What is an Acceptable PACU Nurse-to-Patient Ratio?
Generally, in a PACU a patient will have near 1:1 nursing staff ratios.  This means that there will be one PACU nurse per patient.  Sometimes this is 2:1, two patients per one nurse, or even 3:1.  But the problems arise when the situation becomes 5:1, 8:1, or even 10:1.  This is just dangerous because a nurse needs to monitor all of these patients all at once.  If the patient is not completely monitored, it could allow a preventable complication to be life-threatening.