Safe Staffing Can Save Patient Lives and Hospital Finances…But It Is Not Being Done

On April 28, 2025, the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) reported the results of two studies, which involved over 600,000 patients in New York and Illinois, that examined how nurse workloads affect both patient outcomes and hospital finances. Results signaled that appropriate staffing ratios could have saved thousands of patient lives and millions of dollars to the hospitals. According to the MNA, hospitals have not adopted or enforced such staffing ratios “[b]ecause the decisions aren’t being made by people who understand patient care.”