i'm old enough and wise enough (and tired enough) to choose job satisfaction and quality ( and sanity) over pay.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

I would, and I have. I left a M-F job with no call to take a lower-paying, every-other-weekend job with 1 shift of call per week, because the nurse-patient ratio was much more favorable, and other indicators of quality care were far superior.

I would love to work in a world where those conditions are universal, but in reality, they just are not. Employers who offer "bonus" pay for crappy working conditions and poor quality of care are not worth it, in my mind. I'll admit I've had the luxury of a dual income family, where a pay cut did not harm our financial security, which might be the case for many nurses, so the choice was not difficult for me.

In our last semester of college, and instructor posed the question: Would you accept a job that you did not like over your "dream job" for a $10K bonus? Most of us said we would. I suspect that a few years of living and working in the real world changed that answer for many of us.

This is exactly why huge sign-on bonuses don't work.

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Specializes in ER.
without a doubt, i'm old enough and wise enough (and tired enough) to choose job satisfaction and quality ( and sanity) over pay.

agree 100%! i do work for less money and more job satisfaction. i have been in a position for 3 years in a high acuity er, large volumes, etc. it pays a few dollars less than i could make down the street.

that said, i have fantastic support. no one drowns while others sit. we all work hard and work together well.

i always, always, always get a 45 minute sit down, awake from the department meal break.

i have reasonable control over my schedule.

we don't have mandated ratios but we are assigned rooms or blocks of rooms and the patients are placed there based on aquity.

if you are assigned traumas, you have 2 rooms and one back up nurse. when a trauma comes in, you have max support from other team members, who are there for the critical first minutes and back off as the situation becomes appropriate.

we have a "less acute" side with 3 or 4:1 ratio, fast track with 5:1, cardiac with 2 to 3:1.

i came there as a traveler and never left. i am not saying money is not important, you have to have a decent base to pay your bills but it is not the end all.

i can see myself working out the rest of my career here, 15 or so more years. money is not everything, good working conditions and job satisfaction are more important to me.

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Call me greedy but I'd like fair staffing ratios along with fair pay. Why should we have to pick one over the other?! We are entitled to both.

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Specializes in Med/surg, pediatrics, gi, gu,stepdown un.

Yes, I would take less pay. I care about safe patient care. Taking on 6 patients is too many for one nurse and it is unsafe for our patients. Think of all the medication, ivs, treatments and other nursing duties we perform everyday on 6 patients. I am overwhelmed.

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Specializes in CVICU, Burns, Trauma, BMT, Infection control.

No. Our pay hasn't kept progress with inflation and even working all out I can barely make enough to live so take a pay cut to have it as it should be? NO

I guess I'm jaded.

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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?

absolutely

money isn't everything

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