Lawmakers Consider Staffing Mandates to Reduce Stress and Burnout for Nurses
A nurse gestures for a patient as on-campus staff working on the grounds of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale are tested for COVID-19 by nasal swab before they can begin their shifts, Friday, June 12, 2020, in the Bronx borough of New York. Associated Press
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More than two-thirds of state lawmakers in New York have signed onto a bill that would require nurse-to-patient ratios, which supporters say would reduce burnout and improve medical outcomes for patients.
Lawmakers in New York are contemplating minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in health-care facilities ahead of a potential second wave of Covid-19 infections, a requirement supporters say would improve quality of care and reduce stress, burnout and malpractice among medical professionals.
“The number of patients assigned to a nurse has a direct impact on the quality of care that a nurse can provide,” state Rep. Aileen Gunther, a Democrat from Forestburgh and a registered nurse, said at a press conference Wednesday.
Under the Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act, first introduced by Gunther a decade ago, nursing homes, hospitals and health-care facilities in New York would for the first time be required to establish minimum nurse-to-patient ratios for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and certified nurse’s aides. Facilities would be required to submit those ratios to the state in annual plans as well as disclose staffing levels to the public.
The legislation would also allow nurses to refuse work assignments if they’re not properly educated for the task at hand, or if the facility is not in compliance with its minimum staffing requirements.
Roughly two-thirds of New York’s state legislators have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, and it’s supported by a broad swath of advocacy groups, including the New York State Nurses Association, the New York State AFL-CIO and the League of Women Voters.
But health-care administrators and hospitals have long opposed the measure, saying that “inflexible nurse staffing ratios” are a “one-size-fits-all approach” that fails to consider the unique characteristics of individual facilities, according to the Greater New York Hospital Association.
“Now, in the Covid-19 transition era, when hospitals are fighting for their very survival due to a severe loss of revenue, such a mandate is unthinkable,” Kenneth Raske, the association’s president, told lawmakers in August, according to the Associated Press.
The New York State Department of Health in August determined that the bill would require health-care facilities across the state to hire more than 50,000 nurses and 20,000 certified nurses aides, costing between $3.7 billion and $4.7 billion.
“In addition, some research suggests that New York State will continue to experience a nursing shortage through the next decade, which could make meeting any mandated minimum staffing levels unachievable for some providers,” the report said.
Gunther said Wednesday that any increased costs from implementing staffing ratios could be mitigated by savings from improved patient outcomes, fewer malpractice suits and reduced “adverse effects.”
“We have called nurses across our country heroes,” she said. “If we’re calling them heroes, let’s make sure we act like they’re heroes, and sign this bill.”
Kate Elizabeth Queram is a staff correspondent for Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.
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