The benefits of nurse-to-patient staffing ratio laws and regulations (23 March 2023)

Summary

Most US healthcare organisations use staffing guidelines to decide a nurse's patient load on a given shift, but current staffing shortages are pushing nurse-to-patient ratios to the limit. In this article for Nurse Journal, registered nurse Alexa Davidson asks whether laws and regulations could prevent nursing workloads from getting out of control. She argues that mandated staffing ratios are a proven way to ensure patient safety. She describes the situation in Massachusetts and California, the two US states where laws have been passed mandating nurse-to-patient ratios, and outlines the implications of introducing ratios for nurses and patients.