Everything Nurses >> Nurse Talk >> Poll: So how big is your patient load
Poll: So how big is your patient load
Poll: How many patients do you handle at one time?
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Posted over 3 years ago I have two Nurse jobs. One or Two at a time with one job and up to 27 at one time at another. How about you? |
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| Posted over 3 years ago Your poll has a better array of choices than the one I posted asking for the same info a couple of months ago, Tim. In dialysis we get 4 patients at a time. On 2 shift days we get 8 and on 3 shift days we get 12, but just 4 at a time for a 4 hour run. And that's enough. |
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| Posted over 3 years ago The question is not how many patients at a time, but how sick are the patients and how much do you have to keep track of with each one? 4 dialysis patients sounds reasonable, unless one has problems such as the AV shunt bleeding. What are 2 shift days? and 3-shift days? Do you have 4 pts for 4 hours, then 4 more for another 4 hours, then 4 more until you have completed a 12 hour shift? How much time off do you get between shifts? Are you on call when not working?
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| Posted over 3 years ago My unit is Oncology/Urology and Women's health. It's not unusual to start the night with 8 patients and get 2 or 3 admits. I've had as many as 11 patients at one time. That's pretty tough when you have post-hysterectomies on PCAs to monitor, you're administering chemotherapy and have 2 or 3 continuous bladder irrigations to watch and change. Some nights I don't think I will survive! |
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| Posted over 3 years ago Home health here..........1 at a time. When you finish one, ya go to the next one. We only have one heart, take care of it! Angie |
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| Posted over 3 years ago angienwgeorgia says ...
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| Posted over 3 years ago Acuity does make a difference, I agree. In our er, if working in the critical care/trauma area, 2 or 3 nurses share 7 rooms (5 CC & 2 Trauma/Resuscitation). It gets a little hairy with 1-on-1 or 2-on-1 patients & the remaining nurse(s) is trying to keep up with the rest. The other areas in the dept. where the patients are supposedly "not as sick" is typically 4 or 5pts to a nurse. Then there's triage. When you've used all of your fingers & toes counting & are halfway through your partner's, it's pretty much moot from there. |
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| Posted over 3 years ago I work on a cardiac stepdown unit. Some days I have four patients. Other days I have five but an LPN will cover one of them, so I have to do assesment and IV push or PICC or central line stuff. LPN does the rest. |
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| Posted over 3 years ago I work on a busy Med/Surg unit and Pt.'s are going in and out like a revolving door. Some days you may start out with 6 Pt.'s and discharge 3, get a transfer from another unit, an admission from the OR and another one from the ER. I have had 7 Pt.'s at one time on days like this. It is rough. You can also be transfusing blood to a Pt. during all of this too!!! You are totally exhausted at the end of your 12 hour shift. You keep your skills up, believe me!!! |
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| Posted over 3 years ago I float, so it varies depending on where I go. I have 6 on some days, which is too much. The Observation unit where I've been lately usually has 4-5. If people start getting d/c'd, then management sends nurses and/or techs home. Naturally, ER gears up as soon as we do that, and we get slammed with back to back admits. I had 5 admits in one hour once. The LVN had 6 pts, the RN had 4, so I gave her 2 admits, and I as the charge nurse took 3 admits. I told ER to give me space between admits. They sent 2 at one time and another 30 min later. I was pissed. needless to say, none of my charge nurse stuff was done. Claire Kruszka |
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| Posted over 3 years ago I've tried being alone and in charge of the Emergency Psychiatric Unit in our City Hospital. It was filled with 40 patients at that time. Night shift 7pm-7am.Scaaarry! Especially because I had just passed my boards that same year and knew only one or two of the security! I'm also a small female, 5'2", so I just spent the night praying everyone would sleep through the night and that nobody would be admitted during my shift. |
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| Posted over 3 years ago ZoeNashwa says ...
Yes, that is a tough load experienced or not. I never cease being amazed that the powers that be let this go on. My advice would be to know were your PRN meds are and use them as soon as the situation calls early on in the behaviors. I am sometimes alone with up 32 behavioral patients at a time on a 7 pm - 7 am shift and many do not sleep much. I do alright in this environment as long as I hit them with an intervention early in their changes. In a nutshell patient loads like this and yours should not be legal, but they do exsist and are often budget driven. The worst behaviorial program I have seen are the VA's, but a great deal of what used to be nursing homes are becoming holding cells for the mentally ill as other institutions close their doors and many of the latter have no real therapy other than drugs going on. Good luck and PRN when you first see it come and know your security phone numbers.
Cheers - Tim, R.N. |
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| Posted over 3 years ago Thanks for the advice. P.S. I have memorized all the security numbers and codes, and am now friends with most of the security people, so my night shifts are now much more comfortable. |
My superior told me the very same thing, and it does help a lot if you give them their PRN meds early on, you just have to be sensitive to their cues.
