Nurses rally at Capitol for nurse-to-patient ratios

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

lansing - approximately 1,000 nurses and nursing students rallied at the state capitol today to urge passage of a proposed law that would reduce nurse-to-patient ratios.

house bill 4008, known as the safe patient care act, would establish minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and end the use of mandated overtime

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20100324/news01/303240007/nurses-rally-at-capitol-for-nurse-to-patient-ratios

reading the posts responding to this made me sad.

[Q_rnc, RN]

herring_RN,

Thanks for sharing the article. It was indeed sad to read. The tone of the discourse demonstrates the caliber of misinformation the public has about nurses. Unfortunately, some of it is correct. We don't always show our best side to the camera. Some of our peers are not on point when they come to work. I'd like to think that most of us are, most of the time. And yet, we are as a group relatively uninformed and apathetic about the public's perception of us and about our role as healthcare providers. We can be short-sighted in our ability to see our virtue as a force for good. Consider our role in nurse-patient ratios: how many nurses actually understand that by reducing the ratio, we increase the positive outcomes for our patients and can actually reduce the "burden" on the healthcare system by increasing health? How many care enough to write a letter or make a call to their congressman(woman) to express their concerns/support/information?

Perhaps it is time for a change. Perhaps we need to consider ourselves as the source of that change, and come together and create the changes needed. I'm a nurse, at the bedside, by choice. I love what I do. I want to do it better, not just for me, for my patients.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

agreed. Also, I am opposed to ratios as they do not allow flexibility. Sometimes ONE patient is too many and sometimes 5 are ok. Texas passed a law about staffing that requires hospitals to have a staffing committee with at least 60% direct patient-care nurses. Can read Act on www.tbon.texas.state.us. I am on committee and we are learning that what we THOUGHT was appropriate for all nurses is not the case. And we sure don't want lawyers telling us how to run our profession.

[nicurn001]

agreed. Also, I am opposed to ratios as they do not allow flexibility. Sometimes ONE patient is too many and sometimes 5 are ok. Texas passed a law about staffing that requires hospitals to have a staffing committee with at least 60% direct patient-care nurses.

Re. flexibility , their is the same degree of flexibility using ratio's as a staffing guide , as their is with anyother staffing matrix , Ratio's simply set a maximum number of patients to nurses , wheras most hospital commitee based staffing matrixs try to cram the maximum number of patients into the care of the minimumnumber of bedside nurses .

As an example of the shinnanagans I know of , re staffing set by a hospital committee , an infant whose bottle feeds take greater than 30 minutes , whilst an infant whose tube feed is greater than 30 minutes are grasped at different levels , even though it is our policy and good practice to with either baby throughout the whole feed .So the bootle fed infant can go in amaximum of a 1:3 assignment , but the tube fed infant can go in a 1:4 assignment , that is an example of how a commitee without bedside nurses can creat poor staffing , which leads to an overworked nurse being unable to provide optimum patient care .

Obviously some area care for patients of a higher aciuity ,hence the different ratios for different areas , but in your example of the need for 1:1 versus 1:5 , if this is on the same floor then it is an example of either the rapid deterioration of a patient who should be transferred to a higher level floor ASAP, or poor management who are not assigning patients by the acuity tool .

[Info(RN)matics]

We have an average of 9-10 high-acuity patients to a nurse on nights on Med/Surg. We can't refuse admissions even when there are 10 patients to a nurse, and two of them were admissions on the shift.

And we're just lobbying for a staffing 'disclosure' law according to this article: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=916990

Is disclosure without regulation going to improve conditions for nurses and patients?

[elizabethjk]

The legislation would also account for acuity. We weren't rallying for numbers, yes sometimes 2 patients on a med/surg unit can be impossible, and sometimes 5 can be easy... we want a happy medium; set ratios, but also consideration of each individual patient on the floor at a given time.

Patients aren't all created equal!