Comments

Health Affairs encourages readers to engage in discussion via comments on our Web site.

• To RESPOND to a particular article: Click on the link "Submit a response to this article" in the box at the top right-hand corner of the article.
• To READ responses to a particular article: Click on the link "View responses" in the box at the top right-hand corner of the article.

Comments to:

Jack Needleman, Peter I. Buerhaus, Maureen Stewart, Katya Zelevinsky, and Soeren Mattke Nurse Staffing In Hospitals: Is There A Business Case For Quality? Health Affairs, January/February 2006; 25(1): 204-211. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [Technical Appendix][Erratum] [Reprints & Permissions]

Comments:Submit a response to this article

Comments published:

Improving Patient-To-Nurse Ratios Is A Cost-Effective Safety Intervention

Katrina A. Howard   ( 12 January 2006 )

Improving Patient-To-Nurse Ratios Is A Cost-Effective Safety Intervention 12 January 2006
Katrina A. Howard, RN Send comment to journal: Re: Improving Patient-To-Nurse Ratios Is A Cost-Effective Safety Intervention katjac2{at}yahoo.com Katrina A. Howard	More nurses at the bedside leads to better patient outcomes and increased RN job satisfaction, and is cost-effective. Consider the vast sum of money hospitals spend on foreign nurse recruitment and other temporary RN staffing agencies (the subject for another article). Unsafe staffing was a major factor which led to the exodus of nurses. Following the implementation of minimum staffing ratios in California, RN licensure applications skyrocketed. The number of actively licensed RNs increased by more than 48,000 — a 20% gain. Overall, there has been a 60% increase in California RN licensure applications in the past 3 years. The Minimum Nurse Patient Ratio Law, sponsored by the California Nurses Association, has been called one of the most significant bills in the history of nursing. Consider the vast sums of money the health care/hospital industry invests in developing, implementing, training, and maintaining the latest technological "patient-safety- intervention devices," which in effect have been developed to replace the RN, not enhance the RN. Consider the huge cost of care for treating patient complications which result from inadequate staffing. It may takes years of rehab or home care to heal a pressure ulcer, not to mention quality-of-life issues. The Society for Medical Decision Making conducted a cost- effectiveness analysis and found, all things considered, that "minimum nurse patient ratios are cost-effective." Minimum ratios save lives. Patients deserve no less. The hospital industry needs to recognize the facts and stop fighting minimum ratios. That looks very bad, and that is a bad case for business.