Description of the Bill
The goal of the Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2007 is "To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing minimum nurse staffing ratios at certain Medicare providers, and for other purposes."
The problem identified in Congress is that "There are hospitals throughout the United States that have inadequate staffing of registered nurses to protect the well-being and health of the patients" The target population of hospitals to come into compliance is any federally funded (Medicare) hospital.
Things required for new formulation of nursing staff minimal requirements include:
-- Nurse input.
-- Have the staffing numbers required to perform more demanding patient care, such as acutely ill patients, admissions, discharges, etc.
--Acknowledgement of the disparities of geographical and technological supplies within various hospitals and allowance of the potential excess time required to access these materials.
--Acknowledge staffing shortages in other closely-related disciplines and their affects on nursing demand.
--Give nurses the power to examine a patient's medical needs and request staffing accordingly.
--Place nurses in an area of care that they feel adequately trained to provide safely.
--Strive for accurate feedback to ensure accurate nursing staffing.
--Hospitals will not be allowed to cap the number of nurses requested by nursing staff if warranted by patient condition.
-- Hospitals will keep public and overseeing governmental bodies aware of hospital records of published regarding registered nursing staff patient ratios.
-- The hospital must maintain current evaluation no older than one year of the required registered nurse-to-patient ratio.
--The newly created role of the Secretary in these hospitals will be to record and publish the data collected about registered nurse-to-patient ratios. If a person files a complaint with the level of care provided related to short staffing, the hospital may be fined and the Secretary will make note of it and publish the complaint and fine on a public website. The hospitals may not retaliate against any nurse or patient that claims that the hospital has not acted appropriately.
The goal of the Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2007 is "To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing minimum nurse staffing ratios at certain Medicare providers, and for other purposes."
The problem identified in Congress is that "There are hospitals throughout the United States that have inadequate staffing of registered nurses to protect the well-being and health of the patients" The target population of hospitals to come into compliance is any federally funded (Medicare) hospital.
Things required for new formulation of nursing staff minimal requirements include:
-- Nurse input.
-- Have the staffing numbers required to perform more demanding patient care, such as acutely ill patients, admissions, discharges, etc.
--Acknowledgement of the disparities of geographical and technological supplies within various hospitals and allowance of the potential excess time required to access these materials.
--Acknowledge staffing shortages in other closely-related disciplines and their affects on nursing demand.
--Give nurses the power to examine a patient's medical needs and request staffing accordingly.
--Place nurses in an area of care that they feel adequately trained to provide safely.
--Strive for accurate feedback to ensure accurate nursing staffing.
--Hospitals will not be allowed to cap the number of nurses requested by nursing staff if warranted by patient condition.
-- Hospitals will keep public and overseeing governmental bodies aware of hospital records of published regarding registered nursing staff patient ratios.
-- The hospital must maintain current evaluation no older than one year of the required registered nurse-to-patient ratio.
--The newly created role of the Secretary in these hospitals will be to record and publish the data collected about registered nurse-to-patient ratios. If a person files a complaint with the level of care provided related to short staffing, the hospital may be fined and the Secretary will make note of it and publish the complaint and fine on a public website. The hospitals may not retaliate against any nurse or patient that claims that the hospital has not acted appropriately.
Sponsor: Daniel K Inouye-D, Hawaii
Need for Policy Change
Inadequate staffing has an adverse effect on both patients and nurses. Quality of nursing care has been shown to decline with understaffing, and a patient’s health directly correlates with the number of registered nurse (RN) employees. This is an increasing problem because there is a severe shortage of and growing demand for RNs in the United States. The shortage of RNs is expected to reach 500,000 by 2025 according to Dr. Peter Buerhaus in a March 2008 report titled The Future of the Nursing Workforce in the United States: Data, Trends, and Implications (http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/FactSheets/NursingShortage.htm). The Federal Government will pay less money in Medicare reimbursements through decreasing the nurse to patient ratio because patient safety is better protected and fewer errors in care will occur while patients are in the hospital. If bill S.73 is passed, the decreased nurse to patient ratio will improve patient’s safety, promote a more positive work environment for RNs, and save money through reducing the number of hospital related errors and illnesses.
4 comments:
The subject of your blog is extremely important to the nursing profession and relevant to newly graduating nurses. It should also be a concern for civilians as well, as the nursing shortage will affect patient care. The need for more nurses is only increasing every year as baby boomers both retire from the nursing profession and require more nursing care. The nursing shortage causes many safety concerns because the necessary attention may not always be able to be applied to each patient.
I think this issue is extremely important in American politics. As the baby boomer generation continues to age, more individuals will be taking advantage of the Medicare system. Staffing shortages already exist, so we must take action now to allocate proper resources to be available as more patients enter the Medicare system. Non-action could lead to dangerous consequences for these patients.
Safety in numbers is absolutely correct. That is my biggest fear; having to spread my self short because of ridiculous nurse patient/patient ratios. Not only will their be better job satisfaction for the nursing staff if the ratio is reasonable, but the health care expenditures will be reduced drastically because of better patient outcomes.
This blog looks wonderful and is full of useful information. Work overload is a huge factor in the recruitment and retention of nurses and its importance continues to increase as the nursing shortage worsens. As an intern to an RN I know how hard RNs work today to provide safe and efficient care for their patients. Often delivering this level of care means giving up personal needs of the nurse due to time restraints. For example, most nurses feel pressured to either skip their lunch breaks or rush through eating because of the tasks they have perform during their shift. To my knowledge this does not happen to all professionals, and is a big issue because as a nurse we're responsible for the lives of others. Without time to take care of ourselves the quality of care for our patients suffers, and many nurses leave the profession. Action needs to be taken immediately in order for our health care system to improve, and I think passage of this bill is a good start.
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