"Finally, we have the time to do proper nursing care and fully evaluate each patient's needs," said Kathy Dennis, an RN at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento. "We now have time to check each patient's chart and make sure there are no treatment delays" (MNT).

The various studies as to the effectiveness of the legislation show positive results, according to an article in the National Nurses United website. In 2012, the Agency of Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) Healthcare Innovations Exchange conducted a study of the California Safe Staffing Law and explained that "…Higher nurse workloads" are linked with "…more patient deaths, complications, and medical errors" (NNU.org).

The Healthcare Risk Management study in 2008 found that adding just one full-time RN on staff each day resulted in "…9% fewer hospital-related deaths in intensive care units" and 16% fewer deaths in surgical units (NNU.org).

In conclusion, it seems California comes up with innovative ideas which manifest as legislation and thus...

The California Safe Staffing Law is another example of how California leads the way not just for nurses, but for patients and for healthcare institutions as well. This legislation has also helped reduce the nursing shortage, and moreover, as Trande Phillips, RN with Kaiser Permanente in Walnut Creek explains, "We were always working short staffed and patients suffered. Now the only time nurses leave is if they are moving or going back to school" (MNT).
Works Cited

California Safe Staffing Law. (1999). Choices for State Health Care Bills. California Nurses

Association.

Medical News Today. (2008). California's Historic RN-To-Patient Hospital Staffing Ratios

Upgraded Again With New Year. Retrieved August 2, 2013, from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com.

National Nurses United. (2012). RN-To-Patient Ratios -- Staffing and Patient Safety. Retrieved August 2, 2013, from http://www.nationalnursesunited.org.