You are the nurse manager of a 15-bed step-down unit in a metro-area hospital

Staffing Patterns

You are the nurse manager of a 15-bed step-down unit in a metro-area hospital. You employee RNs, UAPs, and unit secretaries to staff the unit. You are not responsible for staffing or the budget related to other ancillary hospital staff.

These are your staffing ratios for 12-hour shifts. Staffing on day shift and night shift are the same.

RNs: 3:1 ratio
UAPs: 6:1 ratio
Secretary – one per shift
Your 15-bed unit had 372 patient days in July. Calculate the average daily census (ADC).
Discuss the daily staffing patterns for the unit based on the ADC. How many staff from each discipline do you schedule each day?
What are the downfalls of the nurse-patient ratio staffing model? Discuss an alternative staffing model.
Submission Guidelines:

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