Nurse Ratio

Been working at the same facility for 22 years. Started working in CT-ICU (cardio thoracic intensive care), in 1993. The ratio was 1:2 or 1:1 if patient was just out of the operating room. Now the ratio is 2:1 or 3:1, in really acute cases 1:1. For the past 7 years been in a surgical ICU (SICU). The turnover rate is high. Which means that we are working 3:1 ratio. There has been a section of the unit for step down patients, with a 4:1 ratio. The acuity is high and we have a fair amount of new nurses. Presently we have 4 nurses that aren’t off probation. With the shortage of nurses, the facility has instituted to cross train nurses to the recovery room and CT-ICU, along with floating to other units. This band aid causes more duress

Providing the best care to each patient starts with providing the proper amount of staff members to each unit. Looking at the needs of different units not only allows administration to see areas for improvement, but also areas that are being handled correctly. Utilizing the indicators provided by The Joint Commission, 4 East, a pediatric medical/surgical floor, has a high rate of falls and nosocomial pressure ulcers that appears to be related to the increase overtime nurses have been working for that floor (Nightingale, 2010). Research has shown increases in adverse events have been related to nurses working over 40 hours a week (Bae, 2012).

As one might predict from the articles reviewed not one eluded that the bedside nurse disagreed with an improved RN to patient ratio. At this point you may be reading this saying; so hospitals need more nurses, why don’t they hire them. The answer is hospitals do, but because of the growing number of patients in the hospitals, nurse burnout, and nurses moving from one department to another or quitting all together, there is a nursing shortage. The problem becomes how hospitals can retain nurses when there are so many opportunities elsewhere. The upper nursing management, often known as the VP of nursing, collaborate with the accountants and CEO’s of the hospitals and have pressure to save money

Great post! I agree with you as well regarding the nursing shortage. All through nursing school as well and through out my career it has been a constant struggle. When you become overworked there is a constant strain, stress, and burn out. All thos things can lead to job/career dissatisfication. It is also importnt that each nurse knows their rights as well, including the Safe Harbor laws. This is not only to protect the nurse but to protect the patients and make sure they are receiving the quality are that they deserve.

Through all the research, in regards to Safe Harbor, important information was obtained and some misconceptions were set straight. At the facility that this nurse works, it has always been threatened to claim Safe Harbor and the nurse to walk out. Recently, this was done when the medical-surgical nurse was asked to accept an admission on top of the other patients already being cared for by her, which would increase her patient load to a total of six patients. Acuity of the patients was not taken into account by the nurse. According to facility policy, this is an adequate staffing ratio. Staffing 1:5 or 1:6 for nurse-patient ratio is a recommend ratio for a medical-surgical unit (Tevington, 2011). Once researching Safe Harbor, there were multiple

Extensive research has shown that there is a correlation between staffing and patient ratio and patient outcomes. Better outcomes particularly are shown with lower patient to nurse ratio. However staffing issues remain an ongoing concern which greatly impacts the safety of the nurse and their patients, and also impacts cost of healthcare. Evidence shows that adequate staffing causes reduction in mortality, nurse burnout and job satisfaction, and reduction in medical errors.

A manager should make sure that the resources that are provided to the staff are useful, effective, and helpful. The manager should ensure that they have the adequate amount of resources and tools in order to complete there work and job. When it comes to the issue of nurse staffing ratios, the manager has the responsibility of making sure that the unit is staffed to meet the demands of the patients and there level of care, or acuity (GCU, 2011). Utilizing there skills in leadership, quality care, people and communication can all be of benefit. Leadership skills, such as leading by example, are necessary for nurse managers. Quality care skills can be beneficial to gather the necessary data and provide adequate staffing to promote and improve overall performance. People skills are used to interview new employees and hopefully increase staffing

Nurse-to-patient ratios is not a new topic of debate for all of us who deliver care to patients every day. Only lately it has been a big issue that have caught the attention of many. Demands by the medical community for changes concerning staffing, asking for the government interventions in minimum staffing laws. Registered nurses have long acknowledged and continue to emphasize that staffing issues are an ongoing concern, one that influences the safety of both the patient and the nurse. (ANA, 2015) .nowadays hospitals are running for profit and the emphasis is not put on job burnout, stress, and endangerment of patients. Nursing shortages is a very pertinent problem, it will be optimum to have laws in place to help with the issue, however meanwhile leadership and management methods to the matter can help to mend the nursing situation and avoid many of the damaging effects of unfitting nurse-to-patient ratios.

This is a sobering statistic: “the odds of a patient dying in hospitals with an average workload of 8 patients per nurse are 1.26 times greater than in hospitals where the mean workloads of 4 patients per nurse” (Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, Lake & Cheney, 2008). A rubber band can only stretch so far before it breaks. It would follow that attempts to improve patient care must address adequate patient-to-nurse ratios and workload.

