BOSTON (WHDH/AP) — After an expensive campaign that sharply divided health care professionals, Massachusetts voters have rejected strict limits on the number of patients a single nurse can care for at one time.
The ballot question would have established nurse-to-patient ratios in various hospital units and set penalties for hospitals that failed to comply.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association supported the question, while hospitals and doctors’ groups opposed it. The two sides combined had spent more than $30 million to make their case to voters.
Supporters said the nurse staffing requirements would make patients safer, but opponents said it would create an overly rigid system that could result in hospitals being forced to turn away some patients.
California is the only other U.S. state with mandated nurse-to-patient ratios.
“I know that you have given your hearts and souls to this campaign, and I am so incredibly proud and beyond grateful for everything you have done. We are all disappointed by tonight’s results and the impact this will have on the patients we care for every day,” Massachusetts Nurses Association President Donna Kelly-Williams said in a prepared statement. “We know that right now – as I speak to you here – there are nurses caring for too many patients, and those patients are unnecessarily being put in harm’s way. And the problem continues to grow every year. The status quo is not a solution here.”
Opponents argued that approving Question 1 would hurt emergency room resources, create longer wait times, and force hospitals to close.
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