Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) led to an unprecedented surge in ICU admission, increasing the nurse-to-patient ratios and intensifying stress on ICU nurses. This prompted many nurses to leave bedside care, exacerbating the ongoing nursing shortage and creating unsafe working conditions. Fourteen states have enacted safe nurse staffing policies. California implemented a mandated nurse-to-patient ratio, while Massachusetts adopted a mixed model for ICUs that involves a ratio, nurse committees, and workload tools. In post-COVID, this raises the question of which state policy approach is more effective in retaining ICU nursing staff. Literature suggests a mixed policy may be more effective.

Author Details

Emilie A. Maxie, DNP, MSN, RN, CCRN

Sigma Membership

Lambda Rho at-Large

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Other

Research Approach

Other

Keywords:

Nurse-Patient Ratio, Job Satisfaction, Nursing Legislation

Advisor

Roberta Christopher

Second Advisor

Dawn Onstott

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Jacksonville University

Degree Year

2024

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Full Text of Presentation

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