When was the last time you were in the hospital or a loved one was in the hospital, and ever wondered where the nurse is, and they haven 't returned for hours. You finally push the assistance button several times, and they open the door and hurriedly say, “I will be right back”, then you don 't see them for a while again. When they come back to check up on you, you explain to them what you need, and then they send in a less qualified staff member to assist you. At this point, you become very annoyed and frustrated not to mention scared to be admitted in the hospital to begin with. Little do you know, your nurse has ten other patients and other non-nursing tasks that they are responsible taking care of. They have been working a double shift and are extremely exhausted, and a large stack of charts that they will have to do before their shift is over. As a patient, you now become frustrated and are not happy about this; as a nurse, they are just as frustrated as you are, not only because the amount of work they have but more importantly they can 't deliver the appropriate care they long to give. For most hospitals they do not hire enough registered nurses for reasons that are good and bad. This is an issue that needs to be addressed not only locally but nationally and on a constant basis. When there are too many patients for one registered nurse to attend to, nurses become exhausted, mistakes are made, and patients are unsatisfied. A minimum nurse to patient ratio needs to be

Nurse staffing have an effect on a variety of areas within nursing. Quality of care is usually affected. Hospitals with low staffing tend to have higher incidence of poor patient outcomes. Martin, (2015) wrote an article on how insufficient nursing staff increases workload and job dissatisfaction, which in effect decreases total patient care over all. When nurse staffing is inadequate, the ability to practice ethically becomes questionable. Time worked, overtime, and total hours per week have significant effect on errors. When nurses works long hours, the more likely errors will be made. He also argued that inadequate staffing not only affects their patients but also their loved ones, future and current nursing staff, and the hospitals in which they are employed. An unrealistic workload may result in chronic fatigue, poor sleep patterns, and absenteeism thus affecting the patients they take care of.

In the beginning of time there was nothing but darkness and chaos but then miraculously a being emerged from the empty void called Erebus and night. All was dark, empty and silent until love was born bringing order with it, light was born along with Gaea, the earth from love. Gaea alone gave birth to Uranus, the sky, and he became her husband surrounding her on all sides. Together they created twelve Titans, three cyclops 's and three Hecatonchires (hundred-handed ones). Uranus did not like the Hecatonchires so he hid them in a secret place in the earth which angered Gaea so greatly that she plotted against him. When she asked her children to aid her in taking revenge against Uranus all of them were too afraid to challenge their father except for the youngest Titan named Kronos. Gaea and Kronos planned their revenge and castrated him as he slept. Uranus disappeared after promising Kronos that the Titans would be punished for what he had done. Kronos was then named ruler, married his sister Rhea and locked up the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes in Tartarus. When Rhea and Kronos had many children Gaea and Uranus prophesied that he would be overthrown by a child of his. To solve the issue Kronos ate all but one of his children in hopes of changing his fate. The child that was not devoured by his father was hidden by Rhea and was named Zeus. Zeus grew up and made a plan to get his siblings back and defeat Kronos. He decided on getting a potion to make

Throughout my life I have taken pride in my caring for others. I believe I got this gift from my parents who are both ministers. I love working not only with children but also with elderly and the less fortunate. I have put in hundreds of hours of volunteer work, varying from manual labor to playing games in a nursing home. Something else I inherited from my parents is the gene of competitiveness. In everything I do I am competitive and must win. For example, it is only the 3rd week of college at Northwestern and I already like to see my grades higher than my friend’s. In sports, particularly team sports, I must win. To tie this trait of mine with my love of serving others ends up in a mess of being the

One of the greatest challenges in healthcare, as well as the biggest threat to patient safety, is staffing and the nurse to patient ratio on hospital floors. Studies have shown that low staffing levels lead to increased mortality rates in patients, as well as multiple other adverse effects including falls and pressure ulcers. These adverse effects are all preventable, but policies on staffing must be in place to ensure safety for staff and patients.

According to L.H. Aiken et al., there is strong evidence that supports a connection between better nurse staffing and better patient outcomes. Scientists argue that a higher amount of nurses on staff allows for a lower rate of overall patient mortality. The reasoning behind this point is the fact that higher nurse rates correlate with “better nurse care environments.” Patient to nurse ratio, highly educated nurses, and increased nurses on staff during a single period of time effects the environment that allows for proper patient care. If there are too many patients assigned to a single nurse it will lead to increased patient complications (medical care/ medication errors, mortality rates, etc.) increased nurse fatigue, and decreased nurse retention/job satisfaction. Scientists argue that these issues must be looked at immediately because there are “numbers of lives that would be saved through improved care environments.” Scientists also argue that the way to improve care environment is by having hospitals become “magnet