Safe Nursing Staffing : A Matter Of Quality Versus Economics

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Safe Nursing Staffing Ratios- A Matter of Quality versus Economics Nursing is an ever evolving profession and standards for nursing care are continuously changing. Nursing has evolved over the past two centuries into a profession that is well respected, but one that is vital to society. The purpose of this paper is to examine the best practices for optimal patient health outcomes in in respect to safe nurse to patient staffing ratios. There are many points to consider including safety and quality of care, as well as ethical and legal issues. Nurse to patient staffing ratios whether positive or negative, help to determine safe, ethical, and legal patient care. In today’s nursing practice, there are several factors which can impact nurse staffing decisions in relation to patient census. These factors include professional liabilities, healthcare administration, economics, and political opinions. All of these factors combined, are significantly delaying the establishment of safe and ethical guidelines for safe nurse to patient ratios. Many nurses are experiencing burnout. Some patients are suffering from inadequate care, while healthcare costs continue to steadily rise. Poor patient outcomes, based on the nurse-patient staffing ratios are contributing to the ever increasing cost of healthcare. Safety, Quality, Ethics and Economics With the ever escalating costs of health care, all providers are more aggressively, pursuing cost containment measures. Nurses are generally the

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