Question

What are nursing staffing ratios, how are they developed and why do they have impact on patient care? Why are they controversial?

Answer 1

Nursing staffing ratio is the nurse patient ratio, which is a number that indicates the number of patients assigned to each nurse.It is devoloped on the basis of acuity level or need of the patient. For example, in areas like ICU where patient is in severe condition 1:1 ratio is to be followed, but in medical surgical wards ,patients will be more stable and nurse patient ratio will be 1:6 or 1:.8.

Nurse patient ratio has a great impact in nursing care. Adequate staffing enables to provide quality care to patients and helps to safeguard patient safety by reducing risk of fall, pressure ulcer, medication error etc. Moreover it prevents staff burn out.

They are often controversial as a fixed nurse patient ratio may not be sufficient to meet the needs. So it should be flexible according to severity of patient condition.

answered by: anonymous