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The Business of
Health Care Report
The issue of legislating specific nurse staffing levels in
Americašs hospitals has been the subject of much discussion in the past few years. Under new staffing mandates
in California and other states, hospitals that can't meet the predetermined ratio of nurses to patients could be
forced to reduce services, close units or shut down the entire hospital. Proponents of nurse staffing ratios,
including labor unions, claim that simply increasing the number of nurses automatically results in improved patient
care. However, a recent report by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality calls that assertion into
question. The report concludes there is "insufficient evidence" that nurse staffing ratios lead to improved patient
outcomes. It goes on to state that the results of a number of documented studies "are conflicting as to whether richer
nurse staffing has a positive effect on patient outcomes." RN vacancy rates in Texas are increasing. In the Dallas-Fort Worth
area alone, hospitals are operating with a more than 10 percent vacancy rate, while the vacancy rate among RNs working
in intensive care units is an alarming 16.9 percent. To begin to address the long-term shortage, Texas needs to double
the number of RN graduates by 2007. The nursing shortage affects every aspect of health care
delivery and the ability to provide optimal patient care. Providers are experiencing increased costs due to
staff overtime and contracts with agencies and per diem staff. Cash-strapped hospitals, nursing homes and home
care agencies are forced to offer incentives and engage in expensive recruiting tactics in an effort to attract
and retain nurses. Still, patients' conditions often change by the hour, and
hospitals face a continual turnover of patients with diverse medical needs, all of which impact staffing requirements.
Nurses on the scene are best able to determine the needs of their patients. State staffing ratios should be the "floor"
from which actual staffing based on patient acuity is determined. For Texas Health Resources
and its family of hospitals - Harris Methodist Hospitals, Presbyterian
Healthcare System and Arlington Memorial Hospital - I'm CEO Doug
Hawthorne with "The Business of Health Care Report" on NewsRadio
1080 KRLD. Sources: Texas Nurses Association, Texas Hospital Association
©
2002 Texas Health Resources |
I'm Doug Hawthorne, President and CEO of Texas Health Resources, with
"The Business of Health Care Report" on 