5?20: a model of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in Victoria, Australia
- 15 December 2006
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Hindawi Limited in Journal of Nursing Management
- Vol. 15 (1), 64-71
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2934.2006.00657.x
Abstract
Aim This study presents a critique of a new model of minimum nurse‐to‐ patient ratio and considers its utility alongside established Patient Dependency Systems. Background Since 2001 legislation mandating minimum nurse‐to‐patient ratios has been enacted throughout large public hospitals in the state of Victoria, Australia. The Victorian model mandates minimum staffing of five nurses to 20 patients in acute medical and surgical wards. In conjunction with this approach, Patient Dependency Systems are employed to anticipate short‐term resource needs. Key issues Although this legislation has been successful in attracting nurses back into the public sector workforce, no published empirical evidence exists to support specific ratios. In addition, neither ratio nor Patient Dependency Systems approaches account for the critical influence of skill mix on hospital, employee, or patient outcomes. Conclusion There is an urgent need for further research that specifically examines relationships between models of staffing, skill mix and quality outcomes.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Educational Levels of Hospital Nurses and Surgical Patient MortalityJAMA, 2003
- Casualisation of the nursing workforce in Australia: driving forces and implicationsAustralian Health Review, 2003
- Failure to RescueThe American Journal of Nursing, 2003
- Hospital Nurse Staffing and Patient Mortality, Nurse Burnout, and Job DissatisfactionJAMA, 2002
- If changing skill mix is the answer, what is the question?Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 2001
- A response to California's mandated nursing ratios.Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 2001
- The Use of Information Generated by a Patient Classification SystemPublished by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) ,2000
- Patient Classification Systems and StaffingJona: the Journal of Nursing Administration, 1994
- Patient Classification Systems and StaffingJona: the Journal of Nursing Administration, 1994
- Patient Classification SystemsJona: the Journal of Nursing Administration, 1983