Getting nurse-patient ratios right

Nursing unions are campaigning strenuously in Washington, DC and state capitals for legislation mandating nurse-patient ratios in hospitals. They are right to highlight the connection between those ratios and quality healthcare, but the solution that they propose focuses on the wrong end of the problem and is generating a political stalemate rather than progress. The best way to address the problem is not through mandates but through optimal management of patient flow and transparency.

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Eugene Litvak, Ph.D., President & CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Optimization, and Adjunct Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health

The political stalemate is already evident. In 2004, California mandated nurse-patient ratios in hospitals. In the 10 years since, no other state has followed its lead.

Read the full article on Becker’s Hospital Review.

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