The Oregonian (Portland) recently published an article that nurse staffing influences patient satisfaction scores. It seems that the more nurses that are scheduled the higher the level of patient satisfaction scores. While this seems as though it would be a no brainer for most nurses it seems as though many hospital administrators do not seem to understand this.

In Minnesota nurses are voting as I write this on whether to go on strike or not. The hospital bargaining unit has offered more pay but has not agreed to firm staffing ratios asked for by the nurses. This is a more complicated issue than it may seem at first glance.

One issue that has a significant impact on staffing is funding. Insurance does not provide greater funding for hospitals that provide excellent care as opposed to those who only provide satisfactory care. Therefore providing lower staff to patient ratios directly impacts a hospitals bottom line and thus its profits.

Often hospitals are paid more for complications that develop for a patient in the hospital. While many nurses would argue that lower staffing ratios result in fewer complications, fewer readmissions, and better discharge planning this is not rewarded by insurance companies.

Does the challenge of nurse patient ratio rest with the hospital administration, insurance companies, or both?

Is this one of the reasons more and more nurses are choosing to be nurse entrepreneurs and to be in their own business so they can determine their nurse patient ratios?

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