How to Calculate Staff-to-Patient Ratio for ESRD

End-Stage Renal Disease Services (ESRD) often need to provide a specific staff-to-patient ratio in order to qualify for federal, state or private insurance. This ratio must be for direct patient care, without accounting for administration services. Unfortunately, modern health care providers often fill two roles -- providing patient care as well as administrative services. It can be necessary to separate these services in order to satisfy insurance carrier requirements, narrowing down the exact amount of patient care provided in order to calculate precise ratios. While it is not a difficult process, it does require a careful examination of both patient records and working journals to gather the information necessary.

Things You'll Need

• Unit records of patients treated
• Journal records on hours worked and duties performed by staff

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Instructions

• 1

  Conduct a daily patient census covering a two-week pay period that does not include a holiday. Count the number of patients in the unit each day. Add all the days together to gain the total number of patients during the two-week period, and then divide by 14 to get a daily patient average.

• 2

  Create a listing of hours worked by the medical staff in the unit, divided into two categories: direct patient care, and administrative hours. Count the number of hours worked by staff members throughout the pay period, and then split their time accordingly, into each category. Add the total hours worked during each pay period in each category.

• 3

  Divide the total hours by the average shift length to determine the number of shifts represented by the working hours in each category. Divide the result by 14 to determine the number of shifts worked by staff on average each day. Calculate the average number of staff members per shift by dividing the number of shifts by the average length of the shifts.

• 4

  Take the average number of staff members on each shift and the number of patients each day to determine the staff-to-patient ratio for the unit. For example, 6 nurses per shift working patient care with a patient load of 30 for the day will give you a ratio of 1:5 nurses per shift.