NurseWeek

State must set nurse staffing ratios

By Nancy Devine
September 24, 2000


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Sacramento, Calif. By Jan. 1, 2002, the California Department of Health Services must set nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.

AB 394, the "safe staffing" bill sponsored by the California Nurses Association and enacted Oct. 10, 1999 after Gov. Gray Davis signed it, requires the Department of Health Services to adopt regulations that establish minimum, specific and numerical licensed nurse-to-patient ratios for all inpatient hospital units.

In the meantime, some nurses and nursing groups believe the California Healthcare Association’s proposed ratios protect profits at the expense of patients.

The California Nurses Association believes the draft ratios are based on variables that do not measure the impact of direct nursing care or the relationship to direct nursing care.

"These are minimum ratios intended to be coupled with a patient acuity system," said Dorel Harms, MHA, RN, vice president of professional services for the California Healthcare Association. "We expect some negotiation with the different groups."

"We have a credibility problem with the proposed ratios," said Kay McVay, RN, California Nurses Association president. "One nurse can handle 16 patients in transitional care? I don’t think so. With richer RN-to-patient ratios you can actually save money from fewer complications and less readmission. We expect to propose our own ratios based on public information, not just on profit."