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?
1808 posts back to top |
Posted 18 days 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? |
300 posts back to top |
| Posted 18 days 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 16 days 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 14 days 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 14 days 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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1808 posts back to top |
| Posted 14 days ago angienwgeorgia says ...
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523 posts back to top |
| Posted 14 days 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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24 posts back to top |
| Posted 14 days 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 13 days 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 11 days 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 |
