Mount Auburn Hospital nurses talk in a 2012 hospital-produced video shoot.

The attempts of the Massachusetts Nurses Association to mandate limits on the number of patients assigned to each registered nurse in the state went up in flames Election Day, with 70 percent of the electorate rejecting the proposition. But while ballot Question 1 very much deserved its demise, the state should not so quickly abandon the prospect of nurse staffing ratios to safeguard and improve the health of its citizens.

While proponents of the measure inundated voters with cherry-picked evidence and emotional appeals in place of hard facts, the association is correct in its base assertion: Staffing ratios are linked to better patient outcomes. The literature clearly agrees. But requiring uncompromising adherence to unfounded, arbitrary ratios was the downfall of the ballot measure.

Consequently, there’s need for an independent, bipartisan investigative committee of nurses, management, researchers, patient representatives and other key stakeholders, supervised under the scrutiny of the Legislature. The committee should conduct ground-level research across hospital settings statewide to examine the impacts of varying staff ratios, culminating with a fully representative pilot program that ought to validate its findings.

These will likely correspond with prevailing conclusions that such legislation must be flexible, since effective limits are based on myriad situational factors that cannot be addressed in a blanket policy. Issues considered should include procedures for adapting ratios to emergency flux in patient intake, reliance on auxiliary staff such as licensed practical nurses and tolerance of routine staff turnover.

Government aid to succeed

The initial legislation planned to offload massive compliance burdens onto the hospitals. Written into the policy itself must be clear guidelines for appropriate and efficient implementation over a period that certainly extends beyond just 37 business days – the length of time that would have been given to put Question 1 into effect, had it passed. The state government ought to monitor each hospital, helping them adapt to the regulations when needed. To cushion small community hospitals against financial burden, the government could subsidize the hiring of staff to meet the ratios.

Such oversight and assistance, particularly with subsidies, would demand state resources; voters and legislators alike must decide if they are willing to dedicate tax funds to this initiative. One option would be to fine for noncompliance, reinvesting collected fees back into subsidizing adherence with the policy.

Bipartisan approach

Perhaps the most egregious characteristic of the proposed legislation was its history as a partisan initiative of the MNA, a unionized interest group representing only 25 percent of Massachusetts nurses, which sought to exploit public ignorance through financial and political clout to pass a policy via ballot measure. A reformed initiative ought to be drafted within the Legislature by a bipartisan group of nurses, hospital executives and civilian representatives, the stakeholders involved in the research that should underpin this policy. This issue is too large to be fixed overnight, and we need a comprehensive, structured plan to approach such legislation once again.

Some might argue the ratios are unnecessary – that in Massachusetts, we’re good enough.

While it is true we have one of the best health care systems in the nation, and world-renowned hospitals, we also experience ever-increasing health disparities between social groups – the urban and the rural, the rich and the poor, the black and the white. There is always room for improvement and even potential for a new wave of health care reform. Like many times before, success in Massachusetts could ignite a nationwide initiative. Why not lead the way?

Connor Holmes is a second-year health sciences major at Northeastern University.