Policy, Politics, and Global Health Trends

C159

A. The topic of nurse-patient ratios has been making headlines with increasing frequency over the past few years. There has been a public outcry for staffing issues in hospitals by hospital workers, nurses, and patients. A1. Every nurse has worked a shift that was understaffed and knows the burden it creates for not only the staff but the patients as well. It has been an ongoing problem that is only getting worse due to an aging Baby Boomer's generation. With the growing number of patients needing inpatient care and a growing nursing shortage, the conditions that nurses face are becoming more dangerous and creating more unsafe environments. There have been several studies that have shown that the higher number...