The next stage of the nurse-to-patient rollout across more of Canberra's hospital wards will take about 18 months.
Ratios will be mandated across more wards, including intensive care, the emergency department, maternity, cancer services and palliative care.
Health authorities will need to employ 137 extra nurses and midwives to meet the new minimum ratio requirements.
The ACT government has set aside $86 million in the upcoming budget to employ the extra nurses.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said health officials would recruit the new workers over the next 18 months.
"We've agreed on a range of timeframes where the different areas of our hospitals will be required to meet ratios," she said.
"Obviously we will be recruiting as quickly as we can right across those areas.
"We know that it's going to take time to undertake that recruitment and in some areas we know that recruitment is more challenging than others."
There will be a local, national and international recruitment campaign for the nurses and midwives.
Labor will include the nurses in their election commitment to hire an extra 800 health workers.
Opposition health spokeswoman Leanne Castley said the government's budget announcement was timed for an election year.
"In an election year Labor is playing catch-up for its chronic underfunding of our public health services," she said.
"It has achieved next to nothing in addressing the poor workplace culture and consequent staff separation rate.
"You cannot trust anything this government promises leading up to an election especially in healthcare and when it comes to adequately staffing and improving service delivery."
The standard nurse-to-patient ratio is one nurse to every four patients but there are different requirements between wards. The final ratios are being finalised as part of an enterprise bargaining agreement.
The ratio model will also include requirements around the number of team leaders and support nurses and midwives on a ward at any one time.
North Canberra Hospital executive director of nursing and midwifery Judy Ryall said this would be beneficial to junior staff.
"Given the number of junior staff that we now have in our service and the ability to have additional staffing to support those staff and the funding to help our staff become educated is very exciting," she said.
Nurse-to-patient ratios have already been mandated in some wards, including general medical and general surgical.
But health authorities have struggled to meet these ratios across all shifts. The latest data from March showed Canberra Hospital only met the requirement across 77 per cent of shifts.
North Canberra Hospital fared better, meeting the requirements for 95 per cent of shifts.
