By Paul Leigh, Ph.D., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
California is the only state with a law governing minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. The ratios vary depending on the type of hospital service but are in the range of one nurse for every five patients. (The ratios are available on the California Department of Public Health website .) The law went into effect in 2004.
Lawmakers and stakeholders intended that the law would improve patient safety as more nurses were employed to care for the same number of patients. Whereas many studies show improved patient safety after 2004, no consensus in the scientific literature has emerged ... more