Arizona Patient Protection Act introduced- Sets Safe Nurse-to-Patient Staffing Ratios

[pickledpepperRN]

January 4, 2008

Arizona Patient Protection Act Introduced - HB 2041 Sets Safe Nurse-to-Patient Staffing Ratios, Ability for Nurses to Advocate for Urgent Patient Safety Measures

Arizona registered nurse leaders today announced the historic introduction of major legislation to make Arizona hospitals safer for patients and strengthen the ability of RNs to expose unsafe conditions and advocate for patient protections.

HB 2041, the Arizona Patient Protection Act, is sponsored by House member Tom Prezelski at the request of the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association.

Introduction of the bill was greeted by nurses across the state who have voiced increasing alarm about the erosion of care conditions in Arizona hospitals that they say put patients at risk and fan the nursing shortage as many RNs will no longer work in unsafe hospitals.

Among its major provisions, the Act:

* Mandates minimum, specific RN-to-patient staffing ratios which are widely seen by nurses and health care experts to be the most effective standard for safer nursing care and for promoting the retention and recruitment of RNs.

* Whistleblower protection for RNs who report unsafe hospital conditions or for refusing unsafe patient care assignments.

* Legal recognition of the right of RNs to act as advocates for their patients rather than for the economic interests of their hospital employer.

"Hospitals have a responsibility to staff properly in order for nurses to provide quality care for patients. Hospitals aren't doing that," said Diane Baker, an RN at Flagstaff Medical Center.

"The Arizona Patient Protection Act requires staffing levels, at all times, based on the acuity of the patient. This will save lives and allow us to provide the care that our fellow Arizonians deserve." ...

http://www.centredaily.com/business/story/310833.html

[Simplepleasures]

Excellent!Hope this is going to be looked at by other states and adopted, for hospitals and LTC,eventually.:hrnsmlys:

[PMHNP10]

outsanding...maybe the trend will be to move along the southern states from the west coast to the east coast...that's mean TX would be 2nd in line...btw...how are the efforts to unionize TX going? I hope the movement did not die out.

[pickledpepperRN]

I don't know about unionizing but according to the web site Texas nurses continue working for their Texas Hospital Patient Protection Act

http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/texas/

[pickledpepperRN]

California’s Historic RN-to-Patient Hospital Staffing Ratios Upgraded Again With New Year

...As of Jan. 1, new ratios are in effect for three specific units. They are: 1:3 in Step Down (transitional units between intensive care and general medical-surgical floors, reduced from 1:4), 1:4 in Telemetry (where patients are on monitors, improved from 1:5) and 1:4 in Other Specialty Care units such as cancer care (upgraded from 1:5).

“California’s ratios are a spectacular success story,” said Zenei Cortez, RN, member of the CNA/NNOC Council of Presidents. “Under our ratio law, lives are being saved, our ability to be effective advocates for our patients is stronger, and more RNs are entering the work force and staying at the bedside longer, mitigating the nursing shortage.”

Since the law was signed, 80,000 more licensed RNs have come into the state’s workforce.

CNA/NNOC has sponsored similar proposed bills in Arizona, Illinois, Maine, Ohio, and Texas, and is working with the Massachusetts Nurses Association on a proposed ratio law in their state. “RNs across the nation have seen the future, and the enormous benefits of this law. They know it works for patients, nurses, and communities,” said Cortez. ...

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080102005910&newsLang=en

[pickledpepperRN]

Health-care concerns take spotlight at state Capitol

Nursing organization rallies for bill requiring hospitals to have nurse-to-patient ratios

Claudia Koerner, The Arizona Republic

Feb. 15, 2008 12:00 AM

At least 60 Arizona nurses put aside their bedside manner Thursday to protest their working conditions, which they say are unsafe.

The protesters, who were organized by the National Nurses Organizing Committee, chanted and marched at the state Capitol in favor of the Arizona Patient Protection Act, a bill that seeks to mandate nurse-to-patient ratios at hospitals. …

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0215nursesrally0215.html

Nurses rally at Capitol, asking to 'improve conditions': http://www.abc15.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=a59673bf-487f-4b1c-88a0-e61ee3709e1a

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

see:

facts and controversies about nurse staffing policy: a look at existing models, enforcement issues, and research needs"

...no one knows what the optimal ratio is, because no one has yet identified

the point at which marginal costs and benefits are equal. nurses, nurse

leaders, health plan executives, and researchers interviewed for this brief said that many nurses are comforted by ratio policy because it guarantees a minimum staffing level on which nurses can depend.

it has been argued that fixed ratios improve staffing standards, especially

for hospitals that severely understaff. however, not much research or data exist about ratios’ efficacy. many researchers and some nurses—particularly the american nurses association (ana) and its affiliates—believe fixed ratios treat a symptom of the nurse staffing problem, rather than treating causes. “to set good nurse staffing policy,” says rose gonzalez, mps, rn, ana’s government affairs director, “there should be a plan created with the experts, and the experts are the ones on the ground—the nurses in the units.”

some hospitals and hospital associations argue that facilities may not be able to afford to hire additional nurses to meet the required ratios without receiving extra payments, but these have not been provided for in existing ratio policy. nurses and researchers alike are concerned about reports of hospitals firing ancillary staff to compensate for the costs of hiring additional nurses. also, shortage conditions may exert pressure on hospitals to reduce capacity in order to maintain ratios....

[sugarsmom]

I worked in AZ for 3 years and am very glad to hear this for the nurses there. I worked on a tele floor that I felt was completely under-staffed...you would have 5-6 patients and sometimes 3-4 of them would have sheaths that needed to be pulled. Not the best nursing practice as far as I am concerned. So I say GOOO AZ!!!!

[BrokenRNheart]

Great News! Their are links in other topics to send emails to legislators.

We are finally being heard....speak up.

[menetopali]

sounds like more pro-union propaganda to me.

if you want safer hospitals increase transparency throughout healthcare (including complication rates and outcome measurements), protect nurses who report unsafe conditions and physicians, change the working relationship between physicians on hospital staff and hospitals to an employer-employee model, and lastly give consumers choice of where to go for service instead of leaving that in the hands of physicians who have a financial interest in certain facilities.

using staffing ratios reduces the ability to flex up or down based on the actual acuity of the patients. as a charge nurse on any given day i would flex tele assignments that were light to a 5:1 and heavy assignments to a 3:1 to ensure safe care throughout the unit. mandated staffing ratios will send that flex ability out the window and will likely lead to more acute patients being placed where they don't belong to meet artificial ratios imposed by union bosses, certainly not a safer way to operate.

just my opinion though.

[Miss Chybil RN, BSN, RN]

Has there been any further action on this bill? I Googled it, but can't find anything more recent. I wonder if it does anything about CNA ratios, or if nurses will be expected to do more tasks traditionally delegated to CNAs.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Still in committee review:

http://www.azleg.gov/SearchResults.asp?SearchedFrom=%2FBills.asp&Scope=%2Flegtext%2F48leg%2F2R&SearchPhrase=HB+2041++++++&x=25&y=4