How can you adequately care for that many people and please all of them?

ha/respond

The main challenge that comes to mind for me personally is juggling the patient load. I transferred from the pediatric floor to the med surg floor. When I worked on peds it was very rare that we would ever have more than 5 patients and they would usually call another nurse in. I know that babies and children’s conditions can be more severe at times because of how quickly they can decline, but I feel that on the med surg floor we should also have no more than 5 patients due to the actual work load each one requires. The average day on the med surg floor you will be taking care of 6 patients and 7 at times. This is a challenge to me because during the day time is when all the commotion is going on. It’s when doctors, therapists, and everyone comes and it’s also when you are typically passing the most meds. I think the patient load they give all of us nurses is neither fair nor safe. How can you adequately care for that many people and please all of them?  This is where patient satisfaction begins to fall because one of the patients will be calling you needing something but you are stuck with another patent and also have 10 other things you need to be doing at the same time. You want to be there for each patient as soon as they need you but it is nearly impossible. You want to provide the best quality of care possible. Every nurse plays a pivotal role in the measurement of quality (Mason, Gardner, Outlaw, & O’Grady, 2016 ). The only way to overcome these challenges is one for the hospital to hire more nurses which has not happened yet or two to hopefully have co-workers who do try to help you in overwhelming times. I am thankful to say that I do have co-workers who will step in and help when the moment gets crazy.

I believe my career could only continue to improve by advocating for my patients and myself. It is important to always take time to be concerned and listen to what your patients are feeling and telling you. As the patients advocate you are the most important key to their quality of health while they are in the hospital.