Perhaps part of the problem at your facility could be that, in order to keep beds full and $ flowing in, sometimes the rules as to what a resident needs to be able to do to live there get bent, putting more work on the employees.
For instance, some people might need to be taken to the bathroom every X hours. Or are ringing for help all night. If it is these type of situations are happening and making it impossible for the # of employees to keep up with the demands, I suggest that you and the other staff members fully document exactly what is happening and then meet with someone in authority (director of nursing?) to fill them in on what is going on.
If the AL has the requirement that residents be able to transfer themselves from a bed or chair to wheelchair or use a walker and can get themselves around in the wheelchair, then yes, this sounds about right. My aunt was in an AL that had one person there at night. There were several residents who wanted someone to come into their rooms and check on them multiple times during the night. My aunt was one of these because she was on oxygen and had many other issues. But she WAS mobile.
What was troubling to me was another relative was in a MC facility and there were 2 people on duty at night and they were given tasks like laundry and other housekeeping duties. There were probably 50 residents and I'd say half of them were UP ALL NIGHT every night. Several would get loud and wander into other residents rooms and wake them, fight, etc! This happened to my aunt. A man kept coming into her room and trying to get into bed with her, thinking she was his wife. She punched him several times.
This OP and the replies remind me that the terms used for different care facilities vary considerably and the services provided vary too within national and international boundaries.
Regulation regarding staffing is also dependent on location. Here AL facilities are regulated. But Covid has shown us that the staffing and service levels in care facilities in Canada is sub par.
Here in BC we have Assisted Living: https://www.islandhealth.ca/learn-about-health/home-care-assisted-living-long-term-care/assisted-living-options
Long Term Care: https://www.islandhealth.ca/learn-about-health/home-care-assisted-living-long-term-care/long-term-care-options
Some facilities have Independent Living (no care provided) and AL in the same building or grounds. Some have AL and Long Term Care (nursing home) in the same facility.
To add to the confusion, here LTC can also be referred to Residential Care, but this is not care provided in the person's residence, but in a care facility.
At our assisted living we currently have 46 residents in two separate buildings. We have two aides in each building overnight. We have two RN’s in skilled nursing who are available for medical issues. We always get positive comments about our resident/staff ratio.
Assisted Living isn't regulated in the same way that Nursing Homes are; in fact there is little regulation at all. So this may be legal. Most hospitals are not even regulated in the numbers of patients that can be assigned to a nurse. I still remember when staffing regulations were passed for us in California under Gov Schwartzenegger.
PS I think your question is of value here because it may prompt those looking to ask about staffing when doing ALF interviews. I think that my brother's ALF was stellar, and one of the reasons was the caring staff, and plenty of it. The whole place was an arrangement of "cottages" around a central grounds. I would say each cottage had 14 to 20 persons as residents. Most were quite able, but some had more memory deficits that others, and there was also a LARGE cottage that was memory care. Each cottage at night had it's own care person. This was not even an overly expensive facility, esp. for our State of California.
It could be legal. I worked at an AL with 52 residents. There was only one overnight worker in the building on the third shift. She got there at 11pm every night and went to bed.
I would say that maybe normal. AL means all the residents need is assistance. Residents should be asleep at that time if working a 3 to 7 shift. I know, but in reality thats not what happens. I am assuming here that the next shift coming in is getting them up, dressed and down to breakfast? If you are doing that, then there may not be enough aides.
ALs are inspected by the state just like LTC facilities. Check with the state to see what the ratio of aides is to residents. I would also question if an RN or LPN needs to be on your shift? Is your RN available 24/7? Because as an aide you should not be making any medical decisions for a resident. Ex: sending a resident to the hospital.
Way back when my grandmother was living in AL, there was only one overnight staff person. And, that person was allowed to sleep on their shift. They'd be awakened by a bell/alarm if a resident needed something. I don't know the head count on residents, but it was a somewhat large facility. One of the people who did this overnight shift was a high school student. No one thought anything of it because those residents who lived there were expected to be (and they expected themselves to be) on their own for the most part. (What I don't know is whether "AL" means the same thing today as it did back then. )
There are different kinds of AL. The one I worked at had a policy that residents had to be mobile and be able to walk independently (a cane or walker was fine, could not be incontinent in a diaper, and no dementia. If a resident got to the point where they were no longer a little forgetful but wandering off they had to go. If they became incontinent or immobile they had to go as well. There's different levels of AL.
I'm not sure about the legal requirements but if you are talking overnight during the wee hours then yes, that sounds about right to me. Bear in mind that people living in AL are not supposed to need more than minimal assistance, and that at that time almost everyone is asleep. Often we read of facilities that promise they can care for people with higher physical needs and cognitive decline, this is one of the reasons I doubt those promises.
For instance, some people might need to be taken to the bathroom every X hours. Or are ringing for help all night. If it is these type of situations are happening and making it impossible for the # of employees to keep up with the demands, I suggest that you and the other staff members fully document exactly what is happening and then meet with someone in authority (director of nursing?) to fill them in on what is going on.
What was troubling to me was another relative was in a MC facility and there were 2 people on duty at night and they were given tasks like laundry and other housekeeping duties. There were probably 50 residents and I'd say half of them were UP ALL NIGHT every night. Several would get loud and wander into other residents rooms and wake them, fight, etc! This happened to my aunt. A man kept coming into her room and trying to get into bed with her, thinking she was his wife. She punched him several times.
It was an awful situation.
Regulation regarding staffing is also dependent on location. Here AL facilities are regulated. But Covid has shown us that the staffing and service levels in care facilities in Canada is sub par.
Here in BC we have Assisted Living: https://www.islandhealth.ca/learn-about-health/home-care-assisted-living-long-term-care/assisted-living-options
Long Term Care: https://www.islandhealth.ca/learn-about-health/home-care-assisted-living-long-term-care/long-term-care-options
Some facilities have Independent Living (no care provided) and AL in the same building or grounds. Some have AL and Long Term Care (nursing home) in the same facility.
To add to the confusion, here LTC can also be referred to Residential Care, but this is not care provided in the person's residence, but in a care facility.
ALs are inspected by the state just like LTC facilities. Check with the state to see what the ratio of aides is to residents. I would also question if an RN or LPN needs to be on your shift? Is your RN available 24/7? Because as an aide you should not be making any medical decisions for a resident. Ex: sending a resident to the hospital.
Bear in mind that people living in AL are not supposed to need more than minimal assistance, and that at that time almost everyone is asleep. Often we read of facilities that promise they can care for people with higher physical needs and cognitive decline, this is one of the reasons I doubt those promises.