The Empire Page

The quality of hospital care is something most people don’t like to think about. In fact, they avoid thinking about what goes on inside hospitals until they or one of their family members are hospitalized.

Then, they may find out that the much-vaunted American healthcare system is not always as safe and effective as advertised. They may develop complications and infections. They may be the victims of medical errors. They may suddenly wonder, “Where are all the nurses?”

If only they had known hospital staffing levels before they were admitted!

Granted, the New York State Department of Health now has “hospital profiles” on its website and has begun reporting hospital-acquired infections. But, as the recent series of articles in the Times Union indicates, current hospital report cards are incomplete. A crucial grade is missing. They don’t tell the public a facility’s nurse-to-patient ratio – the number of patients assigned to each registered nurse during each shift.

Why is this important? RN staffing is a key factor in patients’ recovery and even their survival.  There’s plenty of research to prove it. Patients are more likely to die and more likely to develop serious complications when too many patients are assigned to one nurse.

Patients need to know how many nurses will be caring for them. Furthermore, they want this information. A 2004 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 92% of Americans want more comparative information about quality of care.

This year, the New York State Legislature passed the Nursing Care Quality Protection Act, which will require the disclosure of staffing levels in hospitals as well as the incidence of “nursing care quality indicators,” such as bedsores, urinary tract infections, and central venous line infections. Similar laws already have been enacted in New Jersey, Vermont, and Illinois.

Nurses across New York State are urging Gov. David Paterson to sign this bill into law. We believe New York healthcare consumers deserve to have information that will help them make safer healthcare decisions. We also believe that state regulators will benefit from having data that will help them enforce state law, which requires adequate staffing to meet patients’ needs.

Ten years ago, the Institutes of Medicine issued a report on healthcare quality that included this memorable statement: “Between the health care we have and the care we should have lies not just a gap, but a chasm.”

It’s time to bridge that chasm with a healthcare data reporting system that gives a complete picture of the quality of care in hospitals. Because what you don’t know can hurt you.