Texas Nurses Unite

We need safer staffing ratios for bed side nursing. Many nurses feel unsafe taking care of six patients at a time. Our general population admitted to a General Medical Surgical unit have higher acuities than before with more comorbidities. Safer ratios would also help with nurse retention, Better care for our patients and employee satisfaction. If you examine the demands and schedule of a nurse taking care of six patients you will see how things get missed, mistakes get made, and the feeling of neglect the patients and their families feel. We are required to round on our patients hourly, On top of giving scheduled and prn medications, assisting patients to the restroom, bathing them, emptying drains and foleys, taking vitals and blood sugars, wound care, not to mention charting etc. A single assessment and med pass generally takes 20-30 minutes per patient. If you have six patients there is no way you can do all of the things mentioned above, its physically impossible. These demands cause burn out and nurses are leaving the bedside for this reason. They simply do not feel safe at work. We are in crisis with a nursing shortage and more nurses choose to leave the bedside due to unsafe ratios .