What should the nurse/patient ratio be?
The number of patients a nurse may care for with reasonable skill and safety should be determined by evaluation of the nurse’s educational preparation, experience and competencies; acuity of the patients; layout of the facility and equipment; and other resources available for care of the patient. Pursuant to the Nursing Practice Law and the Rules and Regulations of the Board of Nursing, the registered nurse shall be held accountable for the quality of nursing care given to patients. This includes, but is not limited to, assessing the patient’s needs, formulating a nursing diagnosis, planning for, implementing and evaluating the nursing care in the promotion and maintenance of health of each patient for whom responsibility has been accepted. Furthermore, the registered nurse is accountable for the quality of nursing care given by self or others being supervised. The registered nurse may assign nursing duties to other qualified personnel; assign duties of medication administration or pat
