Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/971007
9 Massachusetts The Patient Safety Act calls upon the Department of Public Health to set a safe limit on the number of patients assigned to a nurse at one time, based on an evaluation of evidenced-based research. In addition, the bill calls for staffing to be adjusted based on acuity and the patient's needs, bans the practice of mandatory overtime, and includes language to improve reporting of nurse-sensitive measures so that meaningful quality of care comparison can be made. "Understaffing is part of the healthcare crisis facing this nation and the state of Massachusetts. Registered nurses are being forced to care for too many patients at one time, and patients endure the consequences in the form of preventable medical errors, avoidable complications, increased length of stay, and readmissions. We need to pass safe staffing legislation to protect our patients and the integrity of our nursing practice." — Donna Kelly-Williams, RN, president, Massachusetts Nurses Association Illinois The 2012 Nursing Care and Quality Improvement Act, H.B. 2548. "When nurses are short staffed, our patients suffer. Ratios are key to the quality care our patients deserve." — Dorothy Ahmad, RN, Chicago, Illinois Minnesota The 2012 Staffing For Patient Safety Act would set a maximum patient assignment for registered nurses based on factors including nursing intensity and patient acuity, and would require hospital administrators to work directly with nurses to ensure that adequate resources are provided to keep patients safe. It would also increase transparency surrounding the staffing process. "After years of broken promises from hospitals to work directly with nurses to address patient safety issues that resulted from inadequate staffing, we've been left with no choice but to take our concerns to the state legislature. We need legislation like this to hold hospital administrators accountable and keep our patients safe." — Linda Hamilton, RN, president, Minnesota Nurses Association Pennsylvania S.B. 438/H.B. 1874 would establish minimum RN-to-patient ratios, based on the California law, along with whistle-blower protections. Only direct-care nurses can be counted in the ratios, and the ratios would cover all shifts. Nothing would preclude any facility from implementing higher nurse staffing levels. "Many of the issues we are faced with on the job are a direct result of poor staffing levels. When there is not enough staff, workplace violence against nurses is harder to prevent, talented RNs leave the profes- sion because they simply burn out, and the quality of patient care is at risk because we just don't have the time to do everything we would if we had safe ratios." — Patricia Eakin, RN, president, Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals