C 301 Public Policy Proposal C 301 Public Policy Proposal Inadequate staffing of nurses

C 301 Public Policy Proposal  C 301 Public Policy Proposal  Inadequate staffing of nurses in hospitals has numerous negative consequences for the patient, the nurse, and the hospital. Nurses report dissatisfaction and burnout with their nursing career. Patients are not happy with their care, and the chances of adverse effects increase greatly. If nurses are not satisfied with their job they will seek employment elsewhere and if patients are not satisfied with their care they will seek healthcare at a different hospital and of course tell all their friends, which will all have a negative impact on the hospital itself especially financially. To ensure the safety of nurses and patients, state-mandated safe staffing ratios are a necessity.    Issue Selection & Relevance  I selected this issue because it is a huge issue that will continue to be a problem in the future as the nursing shortage increases. It is a problem in the state in which I practice and in much of the nation. Inadequate nursing staff impacts the nurse's ability to provide effective and high-quality care that patients deserve. It also increases patient mortality and hospital-acquired infections.    This issue is important to the public for many reasons. Poor staffing of registered nurses (RN) has been found to be a contributing factor in 24% of patient care complications (Keller, Dulle, Kwiecinski, Altimier, & Owens, 2013). Increasing the ratio of registered nurses to patients will decrease illness and mortality rates. This is true because of