The Pennsylvania State Nurses Association (PSNA), the State’s leading professional nursing organization representing more than 219,000 registered nurses, supports the introduction of the Hospital Nursing Staff Report Card Act, SB 1081 (PN 1477) introduced by Senator Wayne Fontana (D-42). This Act will allow for the compilation of daily nursing staff reports by hospitals and quarterly postings of nurse staffing levels through the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
SB 1081 will supplement Rep. Mauree Gingrich’s (R-101) Safe Nurse Staffing (HB 476) legislation. HB 476, supported by PSNA, does not mandate specific nurse-to-patient ratios. Instead, it empowers registered nurses to create patient-safety staffing plans aimed at reducing medical errors, saving lives and confronting chronic burnout. Currently, it is awaiting action in the House Health Committee.
“Pennsylvania patients and their families are suffering the consequences of chronic, unsafe staffing levels,” stated PSNA Chief Executive Officer Betsy M. Snook, MEd, BSN, RN. “Legislative solutions must be found to protect patients and nurses. PSNA believes that HB 476 and SB 1081 are those legislative solutions.”