Why Higher Nurse-to-Patient Ratios Lead to Safer, More Precise Care

The statistical reality of nationwide nursing staffing is bleak. The truth is that almost every hospital is short at least a few nurses, and some are short many. This is bad from an efficiency standpoint.

Obviously, no business is at its best when it’s shorthanded, but it’s also a problem for patients. Ideally, the nurse-to-patient ratio will be high. You want enough nurses to ensure that everyone has responsive care attuned to their needs. 

In this article, we take a look at why getting more nurses is important and what hospitals can do about it.

Problem Defined

It’s not necessarily that hospitals do not have enough nurses to see all of their patients. There are no major cases of people being denied care, but the shortage is causing issues in the context of speed.

Simply put, a hospital that has ample staffing will be faster than one that is understaffed.

Often in healthcare situations, the difference between a positive and a negative outcome is determined in the span of several moments. 

This means that having nurses who can react quickly to situations as they unfold is of extreme importance. That’s only possible through adequate staffing.

Nursing Shortages is a Self-Perpetuating Problem

It’s also important to understand that there’s no such thing as a minor staffing shortage. It’s an almost universal statistical reality that businesses of all kinds experience self-perpetuating turnover.

In other words, when people start to leave, more will follow, even in the case of nurses who liked their job and had planned on sticking around until retirement age.

What happens is pretty straightforward. When hospitals are short-staffed, they require more from the people who stick around. 

This means lots of crowded waiting rooms, more patients seen by an increasingly smaller number of people, and higher levels of stress. 

Add to this the fact that patient outcomes may also begin to decline, and there’s an added element of emotional fatigue that comes with shortages as well.

These factors all combine to create a situation where a hospital can go from nearly fully staffed to dangerously understaffed, sometimes in a matter of months.

Why Higher Ratios are Better

So to determine why higher nurse-to-patient ratios are better, you just have to look at all of the points we’ve made from an inverted perspective. 

More nurses help with overall operational efficiency and staff retention. They also provide patients with much quicker visit times.

Even in cases where a fast response is not a life-saving measure, it’s certainly an important one. People experience incredible amounts of frustration with the slow-moving wheels of modern medicine. 

With hour-long waits being increasingly normalized, it’s no wonder that very few people have confidence in their healthcare systems anymore.

But while the importance of staffing more nurses is clear, how to do it is a little less so. In the next heading, we look at what healthcare systems can do to create more stable staffing arrangements.

It Begins with Recruitment

Increasing the supply of nurses through recruitment strategies is admittedly unsatisfying in that it’s a long-term proposition, even assuming that RN recruitment was fixed, which it won’t be. It would take 5 to 10 years to see any significant results.

That does little good for hospitals today. That said, this is the most sustainable path forward. 

Colleges and high school guidance counselors can play an especially important role in this process by targeting a wider range of people.

 Historically speaking, most nursing student candidates have been middle-class white females, but there are so many more people who might be good fits for the position. Casting a wider demographic net could significantly improve numbers with time.

The Value of Great Nursing Educators

Good nursing educators can certainly make an enormous impact on the entire state of the profession. 

It’s through great instructors that the right people go into the job feeling prepared and ready for the challenges that lie ahead, and the wrong people are gently funneled in another direction. 

And yes, funneling out bad-fit candidates before they get into the job is an important aspect of nursing instruction.

Why? Why isn’t it better to let people determine for themselves? Well, of course, self-determination is a part of the process, but when someone has it pointed out to them from an instructor that perhaps nursing isn’t right for them, it can be impactful both for the individual and the state of the profession itself. 

While it may seem like the more candidates that go into the job, the better off people will be, the reality is a little more complicated. 

Remember that when lots of nurses come in and then leave, it can be more damaging to the profession overall than if there is a minor shortage followed by strong overall retention numbers.

The importance of options.

The educational infrastructure surrounding healthcare can also improve numbers through options. 

Accelerated college pipelines, remote learning modules, and certification-only routes are good ways to attract people who are pivoting from other professions into healthcare.

What Hospitals Can Do Today

That said, there are common complaints from existing nurses. Addressing them could help solve the nursing shortage in a more expedited timeline. Improvements could include:

• More money. Everyone wants it.
• Better mental health support. The job is stressful and emotionally draining. More mental health resources could improve employment longevity.
• Flexible scheduling. Twelve-hour rotations are right for some people, but it’s not necessarily the default that most nurses want. Having more variety in shift options could be an enticing perk.

In other words, hospitals that want more nurses should improve the quality of life for the nurses they have now. That will improve retention and, with enough time, stabilize employment levels.

Healthcare shortages are a significant problem, but there is a silver lining. Despite the fact that many people leave nursing, it remains one of the most popular second careers for people making a pivot. 

The demand for meaningful work will never go away.