Would you support this federal staffing bill?

[herring_RN]

Would you support this bill to provide staffing in acute care and long term acute care hospitals by patient acuity with the ratio the maximum number of patients that may be assignd to a nurse?

One of these links should work:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-1031

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s1031is.txt.pdf

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

scroll down. this is included in the bill:

'(d) prohibition against imposition of lay-offs- a hospital shall not impose lay-offs of licensed vocational or practical nurses, licensed psychiatric technicians, certified nursing assistants, or other ancillary staff to meet the hospital unit direct care registered nurse-to-patient ratios required under this subsection.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-1031

[anonymurse]

Right. But it says absolutely nothing about LPN and nursing assistant workload, scheduling, and attrition. Do you seriously think hospital bean counters can't read between the lines?

[adiplomadinosaur]

My place of work has already cut the aides and secretaries. I feel bad for the patients as they no longer receive the patient care they need. Nurses cannot do it all, contrary to what administrators think.

[rn4lyfe08]

If we have the government mandate staffing levels, the hospital will cut corners elsewhere.. picture your 5 patients, no CNA's, no secretary, and cuts on housekeeping, etc. 5 to one is good, if you don't have to do all of the orders, answer the phone, clean patient rooms, do all the baths, etc. etc. And if the government is involved, the oversight committees and extra govenment workers will be taking their share off the top of medicare/medicaid funding. The bottom line will still be the money, not the patients.

Some facilities are like that now. Try it w/ 6 pts!!!, and charge nurse has a full load too!! Acuity not taken into account.

[himilayaneyes]

i personally would support a bill the specified the amount of patients i could have on a telemetry floor. i don't appreciate having 6, not always stable, patients and covering 1 for the lpn (basically also my patient). not to mention having a higher nurse to patient ration only risk your nursing license.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

I'd like to see mandated ratios for LTC. It's extremely hard to manage meds, dressing changes, treatments, and assessments for 15-30 patients.

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

certainly skilled nursing facilities need improved staffing regulations.

it will require a coalition on rns, lpn/lvns, cnas, residents, potential residents, and family members to achieve this.

for now evidence continues to prove what we know. safe staffing saves lives, prevents complications, and keeps the best nursing staff at the bedside in acute care hospitals. this includes ltacs.

a lower nurse-to-patient ratio results in significantly fewer patient deaths and less professional burnout

by suzanne gordon | august 5, 2010

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/08/05/critical_care/