Preview

The Optimum Nurse To Patient Ratio

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
127 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Optimum Nurse To Patient Ratio
Have you ever wonder, what is the optimum nurse to patient ratio when caring for a patient? Knowing, having a high nurse to patient ratio has a potential of being a safety risk. As a nurse in the ER, nurses cannot refuse patients due to Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) laws. Thus, this can lead to an overfilled ER and hospital system. Therefore, this can become a problem when it pertains to patient care, not exclude the patients that are high acuity that may require additional care and resources. Do these circumstances cause the nurse to question their ability to provide quality of care and how this can affect the safety of the patients? That is why the proper nurse to patient ratio is significant.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    AFT2 - Task 1
    • 912 Words
    • 3 Pages

    AFT2 - Task 1

    Mulloy, D. F., & Hughes, R. G. (2008). Patient safety & quality: an evidence-based handbook for nurses. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2678/…

    • 912 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Multisystem Failure Homeostasis And Pain Management Case Study
    • 1422 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Multisystem Failure Homeostasis And Pain Management Case Study

    When patient’s present to an emergency department in multisystem failure many factors contribute to the way the nurse will perform. In an emergency situation when a patient presents it involves quick assessment, complex observation, and decision making to assess the patient homeostasis level, pain management, and oxygenation. It is the nurse’s duty to prioritize what needs to be done for the patient in a limited amount of time.…

    • 1422 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Outline for Powerpoint
    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Outline for Powerpoint

    Welton, J. M. (2007, September). Mandatory hospital nurse to patient staffing ratios: Time to take a different approach. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 12. doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol12No03Man01.…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Nurse-to-Patient Ratios
    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Nurse-to-Patient Ratios

    Coffman, J. M., Seago, J. A., & Spetz, J. (2002). Minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in acute care hospitals in California. Health Affairs, 21(5), 53-64. Retrieved from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/21/5/53.full.html…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Qlt1 Task 1
    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Qlt1 Task 1

    In any health care system, quality and safety of patient’s care is very important. According to my understanding, quality and safety of nursing care should include patient centred care, good communication, and teamwork. Also, a quality nursing care should be provided with dignity and respect, accountability, and advocacy.…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Critical Care Outline
    • 4193 Words
    • 17 Pages

    Critical Care Outline

    * There can be different nurse to patient ratios (3:1, 2:1, 1:1) depending on pt acuity.…

    • 4193 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Family Presence
    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Family Presence

    As cited by, Henneman et al. (2015) delays in patient care is one of the consequences of inadequate staffing. Although the Emergency Nurses Association supports a nurse to patient ratio that takes into account both patient census and patient acuity the ED’s fluctuation in patient volume makes it challenging for management to adequately adjust staffing levels. By using a computer simulation, Henneman et al. (2015) studied the effect of nurse-patient ratio on ED wait times while using multiple variables such as patient acuity, presence of ancillary staff, and inconsistent department census. The authors concluded that inadequate staffing has a negative effect on length of stay; and that high acuity patients, as well an increased census require higher staffing levels in order to maintain department flow and decrease patient wait times. Using descriptive statistics available in reports of wait times, patient acuity, and department census allows nursing leadership to adjust staff scheduling and maintain patient…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Acute Vs Ambulatory Care
    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Acute Vs Ambulatory Care

    Ambulatory and acute facilities differ in many ways. Although, they both have one major goal and that is to do what is best suited for the patient. According to the textbook, ambulatory care is the involvement of a patient who does not require an overnight stay (Gartee, 2011). Most of these facilities are filled with different types of physicians and are usually privately owned. Although they are owned by a clinician, they are managed by administrators (Gartee, 2011). Nurses have an important role in these settings, as well as most of them but in this case, they are essential to the delivery of safe, high-quality care and should not be replaced by unskilled or unlicensed team members (Paschke, 2017). Registered nurses (RNs) have expertise…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Nurse To Patient Ratio
    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Nurse To Patient Ratio

    According to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the growing shortage of nurses in America 's hospitals is putting patient lives in danger and requires immediate attention. "The current nursing shortage threatens to heavily impact our citizens ' health and our nations ' security preparedness". (Person, 2003) The nursing shortage that is sweeping across the United States has been upgraded from a health crisis to a national security concern. A recent study in Pennsylvania found that surgical patients in hospitals with high patient-to-nurse ratios experience higher rates of mortality and deaths following complications. Nurses working in these establishments tend to experience…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Nurse Staffing In Health Care
    • 192 Words
    • 1 Page

    Nurse Staffing In Health Care

    There is a diverse range of aspects related to nursing staffing in health care organizations. Staffing levels in hospitals are likely to have a bearing on the assurance in the delivery of safe and reliable care. However, nursing staffing challenges have remained perennial prompting prolonged attention on the allocation of nurse staffing resources to facilitate patient safety (Weston et al., 2012). Nevertheless, focus on staffing levels has particularly increased with the prevailing shortage of nurses (Rochefort, et al., 2015). Furthermore, there have been changes in the manner nursing is approached. Traditionally, it would be assumed that well-trained practitioners were not prone to errors. Such was consistent with the traditional tendency…

    • 192 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Nurse Staffing Ratio
    • 2683 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Nurse Staffing Ratio

    AbstractOne suggested approach to ensure safe and effective patient care has been to mandate nurse staffing ratios. In 1999 California became the first state to mandate minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals. California is not the only state to enact minimum nurse staffing ratios for hospitals, over the past four years at least eighteen other states have considered legislation regarding nurse staffing in hospitals. Policymakers are forced to consider alternatives to nurses ratios due to nurse shortages. Whether minimum staffing ratios will improve working conditions enough to increase nurse supply is unknown.…

    • 2683 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Nurse Patient Ratio
    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Nurse Patient Ratio

    Mandatory nurse-patient staffing ratios have been a hot topic of discussion for over 15 years. As of today, California is the only state with actual state mandated nurse- patient ratios in place. I support mandatory nurse-patient staffing ratios because research has shown that patients have better outcomes when cared for by nurses who practice under state mandated nurse-patient ratios. According to the article Mandatory Nurse-Patient Ratios “support for mandatory-patient ratios is drawn from the belief that regulated nurse (RN) staffing will increase positive patient outcomes, decrease nursing shortages, increase nurse recruitment and job satisfaction (T, 2011).…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Nurse Staffing
    • 1995 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Nurse Staffing

    Clarke, S. (2003). Patient safety series, part 2 of 2: Balancing staffing and safety. Nursing…

    • 1995 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Nurse Patient Ratios: A Case Study
    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Nurse Patient Ratios: A Case Study

    The familiar phrase of overworked and under appreciated has rang through the nursing field. As health care reform and insurances make critical changes, nurses are forced to keep up. Nursing managers are in a bind to meet the new budget cuts and criteria set forth by these changes, which includes higher patient to nurse ratios. Low staffing can lead to nurse burnout, job dissatisfaction and poor staff retention (International Journal of Nursing Practice, 2014). This article will outline some issues at hand with unsafe staffing ratios and the legislative actions regarding this matter.…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    nursing shortage and nursing turnover
    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages

    nursing shortage and nursing turnover

    In the United States, Registered Nurses (R.N.) make up the largest recorded working population of the health care profession, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 2.7 percent of the workforce comprises of nurses compared to 3.6 percent in the last 6 years (A.A.C.N., 2013). This decrease is attributed to the current shortage and high turnover of nurses. This current trend in the nursing profession has a great effect on the provision of health care because it has reduced the quality of care of patients, increased accidents amongst patients, absenteeism rates and staffing among others.…

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More