Mandatory Nurse Patient Ratio Essay
Mandatory Nurse Patient Ratio Essay
Mandatory Nurse Patient Ratio
Maintaining and identifying the appropriate mix and number of nursing staff is crucial to the delivery of patient care that is of high standards. Nurse to patient ratio is a mandatory proponent that has lobbied the United States Congress and state legislatures to enact laws that improve the working conditions in different hospitals. The proposed minimum nurse-to-patient ratio aims at addressing a growing of patients being harmed by inadequate nurse staffing related to related to the ever growing complexity of care and severity of illness (Lineweaver & American Nurses Association, 2013). States like California have enacted such mandatory proponents. If the necessary ratios are imposed, hospitalization will have positive outcomes despite the cost associated with increasing the number of registered nurses. The purpose of this paper is to discuss why the nurse-patient ratio is mandatory to improve the quality of care.
Although California is the only state with the nurse-patient ratio that is mandated, other countries have come up with similar legislations. On February 4 2010, S963 bill was introduced and referred to senior Citizenship Committee, Human Services, and Senate Health. The bill advocates for a minimum, specific nurse to patient ratio in both ambulatory units and hospitals to be 1:6 in medical surgical and behavioral units. 1:2 for trauma or critical patients and post-anesthesia units, 1:1 for patients with anesthesia and 1:4 in intermediate, telemetry or step-down care units and in emergency rooms for patients who are not critical (American Nurses Association, 2012). Maternal and pediatric health specialties have explicitly and diverse, detailed requirements. The bill allows both the patient and the nurse to be advocates of their lives. It gives patients a way in which they can enforce safety themselves. Regulation of public health always comes with value to all stakeholders involved. There is a direct link bet ween the number of patients a nurse has, and whether or not the patient had a pleasant stay in the hospital. Mandatory Nurse Patient Ratio Essay
In the past, the need for more nurses that are registered has been growing in many healthcare facilities due to reduced lengths of stay and increasing the acuity of patients. The quality and the safety of patient care have a direct relationship to the experience and size of the nursing workforce. Such situations have motivated some states to consider measures that are regulatory to ensure that staffing is adequate. Finding an optimal nurse-patient ratio challenging for many nations. However, shortened hospital stays and patient acuity that is increasing have contributed to these difficulties. Adequate nurse staffing levels help to achieve economic and clinical improvements in patient care (Buchan & Seccombe, 2013). An optimal ratio improves the quality of life-related to health and patient satisfaction. If patients are to receive the best care, adequate levels of patients to nurses is important. According to research, any nurse-patient ratio that is over 4:1 has negative impacts on the care given to patients. Besides patient and nurse safety, the rate is necessary for financial reasons. In the long run, hospitals can save money because the cost of caring for patients is reduced. Appropriate ratios have generated serious savings for healthcare centers thanks to reduced stay of patients in hospitals, improved patient results, RN turnover that is reduced and decreased overtime costs.
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The nurse-patient ratio does not only have an impact on patients, but it has an enormous toll on nurses too. Nurses been forced to take more than the realistic number of patients leads to deleterious effects. Many nurses report being burnt out, stressed and depressed when they cannot handle the number of patients given to them. High ratios have psychological effects on nurses because they are overworked. The profession is attractive when the nurse-patient ratio is balanced. It decreases the fatigue by nurses thus promoting nurse retention, job satisfaction, and nursing safety, which all contribute patient care that is safer. When nurses feel that their needs are taken care of, they will be satisfied with their jobs thus helping them to deliver the best they can to their patients. If the ratio is not worked on, it will create all types of problems for nurses, patients and hospitals (Ravindran, 2013). It is important for all stakeholders to ensure that the rights of both nurses and patients are balanced. The nurse has adequate time to concentrate on one patient thus giving him or her quality healthcare. It provides the essential values for nursing practice. The existing staffing systems for nurses are often inflexible and antiquated. A proper ratio can be used to account for shift and unit-level factors. Mandatory Nurse Patient Ratio Essay
Optimal nurse-patient ratio reduces medication and medical errors mainly because the nurse does not have to concentrate on a high number of patients. A nurse only focuses on the number he or she can handle thus resolving the problem of nurse burnout. It also reduces the length of stay, hospital readmissions and patient mortality. When a patient receives the best care, their duration of stay in hospital is reduced because a nurse has sufficient time to concentrate all efforts on one patient. It also ensures that all patients in the hospital are catered. Quality care reduces hospital readmissions because all the medical needs are well provided (American Nurses Association, 2015). When patients receive the best health care, the number of deaths due to neglect also reduces. Incidences related to hospitalization like pressure ulcers and patient falls are reduced. The costs go down because the length of stay in hospitals is reduced and patients get the required care once they get to the hospitals and do not have lineup waiting for one nurse to treat them. The ratio of the nurses and the patients is adequate to ensure that one nurse is not overburdened with all patients. Costs are also reduced for patients because they no longer have to pay for unplanned readmission. An optimal ratio helps save costs and time for the patient.
In conclusion, a competent nursing staff is linked to improved patient outcome. With the increased focus on patient-centered care, an excellent nurse to patient ratio is essential in delivering cost-effective, high-quality care. Nurse to patient ratio should be a mandatory proponent in all hospitals. The rate will ensure that all the needs of the patients are catered for thus reducing long stay in the hospital, readmissions, improvement in patient satisfaction and reduced patient complications. Guaranteed, concrete and minimum nurse staffing produces better outcomes for the patients and increases job satisfaction and alleviates workloads for nurses. The passage of the bill would facilitate evidence-based practice and promote nursing professional values. It would also limit the involvement of government and allow nurses to utilize their expertise, knowledge and skills for effective care provision. Therefore, the nurse-patient ratio should be made mandatory if quality results for both the patient and the nurses are to be achieved.
References
American Nurses Association, (2012). Principles for nurse staffing.
American Nurses Association. (2015). Optimal nurse staffing to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes.
Buchan, James, & Seccombe, I. (2013). The end of growth? Analysing NHS nurse staffing. (Buchan, James and Seccombe, I (2013) The end of growth? Analysing NHS nurse staffing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 69 (9). Blackwell.
Lineweaver, L., & American Nurses Association. (2013). Nurse staffing 101: A decision-making guide for the RN.
Ravindran, R. (2013). Nurse-to-patient ratios. Phoenix, AZ: Grand Canyon University Mandatory Nurse Patient Ratio Essay
