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With the decrease in ICU beds & increase of ICU level, critically ill patients with COVID & otherwise, these patients are going to step down & PCU floors, even med/surg floors. PCU/Stepdown nurses are used to getting very sick borderline ICU patients during season.
But what we aren’t used to is 2-3 borderline ICU, very sick patients with another 2-3 patients on top of that which require PCU level attention aré care. Who, if also Covid positive can also deteriorate easily & become yet another critical patient to add to our 4-6 patient load.
On top of that, with staffing being critically short every shift, we don’t have each other to help. We’re each more than likely putting out our own little fires.Charge nurses managing the entire floor while having a full assignment on their own. It is unbridled CHAOS.
Would you want your family member sick with ANYTHING in the hospital with conditions like that? Well it’s too late to think about it because almost every hospital in this country is at this breaking point.
Med/Surg nurses are also used to caring for very sick patients with 1 nurse to 7-10 patients on top of that. This is bad. Really bad
Oh not to mention ICU nurses going out of ratio due to poor staffing and managing 1:3-4 CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS.
What will these hospitals do when every single nurse in this country has to stop & confront the building PTSD from the trauma that we are internalizing? We keep pushing but there will be a breaking point in each of us.
This is everywhere.
