Hi I'm new at this forum stuff, however, I would like to talk to anyone who is frustrated with management concerning staff.
I work in a 250 or more bed hospital. I work on the dialysis unit; my assignment usually consists of 6 to 8 patients. At times, I have no CNA's or unit clerk. Management feels that dialysis unit patients are the same patients as med surg patients. Dialysis patients are usually weak, diabetics, distressed, and depressed. Most need assistance to the bathroom and bathing.
Does anyone experience simular problems and want to discuss?
Welcome to the site, wei! Glad you joined us.
I don't work with dialysis patients per se (usually outside of the dialysis unit), but know what you are talking about. Feel free to discuss away. The Staff Nurse Section is designed for that!
How long have you been a nurse, just to be curious? Perhaps you can share some dialysis hints, tips, and info. in our Dialysis/Renal Nursing Forum. (Look under the Specialty Heading)
Welcome to the forum.
On a med-surg unit, current data recommends a daytime nurse/patient ratio of 1:4 with a 1:12 LNA/patient complement. Anyone who does the work knows that a dialysis unit is a little more intensive than a med-surg unit. Where you are, the nurse has up to eight patients alone. How many patients are in the unit at one time? During the day there are times when you have no HUC and no LNA. From what you write, it sounds as though a typical day looks like this: With no HUC, the nurses are doing all the paperwork and answering the phones while cannulating and monitoring the treatments. There is no LNA and you indicate that you're bathing and toileting the patients? This means you're not monitoring as many as seven other patients.
I know the patient population well and also know that during dialysis, they often become more fatigued and unstable requiring fluid boluses and/or blood. Sometimes they take their insulin and don't eat or eat enough and become hypoglycemic requiring treatment for that, and so on. For these reasons alone, they require frequent monitoring and are at high risk for falling. Being coagulopathic, a fall for one of these patients can go from very bad to catastrophic.
Have you discussed your concerns with other nurses on the unit and do they also feel undersupported? There is strength in numbers when approaching the management team about safety concerns like these.
Keep us posted and, good luck.
R
Welcome to the site. Perhaps you might want to post your concerns in the general forum for more responses.
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