‘Safe staffing’ bills approved
ALBANY — State lawmakers Tuesday approved long-stalled legislation aimed at creating “safe staffing” standards for hospitals and nursing homes.
Nurses and unions have long advocated for the changes, including establishing a minimum patientto-nurse ratio, and supporters argued the COVID-19 crisis only compounded the problems faced by caregivers.
The new mandates were approved in a pair of bills, one that calls for hospitals to create clinical staffing committees to come up with staffing plans, and another that sets a standard of 3½ hours of care per patient per day at nursing homes.
“Nurses have always been health care heroes, at our loved ones’ bedsides. And for the last year, they have also served on the front line of a global pandemic,” said Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx). “These bills will ensure that our nurses, whether in hospitals or nursing homes, are working under conditions that allow them to best help their patients and save lives.”
The hospital-focused bill requires each hospital establish a clinical staffing committees that must include frontline workers like nurses, as well as administration staff.
If an agreement on staffing levels can’t be reached, a hospital would be allowed to set its own standards, but the state Health Department has to review the plan.
“This legislation has the potential to be a game changer for patients, nursing home residents, nurses, frontline health are workers, and ultimately, New York’s health care system,” said New York State Nurses Association President Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez.
The bill targeting nursing homes, and requiring staff spend a certain number of hours with residents, had broad union support.
At minimum, nursing homes will have to include 3½ hours of nursing care per resident per day.
Nursing homes will also be required to publicly disclose information regarding nurse staffing so it’s visible and accessible to residents, families and staff.
“Right now, too many nursing homes have no minimum requirement for care,” said Milly Silva, an 1199 SEIU executive vice president in charge of nursing homes. “Residents have not been getting the care and attention they deserve because there just aren’t enough workers to care for them, and the evidence is clear that improved levels of staffing will lead to better outcomes for patients.”
The bills, which now go to Gov. Cuomo, give nursing homes until next year to comply; hospitals have until 2023 to implement their plans.
Nursing homes have become a flash point of controversy during the past year as thousands of residents died of coronavirus and critics cast blame on the governor and state policies.
Senate sponsor Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) said the pandemic has “exposed extensive flaws in our adult care facilities.”
“Unfortunately, we have seen that an understaffed nursing home is a dangerous environment that can lead to harm and injury to residents,” he said.
Opponents argue the measures will put a financial burden on already struggling long-term care facilities.