Nursing shortage and short staffing- union?

[imported_ICU_RN]

I live in a medium- small town in Pacific northwest but the nursing shortage has finally had its effect on us also. I want to know what your hospitals have done to adjust staffing,or address this problem. We are supposed to have 1 or 2 patients/RN in ICU but the hospital is so full that we often have medical or PCU overflow patients and will have 2 ICU and a medical floor patient and the charge nurse will start with either Med/PCU patient or get and ICU admit or 2. Nights will have 3 ICU patients and sometimes days. The hospital will not close beds. The nurses are so upset hospital wide that over the last several months the union was approached and has a majority support and we are getting close to a vote. Is this the way to go? we frequently work hours over and do not get lunch or breaks.

[imported_ICU_RN]

I did not mean for this thread to be mainly about unionizing but about what kind of staffing you have in your departments and do you close beds? Is your hospital always full and overflowing? We have been doing the bed shuffle for a couple years now. Their is an admit or transfer to ICU but we have to wait for a patient to be transferred out of ICU even though they have been PCU/med status for 1-3 days, sometimes we end up discharging them from ICU? Some days we start with 5 - 7 non- ICU patients out of 16 and end up with all ICU status patients by the end of the day with the charge nurse taking patients and nurses missing lunch etc. We work 12 hours with maybe a 30 min lunch if we are lucky. We are also lucky to get out close to time

[cassioo]

we staff our unit with usually 4 RN's and an LPN, and a surgical scrub tech and maybe a secretary on days, then 3 RN's on evenings & nights with the CST maybe a secretary on evenings. This staff covers up to 18 post partum, GYN post op, antinatal beds, 4 LDRP's 2 OB observation, OR for c-sections and recovery room. If the labor hall is full you end up with up to 18 pts for 1 RN and 1 LPN you never know what the mix of pts could be they could be all 2 day vag deliveries all ready to go home or all 1st day post ops. Those labor beds and observations can turn over quickly also with up to 10 different pts per day. We're a closed unit so we don't get pulled and we also don't get help. We do our own scheduled sections and emergency sections, post partum tubals then d&C's and cerclages as able. Some days we get no lunch or break others we have some time lately it's the no break. Another hospital I work at it's staffing is wonderful labor 1 on 1 which is wonderful and 2-3 postpartum mother/baby.