nurse pt ratio law?

[spongebob6286, BSN, RN]

is there such a state board policy as to how many pts we can handle? in our hospital before we only have up to 6 pts but now they are making a new memo that we will be having as much as 9 now. both LPNs and RNs

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

The only state to currently have a ratio law is California.

[Aniroc]

In my hospital, the ratio (not regulated) in acute medicine is supposed to be 4:1 but it is often 5:1 or even 6:1. To be honest, it is difficult to give holistic quality care to acute patients even at the 5:1 ratio so I can't even imagine caring for 9 patients. That sort of ratio is an adverse event waiting to happen let alone nurse burnout.

[elkpark]

Several states are talking about the possibility of implementing a state-wide ratio law, but, so far, as caroladybelle stated, the only one that has an official, mandated ratio is CA.

[NJNursing, ASN, RN]

No, there's no state law other than California. Other than that it is based on the policies/union contract of each institution. I know at my first job, it was non-union and we sometimes had anywhere from 6-10 patients each. It was not consistant and it made work very hard. I very seldomly left work before 9am because I was doing most of my charting AFTER change of shift.

Where I work now, IS union and up until last week we had up to 6 patients but now they're changing it to up to 7 with a very rare chance for one or 2 nurses to be up to 8. It's only for night shift and only from 11p-7a. We're trying to fight it because 1-2 patients really DOES make a difference in the type of care you can give to your patients and get all of your other work done - chart checks, education, POC, etc.... I hated the other job when I had such high case loads. It caused burnout and I started to get short/snippy with the patients because I was stressed. It's not a win-win situation.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

mandated ratios do not automatically mean you have less work. A lot of hospitals in CA chose to get rid of ancillary personnel, so the nurses were actually do MORE work, with fewer patients. Anyway, ONE patient can be a nightmare sometimes. I prefer flexibility.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

Several states are talking about the possibility of implementing a state-wide ratio law, but, so far, as caroladybelle stated, the only one that has an official, mandated ratio is CA.

The operative (or inoperative word) is "talking about". John Q, senator/representative, wants to make it look like he supports nurses and good healthcare, and like he is doing something. He sponsors a ratio bill. But in reality, he knows that it will fail and really does not work hard to support it. He also knows that his buddies (the hospital/medical care lobbies) that support him and others for reelection, will not stand for it passing. They work against, it gets tabled, it gets "locked" in committee, etc, or voted down by his opponents.

The vast majority of bills and laws never come to fruition, and the people sponsoring them do not have any intention of them passing them. They do it to "look good".

(There was someone here a few years ago, -jt- that had a list a mile long of different acts/laws to set ratios, all of which had never been passed)