National Nurses United

6 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7 OHIO O n feb. 14, registered nurses with National Nurses Organizing Committee-Ohio/National Nurs- es United (NNOC/NNU) and elected officials gathered in Columbus at the Ohio Statehouse to mark the reintroduction by Sen. Michael Skindell of the Ohio Patient Protection Act, a bill which sets specific limits for Ohio hospitals on how many patients nurses can care for at once. "Studies have shown again and again that safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios save lives," said Rhonda Risner, RN, of the Dayton VA Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio. "We applaud Senator Skindell for standing up for Ohio patients, and we hope the Ohio Senate will stand with us to say that the people of Ohio deserve, with the passage of the Ohio Patient Protection Act, the kind of focused care that nurses can only provide when hospital corporations are held accountable for staffing at safe levels." The Ohio Patient Protection Act estab- lishes minimum nurse-to-patient ratios for every hospital unit at all times. Currently, there is no limit to the number of patients that nurses care for at any one time in Ohio hospitals. Only California currently has laws mandating hospital-wide staffing ratios. It also provides whistle-blower protection to assure that nurses are free to speak out for enforcement of safe staffing standards. The bill is currently cosponsored by Sen. Sandra Williams. The bill is modeled on California's ratios, which studies document has saved patient lives, improved the quality of care in multiple other ways, and reduced nurse burnout, keeping the most experienced RNs at the patient bedside. "These policies will help ensure that patients get the best medical care based on need and will provide nurses with safe- guards to ensure that they are protected from retaliation for whistle-blowing and refusals to follow potential violations of the law," said Skindell. "Genuine and enforce- able safe-staffing standards will save money and lives by ensuring that patients obtain excellent nursing care." "With no limit on the number of patients we care for, we have a safety crisis on our hands in Ohio; hospital administrators are free to cut corners on staffing and put their bottom line over patient safety," said Debra McKinney, RN, of Affinity Medical Center in Massillon. "We need a mandatory, non- negotiable limit to the number of patients each nurse cares for in order to protect our patients from harm, and also to protect nurses and other healthcare staff." Decades of studies document the link between improved RN staffing and safer care. A 2016 study led by nursing researcher Linda Aiken collected data from 13,077 nurses in 243 hospitals in six countries and 18,828 patients in 182 of the same hospitals. The study found that with each 10 percent- age point reduction in the proportion of professional nurses, there was an 11 percent increase in the odds of patient death. A 2015 study in the Journal of Advanced Nursing also found that preventing under- staffing was critical in improving the quality of care for hospitalized patients while simul- taneously providing cost savings to the hospital, patients, and the community, given that adverse events were estimated to increase costs by $8,000 per admission and lengthen the stay by seven to eight days on average. And California hospitals, which have had safe staffing laws in place since Janu- ary 2004, have shown that limiting the number of patients assigned to nurses saves lives. A 2013 study in the International Archives of Occupational and Environmen- tal Health showed that the California safe staffing law was associated with 55.57 fewer occupational injuries and illnesses per 10,000 RNs per year, a value 31.6 percent lower than the expected rate with- out the law. —Staff report NEWS BRIEFS RNs reintroduce safe staffing ratios bill

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