Please reply to: Professor and Class. I choose to address nurse to patient staff

Please reply to:
Professor and Class.
I choose to address nurse to patient staffing ratio and its impact on patient safety in hospitals.  California is one state that has been successful in passing statewide staffing laws.  This paper highlights findings referencing an evidence-based study that was done in hospitals in Queensland, Australia that showed the difference between patient outcomes and better staffing.  Although this study was done in Australia, The US has also done research that resulted in similar findings. The study shows that a better nurse-to-patient ratio leads to better patient outcomes, decreased hospital readmission, decrease length of stay, decreased mortality, decrease hospital infections, and lower levels of nurse burnt out,  according to McHugh et al. (2021).  The study also shows that hospitals incurred more costs for increased readmission and increased length of stay. These additional costs proved to be more than the cost of hiring an additional nurse. With a better nurse-to-patient ratio there is better staff morale, staff retention, healthier and more engaged staff.  This study concluded that when hospitals invest in additional nursing staff, it does not add an extra financial burden to the hospitals.  As discussed by Black, (2020) Florence Nightingale, conducted research and found that more British soldiers died in hospitals due to unsafe working conditions rather than from the wound they sustain during the Crimean War.  This is a critical period for nurses especially given that we are in the middle of a pandemic.  As discussed by  Black, (2020) nurses work in a very hazardous environment with the risk of needle stick injuries and possible infections from blood-borne pathogens. We are faced with the hazards of shift work which studies show leads to depression, sleep deprivation, and cancer.  As nurses, we should have a healthy work environment and this involves safe needlestick devices, a better ventilation system, reduction of double shifts, adequate lifting devices. Nurses are overworked and underpaid and are faced with the challenge of staffing shortages, working mandatory extra shifts, and increased workload including sicker and more high-risk patients. A healthy work environment for nurses includes a safer nurse-to-patient ratio and better patient outcomes.
My elevator speech
Senator Shevrin Jones, this is to advocate for a safer working environment for nurses by mandating a safer nurse-to-patient ratio.  Studies have shown that a better nurse to patient ratio improves patient outcomes, decreases hospital stay, decreases hospital readmission.  This also leads to lower levels of nurse burnout, better nurse retention, less error, and a safer working environment.  As nurses our job is to provide high-quality, compassionate patient care yet we are faced with a very unsafe work environment.  On any given shift  I am responsible for the care of 10 patients.  Sir, If you had a family member in the hospital, how confident would you feel that your family is receiving the highest quality and safest care?  Sir,  I implore you to pass laws mandating a safer nurse-to-patient ratio in Florida hospitals to protect patients and nurses. 
References
Black, B. P. (2020). Professional nursing: Concepts and challenges (9th ed.).  Elsevier.
McHugh, M.,  Aiken, L., Sloane, D., Windsor, C., Douglas, C. (2021). Effects of nurse-to-patient ratio legislation on nurse staffing and patient mortality, readmissions, and length of stay: a prospective study in a panel of hospitals.  The Lancet, 397(10288), 1905-1913. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00768-6