Patient Safety NJ

A Coalition of Friends, Family, and Health Care Professionals Working Together to Keep Patients SAFE in New Jersey Hospitals

Every person can make a difference.

Send a message to your State legislator(s) telling them that you care about putting the health and safety of patients first! Send a quick email and ask them to support Senate Bill S2700 to Establish Minimum Registered Professional Nurse Staffing Standards for New Jersey Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgery Facilities and certain DHS Facilities. Click the TAKE ACTION button now to find your legislator and send a message.

ATTENTION HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS

Working together we can AMPLIFY YOUR VOICE to fight for real change to protect the health and safety of our patients. Click the button to find out how you can organize co-workers at your facility.

Patient Safety FAQs

What is Safe Staffing?

Safe Staffing Ratios involve how many patients each nurse is assigned to care for in a particular hospital unit. This enhances the quality of patient care at the bedside, reduces risks of medical errors and can improve patient outcomes.

Why are Safe Staffing Ratios Important?

Nurse staffing shortages in New Jersey, and around the country, has been the norm for so long (decades) that many nurses have worked their entire career in crisis mode. The COVID-19 pandemic only heightened the issue. The unrelenting demands of the profession has exacerbated the crisis, as nurses leave bedside nursing, retire early, or leave the profession altogether.

Do other State's have Safe Staffing Ratios?

California has had Safe Staffing legislation in place for years and studies have proven that implementing mandated nurse-to-patient ratios results in improved patient outcomes, fewer patient deaths, and has created safer workplaces for nurses.

IMPROVES Patient Outcomes

Outcomes are better for patients when staffing levels meet those established in California, including an increase in lives saved, shorter hospital stays, and general improvement in quality care (Health Services Research)

REDUCES Risks of Errors

Understaffing is a contributing factor in up to 80 percent of medical errors. (Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality)

LOWERS Mortality Rates

Hospitals that staff 1:8 nurse-to-patient ratios experience five additional deaths per 1,000 patients than a 1:4 nurse-to-patient ratio. (JAMA)

Each additional patient assigned to a nurse, the odds of dying within 30 days of admission increases by 7%.(JAMA).

REDUCES Nurse Burnout Rates

The higher the proportion of nurses in hospitals whose patient assignment is in compliance with the benchmark set on California-mandated ratios, the lower the nurse burnout and job dissatisfaction, the less likely nurses are to report the quality of their work environment as only fair or poor, the less likely nurses are to report that their workload causes them to miss changes in patients' conditions, and the less likely nurses are to intend to leave their jobs. (Health Services Research)

Have You Wondered Lately…

  • With the nursing shortage, are there enough nurses to fully staff hospital units?

  • How long will it take for someone to respond when a call button is pressed for help?

  • How can nurses, techs and other care giving staff provide the best care when they are stretched so thin?

  • Can burnout impact the level of care patients receive?

  • How can I protect my loved ones?

You can make a difference.

Join our effort to make Safe Staffing a reality in New Jersey.