San Jose del Monte City lone district Rep. Florida "Ate Rida" Robes (Facebook)

The nurse-to-patient ratio in the Philippines has become so lopsided that one nurse typically handles an entire hospital ward per shift. 

San Jose del Monte City lone district Rep. Florida "Ate Rida" Robes highlighted this problem in a recent privilege speech wherein she tackled the issue of inadequate staffing in hospitals. 

“’One is to ward’ – ito ang kalagayan ng nurse-to-patient ratio. Hindi na po ito biro (This is the current nurse-to-patient ratio. This is no joke). With this staffing ratio, is our healthcare system still safe?” asked the Bulacan lawmaker. 

Robes said that during Covid-19 pandemic, “We have witnessed many hospitals in the country cut down on operations, not because of lack of facilities, but rather due to lack of healthcare workers.” 

The problem worsened when overseas recruitment of nurses became aggressive, she noted. 

As per the prevailing guidelines of the Department of Health (DOH), the nurse-to-patient ratio should be 1:12. However, a 2022 study conducted at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) revealed that the standard nurse-to-patient ratio in the general wards is 1:20. 

Researchers attributed this high-volume ratio to inadequate staff and high patient workload. 

“In some hospitals, one nurse attend to 20 to 50 patients per shift. Hindi ito dapat ipagwalang bahala dahil ayon sa datos na aking nakalap safe nurse staffing saves lives (This should not be neglected because based on the data I gathered safe nurse staffing saves lives)," she said. 

As such, Robes urged her House colleagues to help "create a positive practice environment for [nurses] that would encourage them to stay in our country and use their world-class talents and skills to serve our people". 

Robes cited data from Nursing Administration Quarterly, which showed that increased nurse staffing was the more cost-effective tactic in improving patient care when compared to other interventions. 

"Safe nurse staffing reduces turnover in hospitals. When ratios are blown out of proportion, there is an increase in nursing turnover and a decrease in patient satisfaction. All of this increases the cost of care," the lady solon noted. 

Robes said having a safer nurse-patient ratio would be beneficial for Filipinos because it will "reduce medication errors, patient mortality, hospital admissions; enhance patient satisfaction; and prevent nurse fatigue".