California issuing waivers to bypass strict nurse-to-patient ratio rules amid COVID surge
KABC
Share: Facing a massive surge in coronavirus cases, California has been issuing waivers allowing hospitals to temporarily bypass the nation s only strict nurse-to-patient ratios.
About 250 of some 400 hospitals across the state have been granted 60-day waivers, which allows ICU nurses to care for three instead of two people at a time and emergency room nurses to oversee six patients instead of three.
California is the only state in the U.S. to require specific nurse-to-patient ratios. The waivers will only temporarily bypass that law but nurses say the change is already starting to affect care.