California, like many other states, doesn’t have enough nurses--and it will be about 30,000 nurses short of what’s needed in 2006, according to the state government. One government solution--aimed at preventing hospitals from being understaffed, though it doesn’t address the long-term shortage--has been to enact nurse-to-patient mandates. The current California standard is one nurse to every six patients (though rules are stricter for emergency rooms). Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to stop the state-mandated ratio from going to one nurse for every five patients, as lawmakers originally mandated for January 2005.

The hospital industry, represented by the California Healthcare Association, argues that it has had to close California hospitals and emergency rooms because of the staffing mandates.

Some nurses are furious with the governor for siding with hospital management. They have marched on the state Capitol and this week followed Schwarzenegger to the California Governor's Conference on Women and Families in Long Beach to protest his stance.

The California Nurses Association says that "scores of scientific studies have documented the direct correlation between safe RN staffing and reduced patient deaths." It says that hospitals in California have been highly profitable, to the tune of about $11.7 billion between 2001 and 2003. It also says that "safe RN ratios will produce cost savings for hospitals in reduced spending on temporary RNs and overtime costs, lower RN turnover and improved patient outcomes." In addition, the association argues that hospital closures started long before the nurse-to-patient ratio laws and that the laws aren’t the cause of such closures.

The California Nurses Association is backed by the Consumer Federation of America and the Service Employees International Union.