Fight over patient-to-nurse ratios

BOSTON (WWLP) - Nurses and hospitals are battling over legislation on Beacon Hill. Nurses say that they are understaffed and overworked. They're supporting legislation that creates a procedure for set patient-to-nurse ratios, which would be established to preserve the health and safety of patients and nurses alike.

But hospitals are fighting back, saying that providers shouldn't be restricted to "one-size-fits-all ratios or limits" on patient to nurse care. They are encouraging collaboration between hospitals, physicians, and nurses to develop best practices that reward quality of care and not volume of care.

Nurses counter that hospitals have all the control, and are more concerned about boosting their bottom line than patient safety.

“I've worked 16 hour shifts,” said Donna Stern, a registered nurse at Baystate Franklin Medical Center. “I've done that more than one time in a week. I have been mandatory overtime and every time that that happens, the safety is put to test.”

“Anyone can give an anecdotal answer to anything, but statistics show that safety and staffing in our hospitals is among the top in the nation,” said Lynn Nichols, President and CEO of the Massachusetts Hospital Association.

Hospital representatives say they are willing to agree on a compromise bill that involves total transparency on staffing plans and practices.

The Department on Public Health would have a role in monitoring that transparency. A version of that bill was passed by the Senate last year.