Nurse to Patient Ratio and its Impact on Quality of Healthcare

Running Head: NURSE TO PATIENT RATIO 1
Nurse to Patient Ratio
Name
Institution

NURSE TO PATIENT RATION 2
Background
Nurse to patient ratio is a quantitative description of the number of patients in a health
care facility who are under the care of a single nurse. In most cases, the patient’s allocation to the
nurses is guided by the acuity or individual need s of the patients (Arkin, Lee, McDonald &
Hernandez, 2014). Studies have indicated that nurse to patients ratio has some impacts on
nursing in general. It does affect not only the quality of documentation but also the quality of
health care made available to the patients in general. Taking into consideration the critical role
that the nurses play in the field of health care, there is a need for safe staffing ratios in the health
facilities. Every health facility in the world has one primary aim which is to improve the quality
of life for its patients (Driscoll, Grant, Carroll, Dalton, Deaton, Jones, Astin, 2018). However,
high nurse to patients ratios has constantly threatened this objective. Safe staffing is not only for
the safety of the patients and the quality of the health care delivered but also for the safety of the
nurses as they discharge their duties. Garretson (2004) points out that higher staffing levels is
directly correlated with the decrease in mortality rates, medical errors, pneumonia, restraint use,
ulcers, and the number of patients who obtain percutaneous coronary intervention. In general, if
a nurse has a few patients to handle, the focus on the patient is higher, and they can meet the
needs of the patients which results to better health care for the patients. On the flipside, if the
nurses have a higher number of patients to take care of, the focus on individual patients is
reduced, and the probability of medical errors is increased.
Problem Statement
Medical care aims at improving the quality of life of the patients. The goal of health
facilities, therefore, is to see the patients walk out in a better state of health than they walked into

NURSE TO PATIENT RATION 3
the facility. To ensure that the patients get the best medical care possible, trained and qualified
nurses are assigned to the medical facilities and even to some home medical care environments.
Like any other profession, the quality of the work delivered depends on how much load the
nurses have to bear in their line of duty (Calio, 2018). Recent studies indicate that the nurse to
patient ratio is high and is still on the rise. Over the past few years, the global population has
risen steadily.
The increase in the worldwide population is directly correlated to the increase in need of
health care throughout the world. The health awareness programs across the globe have also
resulted in increases in the number of people seeking medical attention thought the word.
However, this high number is met by the challenge of a few nurses at the health care facilities.
The existing high nurse to patient ratio has lowered the quality of health care offered in the
health facilities as well as the quality of medical record kept (Arkin, Lee, McDonald, &
Hernandez, 2014). Additionally, the safety of the nurses in their line of duties is also
compromised as they strive to go an extra mile to discharge their responsibilities. To increase
efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of health care services, there is a need to reduce the
nurse to patients ratio.
PICOT
This paper takes into consideration the different components of PICOT to help in the
description of the various elements of the research. The different components of the research are
as follows:

NURSE TO PATIENT RATION 4
Population
The population for this study will be the number of patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit
of the health facility.
Intervention
The intervention that the study will monitor is the implementation of a low nurse to patient ratio
in the health care facility.
Comparison
The intervention will be compared to a high nurse to patient ratio within the same facility.
Expected Outcome
The expected results from the intervention include improved and better patient outcomes as a
result of the enhanced quality of health care.
Time/ Duration of the study
The study will be conducted for three months during which both the low nurse to patient ratio
and high nurse to patient ration will be monitored and observations recorded for comparison at
the end of the study.
Strategy Employed
The study will make use of more volunteer nurses at the facility for the research. The
volunteer nurses will include recent nursing graduates and experienced nurses without jobs. The
additional number of nurses at the facility is aimed at reducing the nurse-patient ratio at the