Bill Text: CT HB05384 | 2014 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Reports Of Nurse Staffing Levels.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-04-30 - File Number 725 [HB05384 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2014-HB05384-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
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February Session, 2014 |
*_____HB05384PH____032414____* |
AN ACT CONCERNING REPORTS OF NURSE STAFFING LEVELS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 19a-89e of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2014):
(a) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Department" means the Department of Public Health; and
(2) "Hospital" means an establishment for the lodging, care and treatment of persons suffering from disease or other abnormal physical or mental conditions and includes inpatient psychiatric services in general hospitals.
(b) [On and after July 1, 2009, each] Each hospital licensed by the department pursuant to chapter 368v shall [, upon request, make available] report, annually, to the department on a prospective nurse staffing plan with a written certification that the nurse staffing plan is sufficient to provide adequate and appropriate delivery of health care services to patients in the ensuing period of licensure. Such plan shall promote a collaborative practice in the hospital that enhances patient care and the level of services provided by nurses and other members of the hospital's patient care team.
(c) Each hospital shall establish a hospital staffing committee to assist in the preparation of the nurse staffing plan required pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. Registered nurses employed by the hospital whose primary responsibility is to provide direct patient care shall account for not less than fifty per cent of the membership of each hospital's staffing committee. In order to comply with the requirement that a hospital establish a hospital staffing committee, a hospital may utilize an existing committee or committees to assist in the preparation of the nurse staffing plan, provided not less than fifty per cent of the members of such existing committee or committees are registered nurses employed by the hospital whose primary responsibility is to provide direct patient care. Each hospital, in collaboration with its staffing committee, shall develop and implement to the best of its ability the prospective nurse staffing plan. Such plan shall: (1) Include the minimum professional skill mix for each patient care unit in the hospital, including, but not limited to, inpatient services, critical care and the emergency department; (2) identify the hospital's employment practices concerning the use of temporary and traveling nurses; (3) set forth the level of administrative staffing in each patient care unit of the hospital that ensures direct care staff are not utilized for administrative functions; (4) set forth the hospital's process for internal review of the nurse staffing plan; and (5) include the hospital's mechanism of obtaining input from direct care staff, including nurses and other members of the hospital's patient care team, in the development of the nurse staffing plan.
(d) Each hospital shall report, not later than ten days after the beginning of each calendar quarter, to the Department of Public Health its actual daily nurse staffing levels for each patient care unit. Such report shall include: (1) The number of registered nurses providing direct patient care and the ratio of patients to such registered nurses; (2) the number of licensed practical nurses providing direct patient care and the ratio of patients to such licensed practical nurses; (3) the number of registered nurse's aides, as defined in section 20-102aa, providing direct patient care and the ratio of patients to such registered nurse's aides; (4) the method used by the hospital to determine and adjust direct patient care staffing levels; and (5) a comparison between the prospective nurse staffing plan and the actual daily nurse staffing levels for each patient care unit.
(e) Not later than twenty days after the beginning of any calendar quarter during which a hospital's actual nurse staffing levels for any patient care unit are more than ten per cent above or below the hospital's projected staffing levels stated in the prospective nurse staffing plan, as described in subsection (b) of this section, such hospital shall submit to the Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's designee, an adjusted prospective nurse staffing plan for the remainder of that calendar year.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
July 1, 2014 |
19a-89e |
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In section 1(d)(5), "plan" was inserted after "prospective nurse staffing", for accuracy, and in section 1(e), the phrase "staffing levels in the prospective nurse staffing plan" was changed to "staffing levels stated in the prospective nurse staffing plan", for clarity.
PH |
Joint Favorable Subst. |