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.
Literature Review
At the time of this paper, there is a planned rally for a demanded change in nurse patient ratio, to be held in Washington D.C. The rally is
There is evidence-based practice research that directly links lives being saves to adequate staffing in the facility. Staffing directly impacts a nurse’s ability to provide proper care for patients (Winning for Patients, 2015). When there is inadequate nurse staffing, the ability to practice safely and ethically is questioned. Nonmaleficence requires nurses to act in a way to avoid causing harm to patients and to act in a way that benefits the patient (Martin 2015). This is near impossible when the nurse has to prioritize care and eliminate care that does not fall high enough on the prioritization list. A nurse’s oath is to do no harm and while unintentionally neglecting a patient, may not be directing harming them. It is still negligence that great harm can come from. For a nurse to feel like they can provide the best care possible, it is necessary for a facility to stand behind their staff and their patient care. Facilities can do this by supporting safer staffing protocols and implementing necessary
When patient care is missed, errors in care are made. Nurses are overworked, stressed and not making the most efficient decisions for their patients in understaffed environments. There is an ethical and moral responsibility to provide optimal care for patients in any setting. Patients deserve better care than they are offered from an over worked and over stressed nurse. When increasing patient load and failing to accommodate a safe staffing protocol, hospitals become negligent. Negligent care leads to hospital acquired infections, medication errors, and even death. Dorthea Orem, nursing theorist, based importance on a Self Care Model, that applies to nurses too. A nurse cannot appropriately care for more patients than safely feasible, as well as worrying about carrying for herself. Instances of nurses unable to use the restroom for hours at a time due to patient care needs. It is unintelligent way of thinking to be confident that a nurse, who has not been taking care their self, is able to properly care for their patients to the best of their ability. Florence Nightingale saw an error in the nursing practice and demanded change. Her changes revolutionized nursing and nursing education. She saw that patient care was lacking due to conditions and lack of education. This unsafe practice of increased patient load is causing patient care to