Boston-based Tufts Medical Center says it has found a way to trim the high cost of nursing while improving care, but the plan prompted a protest by nurses who say it is an example of the intense cost-cutting pressure on hospitals statewide. Tufts administrators said they will save up to $3 million annually by increasing the number of patients assigned to each nurse, which will allow the hospital to hire fewer nurses. But they added that they want to improve care and working conditions for nurses by bringing on 35 technicians to free up nurses from unskilled jobs, the Boston Globe reports.
