Safe Staffing Act in Texas

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Hi everyone!

In one of my RN-BSN classes we are writing a paper about the Safe Staffing Act (TX) and staffing committees. The assignment involes discussing your hospitals staffing committee plan. However, I am currently not working (due to a tough pregnancy) so obviously I don't have this information and my instuctor told me to just "do what you can". :confused:

So.... If anyone out there is on their hospitals staffing committee or just know the particulars of it, I would REALLY appreciate your help with any or all of these questions!!!

- What is the procedure for selecting staff nurses for the committee?

- What is the procedure for selecting nurse managers for the committee?

- How many people are on the committee?

- Is a certain number or percentage of staff RNs, managers, and executives required?

- How do staff nurses communicate concerns to the staffing committee?

- How do they receive feedback?

Thank you SO much!!!!!

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Specializes in ER.

I've been reading this board for awhile, and I was under the impression that Texas (and Florida) had some of the worst staffing, and were the most likely to be fired for complaining about staffing. I'd love to hear more...Do Texas nurses think the law is effective? Do they get informal consequences for insisting on safe staffing?

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

I would contact some local hospitals, identify yourself as a student, and ask for contact information for someone in that position. You could start with the public information officer or just email the chief nurse directly. I'm in grad school and have done this a few times with good results. Good luck.

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Specializes in Ortho and Tele med/surg.

Well I currently work in Texas. Whenever a nurse feels that a situation is unsafe they can invoke what they call "safe harbor." I know that you have to document the situation and it will be investigated and so forth. I've never seen it happen before but I've heard that quite a few nurses have done it and there were consequences for those nurses. I know that the reason why my hospital started giving us better pt load is because a few nurses had called safe harbor and they found that situation was in deed unsafe. I know that if it had continued I would have left a long time ago. I have seen some shocking things that made me flat out say "No way."

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Specializes in ED, ICU, PSYCH, PP, CEN.

Every hospital is different. I only work ER in the Dallas area. I do mostly agency and only go to places that have safe ratio. For ER this would be 4:1. Some hospitals are great about this, and some take rampant advantage of the nurses and just don't care.

The hospital I am on staff at staffs very safely. I have worked at several places and most only give lip service to having nurses on staffing committees. It just doesn't happen.

Safe staffing ratios is probably the biggest issue with most nurses, closely followed by violence problems.

We as nurses need to stand strong and refuse to work at places that give us too many patients. But most nurses don't have the financial freedom to walk from a job just because of ratios, so the problem continues and gets worse

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