This brief summarizes the proceedings of the 25th Massachusetts Health Policy Forum, held on March 30, 2005 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The forum focused on two pending pieces of legislation that intended to improve patient safety and nursing conditions in Massachusetts, one by legislating "nurse-to-patient ratios" and a second by increasing the supply of nurses, generally.

On March 30, 2005, the Center co-sponsored a conference with the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum at the Heller School of Brandeis University that focused on whether government should mandate nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals and what the potential impact of such ratios would be.