Need Nurse to Patient Ratios for all 50 States!

[devas]

I work at a hospital in Oregon and am currently on the staffing committee. With the new staffing laws we are revising our staffing plan and reviewing nurse to patient ratios. I work on a medical floor where our ratio is 6:1 on days and nights. We have 12 beds on our unit and two RN's. We have a lot of ETOH, psych, obese, palliative care and medical conditions on our floor. We find we are constantly running our bums off and can't effectively take the time to connect with our patients. We often do not get a lunch but get reprimanded for not taking one. This leads to us clocking out and working during our "lunch breaks".

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

From the ANA:

States with Staffing Laws 14 states currently addressed nurse staffing in hospitals in law / regulations: CA, CT, IL, MA, MN, NV, NJ, NY, OH, OR, RI, TX, VT, and WA.

• 7 states require hospitals to have staffing committees responsible for plans and staffing policy – CT, IL, NV, OH, OR, TX, WA.
  
• CA is the only state that stipulates in law and regulations a required minimum nurse to patient ratios to be maintained at all times by unit. MA passed a law specific to ICU requiring a 1:1 or 1:2 nurse to patient ratio depending on stability of the patient.
  
• MN requires a CNO or designee develop a core staffing plan with input from others. The requirements are similar to Joint Commission standards.
  
• 5 states require some form of disclosure and / or public reporting – IL, NJ, NY, RI, VT
  

So what new staffing laws are you referring to?

And clocking out but working during lunch is illegal. From oregon.gov:

Unless exempt, Oregon law requires employers to provide meal and rest periods to employees. Although the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) also covers most Oregon employees and does not require meal or rest periods, employers must comply with the law that is most beneficial to the employee—in this case, the Oregon law.

...Ordinarily, employees are required to be relieved of all duties during the meal period. Under exceptional circumstances, however, the law allows an employee to perform duties during a meal period. When that happens, the employer must pay the employee for the whole meal period.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

I work at a hospital in Oregon and am currently on the staffing committee. With the new staffing laws we are revising our staffing plan and reviewing nurse to patient ratios. I work on a medical floor where our ratio is 6:1 on days and nights. We have 12 beds on our unit and two RN's. We have a lot of ETOH, psych, obese, palliative care and medical conditions on our floor. We find we are constantly running our bums off and can't effectively take the time to connect with our patients. We often do not get a lunch but get reprimanded for not taking one. This leads to us clocking out andd working during our "lunch breaks".

SUCH a dangerous practice, as well as against Oregon law. Do you realize that if the worst happens and you have a fall, a combative patient who injures you, a patient fall that injures the patient, a med error, etc.....that you have NO protection? Legally & ethically, you are ON YOUR OWN. Why on earth would you risk your license and your livelihood in such a self-destructive way??

[AJJKRN]

It is way to variable across each state but California. I live in Il and we try to be 1:5 on Med-Surg when staffing allows but another hospital could be 1:10 or 12+ And get away with it!