Bill > HB81

This bill, known as the Patient Safe Staffing Act, mandates that hospitals establish nursing staffing committees composed of eleven members, including seven nurses who provide direct patient care and four other qualified individuals, to develop and review staffing plans for each hospital unit. These plans must specify the minimum number of nurses and ancillary staff (personnel assisting with nursing care, such as certified nurse assistants and unit secretaries) needed per shift based on patient needs and hospital conditions, ensuring adequate nurse orientation and outlining exceptions for emergencies. The committees will determine nursing staffing levels, considering recommendations from various sources, patient acuity, available technology, and nurse experience, with decisions made by majority vote, and hospitals must adopt an algorithm to maintain these levels, prohibiting mandated overtime to achieve them. The act also grants nurses the right to refuse assignments if they lack the necessary qualifications or if the assignment is outside their scope of practice. Hospitals are required to post daily reports in each unit detailing patient census and actual staffing levels, and to submit quarterly reports to the department of health (the state agency overseeing health services) for public disclosure on its website, which the department will audit and enforce compliance with, including imposing penalties. Furthermore, the bill protects employees from retaliation for raising concerns about staffing or reporting issues, and appropriates $100,000 to the department of health for fiscal year 2016 to carry out these duties, including website expenses.