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Cons for Nurse Patient Ratio

Some state governments are beginning to mandate a specific nurse patient ratio in hospitals. On the surface, these types of rulings seem prudent for the welfare of hospital patients. There are, however, some factors that make meeting these types of requirements difficult for health care administrators. The pros are well publicized, but there are cons for nurse patient ratio.

  1. Identification

    • Some states have spelled out the ratio required in hospitals and broken the numbers down by hospital unit. In California, for example, the state requires one nurse for every six patients in psych units, one nurse for every four patients in emergency rooms and one nurse for every two patients in ICU. Similar breakdowns exist for nurse patient ratio in other states.

    Significance

    • Nurse patient ratio places a burden on health care administrators to run facilities per government standards with no additional funding from the government to account for the additional resources needed. Overtime and shift differentials are all factors that play into a facility's ability to remain financially stable in the midst of higher government regulation.

    Considerations

    • Nursing will remain one of the fastest growing industries in the coming decade, but the pool from which nurses have traditionally come from will decrease. Women now have more career options outside of teaching and nursing. Additionally, there is research that offers a direct correlation between nurse patient ratios and patient mortality, but it doesn't account for other factors like nursing experience and safety measures taken by the hospital.

    Facts

    • Since 1994, states have assessed the issue of nurse patient ratio in various states. Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio and West Virginia all created bills that address the quality of patient care via nurse patient ratio in 1999. The Patient Care Act of 1999 attempted to place the issue of nurse patient ratio on a national platform.

    Function

    • It is assumed that fixed nurse patient ratios will reduce stress for the nurse and provide more job satisfaction. It should also help hospitals better manage seriously ill patients. Nurse patient ratios should also provide a safe environment for patients and nurses. Ultimately, reimbursement challenges in the health care industry have prevented the roll out of a national plan for nurse patient ratio. Health care administrators are strapped with holding down costs while providing quality patient care. These challenges speak to the need to seek solutions to nurse patient ratio at the facility level outside of government influence.

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