Nurse to Patient ratio legislation

[butterfly journey]

Hey everyone,

http://nursingworld.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/MediaResources/PressReleases/2010-PR/RN-Safe-Staffing-Bill-Introduced-in-Congress.aspx

I just read this article about the legislation being entered into congress concerning nurse to patient ratios and at the bottom it lists 7 states that already have legislation in place similar to what is being proposed. One of those states is Texas. I was not aware that this was part of the Texas legislation.

I am currently a student nurse in Texas, but I wanted to ask those of you who are practicing in the state of Texas did you know that this existed, is it currently in place or something being worked on now in hospitals and if it is currently in place, do you feel like the unit you work on is adequately staffed per the legislation?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Here is a quote from the linked article:

The safe staffing bill would require hospitals that participate in Medicare to publicly report nurse staffing plans for each unit. It would place limits on the practice of “floating” nurses by ensuring that RNs are not forced to work on units if they lack the education and experience in that specialty. It also would hold hospitals accountable for safe nurse staffing by requiring the development of procedures for receiving and investigating complaints; allowing imposition of civil monetary penalties for knowing violations; and providing whistle-blower protections for those who file a complaint about staffing.

This is not true nurse-to-patient ratio legislation. At this time, California is the only state in the union that has legally mandated nurse/patient ratios (5 patients to 1 nurse in med/surg and so forth). Yes, the facility where I am employed does publicly post the staffing numbers for the day, but there's still no legally mandated ratios with a specific number of patients per nurse.