Study findings show that hospitals continued to primarily utilize highly skilled nurses after a 1999 California law that established a minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratio for hospitals was passed, according to research published in Health Affairs.
The 1999 nurse-to-patient staffing ratio mandate caused many to fear that hospitals would respond by hiring lower-skilled nurses. However, researchers studied nurse ratios at California hospitals from 1997-2008 and compared those ratios to similar hospitals in the country.
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Results showed California hospitals continued to use highly skilled registered nurses. California hospitals also followed the national hospital trend of increasing nursing skill mix. Researchers also found the ratio mandate led to an additional half-hour of nursing per adjusted patient day beyond what would have been expected if there was no ratio mandate.
Read the Health Affairs abstract about California nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.
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