Bill > SB596

This bill amends existing law regarding administrative penalties for health facilities, specifically focusing on nurse-to-patient staffing ratio violations. The bill introduces a precise definition of an "on-call list" for nurses, clarifying that hospitals cannot consider themselves as having exhausted their on-call list by contacting nurses who are not originally scheduled to be on call or assigned to a float pool for a specific unit and shift. The legislation requires the State Department of Public Health to treat violations occurring on separate days as distinct violations, instead of considering multiple violations found during the same inspection survey as a single violation. For general acute care hospitals, the bill maintains the existing provision that allows hospitals to avoid administrative penalties if they can demonstrate that staffing level fluctuations were unpredictable, they made prompt efforts to maintain required staffing, and genuinely exhausted their on-call nurse list. The administrative penalties remain substantial, with $15,000 for a first violation and $30,000 for subsequent violations, and the bill ensures that violations more than three years apart are treated as first-time offenses. The overall intent is to provide more precise guidelines for assessing penalties related to nurse staffing requirements while maintaining flexibility for hospitals in managing unexpected staffing challenges.

Budget and Finance, Health and Social Services

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB596