Evidence has shown that the greater the number of patients a nurse is caring for during her shift, the greater chance there is of an error occurring. There are settings in which nurses are being asked to care for higher acuity patients, and have 6 or 7 on their patient load for the day. That is unsafe for patient and nurse.
Patient safety is a priority for healthcare workers, and one of the ways that hospitals get reimbursed, yet this one thing that could be done to help ensure patient safety is largely being ignored. California is currently the only state to enforce such ratios, and I believe the rest of the country should follow its example.
Save patient lives and nurse's licenses by supporting legislation that makes it mandatory for hospitals to have adequate and safe staffing!