Paper on Nurse/Patient Ratios

RockyCreek · Nov 24, 2009

I am not in favor of mandatory ratios because (1) not all patients are equal, (2) not all nurses are equal, and (3) hospitals shift responsibities to cover the financial cost.

"Not all patients are equal" means that the acuity of the patients is not taken into consideration. There are very heavy 4 patient loads and really light 8 patient loads depending on the individuals involved and where they are in the healing process. So 4 'walkie talkies' are not the same as 4 'tankers' even if they are on the same unit in the hospital.

"Not all nurses are equal" means that there are just some people [thank God it isn't very many!] that couldn't get all their work done if they only had 1 patient while there are some really incredible nurses that can handle more 6-8 with ease. Some nurses are great with insecure people and others are better at dealing with procedures - multiple nurses bring multiple talents and we should be able to use those talents wisely.

"Hospitals shift responsibilities to cover the financial cost" means that hiring extra nurses is offset by having fewer secretaries, aides, housekeepers, etc. When all is said and done, nurses end up with more things to do for each patient/room so that there is really no benefit to the 'improved' ratios.

As professionals, I would like for us to advocate more for consideration of ALL aspects of patient care in assignments - not just plug in numbers. We lose our humanity if we become commodities!

kristinlpn · Nov 24, 2009

It's so funny that you are writing a paper on this subject. I work in an ALF/SNF where the patient's are totally different on the SNF side! On the ALF side, there are fewer nurses, but was just recently told by my DON that the ratio is 1:40! What? You mean to tell me that I'm expected to care for 40 patients, at any given time? That is NOT worth me losing my license for. I was so angry after this conversation with her. I truly believe that she would not be able to care for 40 patients, pass meds, do treatments, chart on them etc. I was floored! I just recently tried to look up where she got this information on, and could not find anything. She later then told me that we have it "easy". LOL- is she serious? I know that the nurse to patient ratio in the hospitals is different, as I have never worked in a hospital... but as for an ALF, I would love to see manatory patient to nurse ratios.

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Nov 24, 2009

I am not in favor of ratios. Like RockyCreek stated, it is impossible to say that every patient and every nurse and every situation is the same. We are not waiting tables!