States Eye California's Example on Nursing-to-Patient Ratios

Lawmakers in Illinois, Michigan, and New York are lobbying to become the first states since California to limit the number of people hospital nurses can treat at a time, reports Politico Pro . Nurses in states with strong unions are mobilizing around staffing ratios, complaining about poor working conditions and safety issues arising from overtaxed staff. Hospital groups counter it would make controlling healthcare costs more difficult without improving safety. In New York City, the union is threatening nurse strikes at three hospitals if their new contract does not include staffing ratios, even as state lawmakers consider measures to set staffing ratios at hospitals as well as nursing communities. Most staffing proposals limit hospital nurses to no more than four recipients with ratios as low as 1-to-1 in intensive care units, while research offers inconsistent evidence that these ratios save lives and improve quality of care. University of California, San Francisco Professor Joanne Spetz says the state's ratio law has increased nursing hours as well as morale, while other studies found the statute has reduced mortality rates. Michigan's own push is being led by Sen. Ed McBroom (R), who says, "Growing costs of healthcare are forcing hospitals to stretch all their resources as thinly as possible. One of the few places they can find to be more efficient is to have fewer personnel and that, I believe, risks the health and safety of care recipients."