A professor at the University of Central Florida Health Services Administration just did a study which shows that hospitals with higher RN staffing levels have lower patient mortality and less post-operative complications than hospitals with lower nurse to patiant ratios.
Go figure, eh?
Florida, unfortunately, is not one of those states that has a maximum nurse-patient ratio, unlike California.
Registered nurses in Califoria have a huge advantage over many other states. The state has a law that limits the number of patients that can be assigned to a registered nurse. This protects both the patient and the nurse. Not surprisingly, hospital administrators lobbied vigorously against the law, because it cuts into their profits. Oh well, so sorry, is all we have to say. We’re glad that law was passed, because it’s made California one of the best work environments available for registered nurses. And all other states should follow suit.
Here’s the problem with NOT having a law mandating nurse-patient ratios: If you, as a registered nurse, take on an assignment with too many patients and something happens to one of those patients because you failed to provide them with care…it’s considered to be your fault. And if you don’t take on the assignment you’re given, how long do you think you’ll keep your job? It creates a very unpleasant Catch-22 for nurses who work in understaffed facilities. Take on more patients than is safe and pray that nobody dies on your watch while you are attending to another patient, or lose your job.
Texas does NOT have a patient-nurse ratio, although they have unsuccessfully lobbied for one in the past. Here is what the Board of Nursing has to say about a nurse’s legal responsibilities: “Standard 217.11(1)(T) holds the nurse accountable to accept only those assignments that are within the nurse’s education/training/experience, as well as his/her physical and emotional ability. If a licensed nurse accepts an assignment, he/she is responsible for the care delivered.”
If there is a nurse’s lobbying group in your state and they are pushing for a law that would mandate nurse-patient ratios, you should definitely consider joining in, signing petitions, and doing whatever else it takes to get that law passed. Your license, and your patient’s lives, may depend on it.