Nurse to patient ratios

[pharmgirl]

We had a discussion in class yesterday about legislation that stated appropriate nurse -to- patient ratios in different settings. After listening to some classmates talk about their experiences I got curious as to what exactly the guidelines were and am not having any luck finding anything. I've found a lot on California but nothing on KY or TN or specifically KY LTC nursing. Anyone have suggestions where I can find this info?

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

this article is from march of this year:

• http://production.americannursetoday.com/article.aspx?id=4964&fid=4922 - seeking staffing solutions
  

i doubt you will find any nurse staff ratios applying to ltc. even the california law does not apply to ltc. it only applies to rns in acute care hospitals and is currently at 4:1.

• the california law: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html - click on "health and safety code" and then click the search button. scroll down to "chapter 2, article 3 regulations" and click on the link for "1275-1289.5". when that page comes up scroll down to sections 1276.4 and 1276.5. which is where the california nurse staffing ratio laws are. also see 1276.65
  
• http://www.cdph.ca.gov/services/dpopp/regs/pages/n2pregulations.aspx - california nurse-to-patient staffing ratio regulations
  

[pharmgirl]

Interesting.........thx Daytonite