A major study released in April demonstrates what most bedside nurses have known all along: that nurse-to-patient ratios reduce patient mortality, improve the work environment for nurses and reduce nurse burnout.  This runs counter to arguments made by hospital administrators opposed to the nurse ratios bill RNs have been working to pass here in Illinois.

The research, published in the policy journal Health Services Research, was led by Linda Aiken, RN, PhD of the University of Pennsylvania and compared nurse staffing in California to two states, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, without mandated staffing ratios.  In an analysis of patient outcomes, the comparison revealed that hospitals that did not maintain the nurse ratio for medical/surgical units (1:5) set in California were likely to have higher patient mortality rates.  Click here to read the full study.