The Nurses Should Be A Strict Nurse Patient Ratio

The economic impact on healthcare has taken its toll on the number of registered nurses providing bedside care to patients, compromising patient safety and dramatically increasing the potential for negative outcomes. Several factors have immensely contributed to the nursing shortages over the years, including healthcare organizations downsizing, increased workloads, inadequate staffing plans and job dissatisfaction. Mandated nurse-to-patient staffing ratios have been implemented in several states to date with many more trying to pass some type of legislation. Have these ratios affected the quality of care or is it more realistic to create staffing committees that are based on each unit’s unique situation and varying requirements?

The four spheres of political action in nursing as mentioned by Mason, Leavitt, and Chaffee (2011) includes the workplace or workforce, the government, the organizations, and the community. The authors further stated that although the four spheres overlap at times, the action performed in any one of these spheres can cause a reaction in any of the others. Nurses are a part of the community in which they live and can influence health and social policy within their workplace, which can have a profound impact on the organization. Furthermore, the government can pass health care policies, which in turn causes the organization to change their policy. Thus, affecting healthcare providers in the workplace and the community at large. An example of

For over a decade researchers have been performing studies examining the effects patient-to-nurse ratios have on adverse outcomes, mortality rates, and failure-to-rescue rates of patients and on job dissatisfaction and burnout experiences of nurses. Aiken, Sloane, Sochalski, and Silber (2002) performed a study which showed that each additional patient per nurse increased patient mortality within 30 days of admission by 7% and increased failure-to-rescue by 7% as well. This same study also showed that each additional patient per nurse resulted in a 23% increase in nurse burnout and a 15% increase in job dissatisfaction. Additionally, Rafferty et al. (2007) performed a study in which the results showed that patients in hospitals with higher patient-to-nurse ratios had a 26% higher mortality rate and nurses were twice as likely to have job dissatisfaction and experience burnout. Blegen, Goode, Spetz, Vaughn, and Park (2011) performed a study where results showed that more staffing hours for nurses resulted in lower rates of congestive heart failure morality, infection, and prolonged hospital stays. The same study also showed that increased nursing care from registered nurses resulted in lower infection and failure to rescue rates and fewer cases of sepsis.

Mandatory nurse-patient ratios have been a controversial topic facing nurses for decades. Nurses, patients, physicians, nursing organizations, researchers, hospitals, federal government, and state governments have opposing views in regard to mandatory nurse-patient ratios. Those that support the idea of mandatory nurse-patient ratios believe that there would be an improvement in quality of patient care, decreased nursing shortages, increased job satisfaction, decreased client hospitalization, and increased nurse recruitment (Pamela Tevington, 2012). Groups that oppose mandatory nurse-patient ratios believe that mandatory staffing laws ignore factors such as the level of care a patient requires from a nurse, treatments, length of hospitalization, improvements and differences in technology, the expense of an increased nursing staff, and nurse experience and education (Tevington, 2012).

Health Care Reform, Policy and Advocacy. (2017). The American Nurses Association (ANA). Retrieved August 20, 2017.

For years there has been a shortage of nurses. President Obamas new affordable care act is now in full effect and is increasing this shortage. The care act not only effects nurses, but also all heath care professionals, and the unemployment rate. The shortage will continue to escalade due to the patient demand the care acts brings, along with employers not being able to provide their employees health care. This means larger patient loads, higher unemployment, and diminished quality of care for patients. The diminished quality of care brings up the question of rather ObamaCare is worth the effort, or if it is just a contradiction.

Sullivan’s article, the TNA members express their gratitude towards the legislative powers for their consideration and attempt to modify a recently passed bill. This bill was aimed towards increasing disciplinary action towards a person assaulting a health care provider. The Tennessee Nurses Association wished for this increase in discipline to apply to every individual, not just a health care provider. Sullivan said, “TNA would like to thank Representative Bob Bibb and Senator Diane Black for their attempt to better protect health care workers (para. 4). ” This statement displays the desire and attempt of the TNA to advocate for not only the nurses, but also the entire population.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has just released a new study highlighting the steps 12 states are taking to prevent a looming crisis in nursing. Experts predict the United States could be short more than 260,000 nurses by 2025 and the study authors say state-level partnerships must take the lead in addressing the problem. The scarce supply and shortage of nursing staff has become a matter of sincere concern for healthcare organizations across the nation. The demand for healthcare services is increasing and requires healthcare organizations to employ qualified and well trained nursing staff.

In 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA gave many Americans the opportunity to have health care coverage that previously may have not been available to them. The reform is primarily aimed at decreasing the number of uninsured and underinsured Americans. The landscape of health care is changing and nursing is evolving alongside it. This health care overhaul gives nurses a vital role in leading the reform revolution. With more than three million strong, nursing is the biggest sector of the nation’s health care labor

Inconsistent nurse-patient ratios are a concern in hospitals across the nation because they limit nurse’s ability to provide safe patient care. Healthcare professionals such as nurses and physicians agree that current nurse staffing systems are inadequate and unreliable and not only affect patient health outcomes, but also create job dissatisfaction among medical staff (Avalere Health, 2015). A 2002 study led by RN and PhD Linda Aiken suggests that "forty percent of hospitals nurses have burnout levels that exceed the norms for healthcare workers" (Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, Sochalski & Silber, 2002). These data represents the constant struggle of nurses when trying to provide high quality care in a hospital setting.

According to Martin (2015), California is the only state that stipulates that in law and regulations have a required minimum nurse to patient ratios to be maintained at all times by unit. Nurses across the United States are talking to their Senators to help them lobby bills that would help establish a minimum nurse to patient staffing ratios for all hospitals in the country, among other improvements of nursing rights. Nurses from around the country also visited Congressional Representatives on Capitol Hill and urged them to support

There are over three million nursing professional in United States and they make the largest segment of nation’s health care workforce. Nurses can play a vital role in helping to realize the objectives set forth in the 2010 affordable act, legislation that represents the broadest health care overhaul since the 1965 creation of Medicare and Medicaid program (IOM 2010). Due to the restricting barriers nurses were not able to respond effectively to the changing health care systems. In 2008, The

The mission is successful negotiation of fair wages, safe working conditions and exemplary patient care. Can the nation’s labor unions help nursing healthcare professionals meet these mission goals? Battles are currently being fought to preserve and reform the Nation’s healthcare system. Along with proposed changes to the affordability and accessibility of medical care, healthcare providers will be faced with challenges of patient-to-provider ratios, rising costs, falling salaries/benefits and change in patient care roles. Will quality care be provided and will the

Over the years, continued efforts by nurses from different states and professional nursing associations focused on influencing policymakers through strikes, lobbying and policy drafts to develop and promote regulation in regards to nursing overtime and long hours shifts. Fortunately, throughout years small, successfully changes were adopted. For example, in 1938 Fair Labor Standards of Act (FLSA) was signet (Huston, 2017). Even though this act did not restrict on how much overtime one can work, instead the act obliges the payroll employer to pay every hour worked after 40 hours a week for at least one-and-a-half times (Huston, 2017). In 2005, Safe Nursing Patient Care Act was signed. This act prohibits hospital management to mandate nurses to wok more

American Nurses Association represented since 1974 represents as (ANA) goal- “improvement of the healthcare system in the United States”