New research indicates that when nurses care for fewer patients, patients are less likely to die. When hospitals in Philadelphia and other cities across the country fail to limit the workloads of their nursing staffs, medical errors and the possibility of medical malpractice issues increase noticeably. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that smaller nurse workloads resulted in fewer medical errors and improved patient care after California enacted its controversial 2004 law limiting the number of surgical patients a nurse may care for at one time to five. Had Pennsylvania enacted a similar law, 10.6% of the surgical patients treated between 2005 and 2006 would not have died.
California is the only state that enforces minimum nurse-patient ratios, although 18 other states, including Pennsylvania, are considering similar laws. The National Nurses Organizing Committee has lobbied nationwide for standardized nurse-patient ratios of one nurse for four patients. Proponents argue that lower nurse workloads improve the quality of patient care, decrease medical error rates and decrease the spread of drug-resistant infections. Surveys of California nurses who care for an average two fewer patients than Philadelphia nurses also report higher job satisfaction and less burnout.
Many Philadelphia hospitals and nursing homes have standards regarding the number of registered nurses and other medical care personnel that should be assigned to each unit or floor or shift. But the economy has forced many hospitals and nursing homes to cut nursing staff, and the national nursing shortage has also forced an increase in nurse-patient ratios. Pennsylvania is already short 16,000 nurses, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration, which estimates that the nursing vacancy rate in the state will rise to 41% by 2020,
Hospitals and nursing homes can be held accountable when they fail to provide adequate medical care to patients or when inadequate care results in medical malpractice errors. A Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney can provide additional information.
