Now, working in Texas, I see very few pros and many cons with this states mandated staffing committees.The only pro I can see is in allowing staff nurses to actually hear some of the issues around staffing from upper management; but the con to that is making nurses feel they have some power over the staffing when in reality they do not. At first glance, the question may not seem especially relevant. On the other hand, the percentage of RNs who belong to unions is currently 18%, and a number of unions have mounted efforts to raise that membership rate in recent years.

Historically, the most effective form of leverage that unions have with employers is the strike, though most union leaders only use this tool as a last resort because of the risk that management will hire new employees to replace striking workers. Search thousands of high-paying nursing opportunities in your area.

It seems that as long as hospitals are not mandated to staff according to safety standards and acuity, they will continue to say that there is no problem with their staffing levels.

I have talked about my experiences working in California before and I have said that there are pros and cons to a legally mandated ratio system.

discusses how decreasing nurse-to-patient ratios in medical-surgical units as well as improving work environments is associated with increased patient survival following an in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) [1].

The authors found that hospitalized patients receiving care in poor nursing work environments had a 16% lower likelihood of survival [1].