Safe Staffing

In New Mexico Alzheimer's facilities, the first shift is required to have one staffer per 15 residents. That is pretty bad as 1:10 is considered pretty poor, especially considering the number of medications each person is likely receiving.

I don't know when safety is affected, nor whether these ratios apply to hospitals.

I am in Mexico. I work on the Mexican Institute of Social Security, where we are always understaffed.

I work 2 years on a zonal hospital on a suburb of my city. On the emergency ward. There was supposed to be one nurse for avery 4 to 5 patients. The area was built for such volume. But they usually ended up being 20 to 1 or 30 to 1. the work loads where brutal. Many diseases where not even real emergencies but for political reasons most of the patients where admited and not redirected to the walk in clinics. All the work was finally achived due to full willpower and dedication.

There are many fails in every system, but the only thing that can surpass that difficulty is the individual quality of staff and heavy tem work.