"One Size Does Not Fit All," says ANA; Nurses Back Massachusetts Patient Safety Act (S. 1260)
Silver Spring, MD - The Patient Safety Act (S. 1260) will allow Massachusetts nurses to determine the safest staffing ratio for the patient in each unit within each hospital. According to the American Nurses Association (ANA), this approach will protect patients by creating a public accountability process for establishing safe registered nurse staffing levels.
"ANA joins the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses in supporting Senator Richard Moore's (D - Uxbridge) proposed legislation because it holds hospitals accountable for appropriate nurse staffing, and requires frontline nurses to be an integral part of the staffing decision-making process," said ANA President Barbara Blakeney, MS, RN. "While ANA has long supported upwardly adjustable, minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, we also believe that staffing systems must consider both individual and aggregate patient needs and unit support functions. ANA favors S. 1260 because it takes these factors into account."
"Massachusetts is among a growing number of states that represent a national movement towards adopting a similar multi-dimensional, comprehensive approach to safe staffing," said ANA Director of Government Affairs Rose Gonzalez. "One size doesn't fit all when it involves the number of nurses needed to provide quality care for patients in any given hospital unit," explained Gonzalez. "We've already seen successful safe staffing measures introduced in other states, including Oregon, which in 2001 passed comprehensive legislation requiring hospitals to set unit-by-unit safe staffing levels - in coordination with direct care nurses and based on the unique needs of each unit and its patients. Texas also enacted similarly strong regulations in 2002," said Gonzalez .
The solutions offered in the proposed Massachusetts Patient Safety Act are based on scientific evidence, including three studies published in 2002 - one in the New England Journal of Medicine, one by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and another in the Journal of the American Medical Association - which found direct links between nurse staffing levels and better patient outcomes.
Based on this evidence and findings from ANA's own report, Nurse Staffing and Patient Outcomes in the Inpatient Hospital Setting (2000), ANA supports the development of a nurse-driven staffing plan that takes into consideration the following nursing-sensitive measures:
number of patients on a unit including admissions, discharges and transfers;
level of intensity of care for all patients;
the architecture and geography of a unit;
availability of supportive unit technology;
availability and appropriate numbers of ancillary staff;
level of preparation and experience of the nursing staff; and
input from direct care RNs into the development and revision of the staffing ratios.
In addition, ANA supports monetary penalties for institutions that fail to comply with required staffing levels.
"We agree with senator Moore's assessment that government intervention is necessary when simplistic marketplace solutions do not protect patients. We commend the Senator both for putting patient-care concerns first and for addressing a nurse staffing crisis that is fast reaching crisis proportions, not just in Massachusetts but across the nation," said Blakeney.
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The ANA is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.9 million registered nurses through its 54 constituent member nurses associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the rights of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.