Proper staffing protects patients in a hospital.
The federal government allows states to decide what is considered adequate nursing staffing in order to care for patients in a facility. States can decide on safety and patient care ratios based on the amount of care a typical patient needs. There are different levels of patient needs, depending on how much attention they require.
One-on-one Care
Intensive Care Units often houses patients who require one-to-one care or two-to-one care. This means the patient needs constant monitoring, so nurses can only care for one or two patients during his shift. Staffing an ICU often means having as many nurses as you have patients. This becomes difficult because many hospitals do not have an entirely full ICU at all times, but they must have enough nurses to draw from if the facility becomes full.
Emergency Room
The same is true of nurse staffing in an emergency room. For a major trauma that rolls through the door, a nurse might only care for a single patient until that person is stabilized. Sometimes that means two nurses will care for one patient, depending on the nature of the injury. But for lesser cases in the ER, nurses can care for multiple patients, often up to four at a time.
Standard Floors
On the standard medical floor, where the need is not as pressing, nurses can be staffed with three to four patients during a shift. A hospital usually sets a standard, but depending on how busy the department becomes, staffing levels may fluctuate. Nurses usually have the ability to leave if it happens to be a slow shift. They may be required to wear a pager or carry a cell phone so they can be called back if the need arises. In the meantime, this helps keep hospital costs low.
Staffing Options
Another staffing option comes in the form of nursing aides and non-registered nurses. These employees do not cost the same hourly and can take on certain duties of the nurse, such as baths, serving patients food and changing linens. This leaves the nurse responsible for IV's, drug administration and charting. By staffing these lower-level employees, nurses can care for more than four patients at a time, meaning fewer nurses have to work on any given shift.
Time of Day
Time of day is also an important factor in staffing. It is usually easier to care for more patients during the night shift as most of them will be sleeping. During the day, nurses will often be giving patients baths and helping patients walk around. It might sound simple to staff but when you have to take into account all 24 hours of the day, it becomes a more complicated task. With the addition of 12 and 10-hour shifts, hospitals have found a way to reduce the time used in the day for shift change, as well as providing an extra nurse for busier times.
Tags: patient needs, patients during, care more, care patients, during shift, four patients
