Pennsylvania Nurses:

Read and familiarize yourself with House Bill H.B. 106 & Senate Bill S. 247, which would provide protection for PA nurses and patients.

 

In summary, the bill would:

• Legally mandate nurse-to-patient ratios in the state of Pennsylvania

• Institution of "Safe Harbor," which would allow nurses to challenge unsafe assignments without fear of retribution

• Require hospitals to develop a staffing plan that accounts for contingencies and fluctuation and requires appropriate amounts of Registered Nurses

• Prevent hospitals from bumping up their numbers of RNs while simultaneously getting rid of LPNs, CNAs, and ancillary staff

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US Nurses:

Read and familiarize yourself with House Bill H.R.3165 and Senate Bill S.1567, which would protect nurses and patients by establishing safe guidelines that hospitals would be required to follow.

 

In summary, the bills would ensure:

• reasonable and safe nurse-to-patient ratios in the acute care hospital setting

• that nurses will not be assigned to areas in which they are not oriented and competent (i.e., pulling a post-partum nurse to a step-down floor)

• that each patient will be directly assigned to a nurse who will oversee, plan, and carry out their care

• that administrators and supervisors - including charge nurses - will no longer be counted as "direct care nurses" when planning the staffing of the floors unless those people will be providing direct patient care

• that hospitals cannot average the number of patients and the number of nurses in order to make their ratios appear better

• that hospitals cannot use video monitors as a substitute for direct patient care

      and more...

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Please contact your Senators and Representatives and share your support for this legislation! If you aren't sure who your elected officials are, you can use the Find Your Member function on the Congress.gov website.

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