Bill > S1183

This bill establishes minimum registered professional nurse (RN) staffing standards for hospitals and ambulatory surgery facilities, as well as certain facilities run by the Department of Human Services (DHS), recognizing that higher patient acuity and inadequate nurse staffing can lead to medical errors, infections, and increased injuries, and that understaffing contributes to the nursing shortage by causing burnout. The Commissioner of Health and Senior Services will create regulations for direct care RNs, meaning RNs directly providing patient care, to ensure specific nurse-to-patient ratios across various hospital units, such as medical/surgical, critical care, emergency departments, psychiatric units, operating rooms, and labor and delivery, with these ratios not decreasing existing standards. Facilities must also implement an approved acuity and staffing system that considers patient needs, professional standards, skill mix, and other staff levels, and this system needs approval from unit nurses or their bargaining agents; supervisory or non-nursing tasks performed by an RN will not count towards required staffing, and if patient acuity makes current staffing unsafe, more RNs must be provided. RNs who believe their facility is violating these staffing requirements can file a complaint with the Commissioner, who will investigate and take necessary action, and the Commissioner has 90 days to adopt regulations to implement the act, including holding a public hearing. The Commissioner of Human Services will also review and revise staffing standards for developmental centers and State psychiatric hospitals to ensure safe and adequate staffing.