Nursing Shortage Raises Patient Ratios, Quality Concerns

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WEST LAFAYETTE, IND — The nursing shortage is driven by retiring baby boomers and low nursing enrollment.

Pengyi Shi, an associate professor of Supply Chain and Operations Management at Purdue University, says the shortage will continue as demand outpaces supply, putting pressure on nurses to manage higher patient-to-nurse ratios. This stress can lead to more mistakes, higher turnover, and lower quality of care.

“There’s a term called patient-to-nurse ratio in hospitals; staffing,” Shi said. “The typical desired patient-to-nurse ratio is one nurse to four to five patients. If this ratio goes beyond 1 to 6, the nurse may start to get burned out, which is when the quality of care decreases. Nurses are human beings, and they tend to make mistakes.”

Despite these challenges, Shi remains optimistic about potential solutions. She points to increased funding for nursing programs in several states. She suggests that AI could be used to allocate nursing resources better, helping manage workloads in a high-stress environment.

“I think Purdue University is in a great position to do this (to help with the shortage),” she said. “We have a strong business school, engineering school, social science. This is a good time for us all to work together to develop solutions.”

Shi says the pandemic made the nursing shortage worse.