Safe Staffing Survey Results

[NursesTakeDC]

See results from the survey we did this past October 2018. Thank you to allnurses for your support, and for assisting us to reach the nurses who responded to the survey.

Link to the complete article is below.

"Results from an October 2018 national survey of over 9,000 registered nurses in hospitals across the United States provides important new evidence to inform this debate. Survey responses indicate that workplace outcomes for nurses and patient care are better in California, the only state that has enacted safe patient limits for nurses, than in Illinois and other states.

47 percent of nurses in California report that staffing levels are based on the needs of patients in their units compared to just 32 percent in Illinois;

66 percent of nurses in California care for between one and four patients at a time during a shift compared to just 35 percent in Illinois;

The average nurse in California has 4.3 patients at one time while the average nurse in Illinois has 5.2 patients at one time;

40 percent of nurses in California report that the patient-to-nurse ratio in their units is safe compared to just 18 percent in Illinois; and

55 percent of nurses in California fear retaliation for providing input about staffing in their units compared to 61 percent in Illinois.

As the only state with safe patient limits, California’s staffing standards and workplace safety have fostered an environment where more nurses feel that staffing is based on the needs of patients and more nurses feel that the patient-to-nurse ratio is safe. By reducing patient-to-nurse ratios, enacting a safe patient limits law in Illinois could improve occupational safety, increase nurse retention rates, and promote better health outcomes for patients and have little to no negative impact on the financial performance of Illinois’ hospitals. "

https://illinoisepi.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/pmcr-ilepi-do-nurse-staffing-standards-work.pdf