520
Detailed Needs and Requirements: General Nursing Unit
evening, and the lowest level at night. It may be desirable to allow for
adjustment in staffing patterns and in the assignment of beds to a
particular nursing unit or nursing station to accommodate these
variations in work load.
Many of the patients treated in these units are or have been severely ill
and may be in danger of rapid and unpredictable changes in condition.
The unit personnel should be able to detect and rapidly respond to
these changes.
This requires that supplies, equipment, and staff be available to cope
with such emergencies; and it may also require routine monitoring or
observation of a wide range of physiological indicators of patient
condition. These include the "vital signs", but may also include such
general indicators as skin color, nervousness, breathing difficulties,
response to medications, tendencies to sleep too much or too little, etc.
Adequate awareness of these indicators may require constant or
frequent observation of patients by the nursing staff.
Figure 520-2 indicates four alternatives for general nursing unit
organization.
522.1.4
Primary Users
1. Patients
General nursing units provide accommodation and nursing care to
patients with a broad range of conditions from serious illness to minor
disability. Patients may be confined to bed, semi -ambulant, i.e. in
wheelchairs or on crutches, or ambulant. Their need for nursing
assistance varies with the intensity of illness.
Patients may require sleep or rest at any time of the day or night
without disturbance from the activities of other patients, nurses or other
staff. They may require physical isolation from other patients for
medical or psychological reasons. Their movement within or out of the
units may be limited due to requirements for examinations, specimen
collection, routine nursing task, physicians' rounds, etc. They should
be able to quickly and easily call a nurse if they need care or
assistance.
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