Safe ratios
What is a safe healthcare professional-to-patient ratio?
It is a team with a required staff minimum caring for a group of patients with similar health conditions. This minimum can be increased to meet patients’ needs.
Ratios are the most promising solution for reducing healthcare professionals’ excessive workload, a main factor contributing to care omissions, partially completed care or care that does not meet professional standards. The purpose of ratios is to set up conditions that are safe for healthcare professionals, and which enable them to provide safe, quality, humane patient care.
The FIQ’s ultimate goal is to achieve guaranteed safe ratios for all Quebec health care institutions, regardless of their mission. The best way to do this is to create legislation on safe ratios.
Why fight for ratios?
By ensuring sufficient staffing, healthcare professionals will have time to provide safer patient care that reflects their values and be able to use their full range of skills. Evidence demonstrates that ratios reduce workloads, job dissatisfaction, absenteeism, distress, burn out and work accidents.
This solution has already proven effective in California and some Australian states.
What steps have already been taken to achieve safe ratios?
Since the FIQ learned about just how much safe ratios can improve working conditions for healthcare professionals, as well as care quality, it has taken several steps to implement them:
- Letter of Understanding No. 17 at the last provincial negotiations: the parties agreed to study the relevance and feasibility of safe healthcare professional-to-patient ratios by setting up pilot projects
- Symposium and a Special Report on safe ratios
- Training program on patient advocacy
- 3,000 healthcare professionals filled out Safe Staffing Forms
- The FIQ published the Black Book of Care Safety, a solid argument in support of safe ratios
- At the height of the nursing care crisis, the FIQ managed to broaden the scope of Letter of Understanding No. 17: 17 ratio projects, the majority of which are underway
The next step in the process of implementing safe ratios province-wide is clear:
- Report on the ratio projects and maintain safe ratios in the units
- Implement safe ratios in all Quebec regions
- Pass a law on safe ratios
Frequently Asked Questions – ratio projects
Sondage sur les soins non faits
Actualité ratios
Technical section
This section covers information of a more technical nature about safe ratios. The videos and slide presentations presented at provincial councils include the ratios established for the various centres of activities (surgery, CHSLD and medicine on June 12, 2018; respiratory therapists in intensive care, secondary emergency services and home care on December 6, 2018). They also include details regarding all prerequisite parameters and conditions for implementing ratios.
Presentation – Letter of Understanding No. 17: implementing ratio projects
The following tracts were distributed and/or posted in the units with ratio projects to further explain prerequisite conditions or specific tools for the projects.
Ratios and professional practice – Tool I: Logbook
Ratios and professional practice – Ratios and stability
Ratios and professional practice – Meeting patients’ needs in terms of support and assistance
Ratios and professional practice – Optimizing healthcare professionals’ scope of practice
Ratios and professional practice – Proper use of the therapeutic nursing plan
For more information
On March 29, 2018, the Quebec government announced the implementation of the first safe healthcare professional-to-patient ratio projects.
- September 17, 2018 – Press release – A safe healthcare professional-to-patient ratio pilot project begins at the Centre d’hébergement Champlain-de-Chanoine-Audet
- April 20, 2018 – Press release – Announcing the locations for the first safe healthcare professional-to-patient ratio projects
- March 29, 2018 – Press release – Safe healthcare professional-to-patient ratio projects begin
The Black Book of Care Safety
Read the Black Book of Care Safety and add your voice to the struggle, as a patient, loved one and citizen.
