While California is currently the only state to establish a minimum nurse to patient ratio in the state’s hospitals, Massachusetts appears to be following suit and is nearing completion of a court battle relating to the issue.

Massachusetts registered nurse and hospitals have recently agreed on the basics of a nurse staffing bill that would permit the Massachusetts Department of Public Health regulate the maximum number of patients that could be assigned to a nurse. This follows nearly ten years of negotiations and legal wrangling in the state.

The bill has been at the forefront for the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which has been pursuing such a bill to set ratios that would be backed by the force of law. The Association pushed for ratios of one nurse for every two intensive care patients and one nurse for every four patients outside of intensive care. State hospitals resisted for many years, noting a lack of flexibility that would result in such strict ratios.

The new agreement, however, would allow the state’s health department to establish regulations to meet both parties’ needs, i.e. – reducing stress and potentially harmful working conditions for nurse while at the same time retaining some level of flexibility for hospitals. The new bill is expected to be debated on the House floor staring on May 23, 2006. It would then move to the Senate for a final vote if approved in the House of Representatives.

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