For every Massachusetts legislative session in the last 12 years, a bill to set nurse-patient rations has been brought before the state and rejected. However this, like the recession, seems to be coming to an end. Citizens and nurse groups are fed up, while the sentiment around the country seems to be pushing in the direction of set ratios to make patient care better and nurses workloads more effectively weighted. This is hopefully becoming the trend in the U.S., a move that will definitely mean many more jobs for all the hardworking or soon-to-be nurses out there.

The “Patient Safety Act” is being pushed in Massachusetts so that medical errors and infections can be reduced by keeping a set staff-to-patient ratio of 4-to-1 or lower. This will mean that patients can get more personal and unique care by having nurses with manageable responsibilities running the show. California has already implemented a similar bill and the effects are already very positive.

This year’s bill is hopefully going to change the zero standard policy now in place. State Sen. Michael O. Moore, D-Millbury, is a co-sponsor of this year’s bill, said the bill would require hospitals to meet certain staff to patient standards, but those have yet to be determined.

“The Department of Public Health would have to study the issue, to see what those standards should be.” he said. When he was asked about how many nurses would have to be hired in order to fulfill the future standard, all he could say is that the determination will be made shortly but that hospitals would have to hire more nurses for sure.

This is not an issue being slept on. There was a rally outside of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester last week where nurses and concerned citizens demanded a standard be put in place. The overall sentiment was that this decision to standardize staffing is not a matter of politics, but rather one of life and death for the patients.
St. Vincent’s had the highest number of medical errors in Massachusetts in 2008. Nurses like Marie Ritacco said that the number of patients compared to nurses had a big and direct effect to this ominous record.

This is what this new bill seeks to change. All over America, people want more nurses and nurses want more nurses. There will be an influx of hires happening in every state as this movement to standardize staff ratios makes enough noise. If you’ve ever been interested in getting a nursing license, now is the time to make that into a reality. Check out a program available to you today.