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Book Cover
E-book
Author Gordon, Suzanne, 1945-

Title Safety in numbers : nurse-to-patient ratios and the future of health care / Suzanne Gordon, John Buchanan, and Tanya Bretherton
Published Ithaca : ILR Press/Cornell University Press, 2008

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Description 1 online resource (ix, 272 pages)
Series The culture and politics of health care work
Culture and politics of health care work.
Contents Hospital restructuring and the erosion of nursing care in California and the United States -- Not out of thin air -- The hospital industry response -- Ratios redux -- Working life for nurses in the late 1990s in Australia : a snapshot -- How did it come to this? : the factors driving the intensification of nursing work -- Winning ratios in Victoria -- Evaluating the impact of ratios : an imperfect experiment -- What we know about nurse staffing -- Arguments against and alternatives to ratios
Summary "Legally mandated nurse-to-patient ratios are one of the most controversial topics in health care today. Ratio advocates believe that minimum staffing levels are essential for quality care, better working conditions, and higher rates of RN recruitment and retention that would alleviate the current global nursing shortage. Opponents claim that ratios will unfairly burden hospital budgets, while reducing management flexibility in addressing patient needs." "Safety in Numbers is the first book to examine the arguments for and against ratios. Utilizing survey data, interviews, and other original research, Suzanne Gordon, John Buchanan, and Tanya Bretherton weigh the cost, benefits, and effectiveness of ratios in California and the state of Victoria in Australia, the two places where RN staffing levels have been mandated the longest. They show how hospital cost cutting and layoffs in the 1990s created larger workloads and deteriorating conditions for both nurses and their patients - leading nursing organizations to embrace staffing level regulation. The authors provide an in-depth account of the difficult but ultimately successful campaigns waged by nurses and their allies to win mandated ratios. Safety in Numbers then reports on how nurses, hospital administrators, and health care policymakers handled ratio implementation." "With at least fourteen states in the United States and several other countries now considering staffing level regulation, this balanced assessment of the impact of ratios on patient outcomes and RN job performance and satisfaction could not be timelier. The authors' history and analysis of the nurse-to-patient ratios debate will be welcomed as an invaluable guide for patient advocates, nurses, health care managers, public officials, and anyone else concerned about the quality of patient care in the United States and the world."--Jacket
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL
English
digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL
Subject Nursing services -- Standards -- California
Nursing services -- Standards -- Australia -- Victoria
Nursing services -- California -- Personnel management -- Statistical methods
Nursing services -- Australia -- Victoria -- Personnel management -- Statistical methods
Hospitals -- California -- Administration -- Statistical methods
Hospitals -- Australia -- Victoria -- Administration -- Statistical methods
Ratio analysis.
Nursing Services -- manpower
Nursing Staff, Hospital -- supply & distribution
Personnel Staffing and Scheduling
Safety Management
MEDICAL -- Nursing -- Issues.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- Social Security.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- Social Services & Welfare.
Hospitals -- Administration -- Statistical methods
Nursing services -- Standards
Ratio analysis
SUBJECT Australia
California
Subject California
Victoria
Form Electronic book
Author Bretherton, Tanya
Buchanan, John, 1959-
LC no. 2007045442
ISBN 9780801464935
0801464935