Take action to support Senate Bill 470, the Nurse Staffing and Patient Protection Act
New legislation to improve patient care in our Wisconsin hospitals has been introduced in the Wisconsin Legislature. The Nurse Staffing and Patient Protection Act has been introduced as Senate Bill 470 and assigned to the Committee on Health. Senate Bill 470 will create enforceable nurse-to-patient ratios and safe staffing plans for all direct care healthcare workers in hospitals in Wisconsin. The legislation will require hospitals to have enough nurses and healthcare workers working at all times, raising standards in our hospitals, reducing medical errors and improving working conditions for our health professionals.
The Nurse Staffing and Patient Protection Act was introduced by Senator Chris Larson, Senator Tim Carpenter, Senator Dianne Hesselbein and Senator LaTonya Johnson and is cosponsored by Rep. Francesca Hong, Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, Rep. Kristina Shelton, Rep. Marisabel Cabrera, Rep. Alex Joers, Rep. Jimmy Anderson, Rep. Christine Sinicki, Rep. Shelia Stubbs, Rep. Lori Palmeri, Rep. Ryan Clancy, Rep. Clinton Anderson, Rep. Sylvia Oritz-Velez and Rep. Lisa Subeck.
Contact your Wisconsin state senator and representative today and urge them to support this important legislation.
A recent national healthcare staffing task force report showed that adding just one more patient to a nurse’s workload can cause:
A 16 percent increase in each Medicare patient’s chance of mortality in a medical-surgical unit;
- A 48 percent increased risk of readmission within 30 days for pediatric patients;
- A 5 percent decrease in likelihood of surviving in-hospital cardiac arrest; and
- An Increased risk of multiple kinds of infections.
Staffing ratios are a growing concern nationwide. A law that takes effect this month in Oregon is the nation's most recently passed legislation to require minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios across all hospitals. The law aims to improve patient safety, reduce medical errors, and provide nurses with better working conditions. This precedent-setting statute includes specified nurse-to-patient ratios for a wide range of acute care settings, including emergency departments, intensive care units, labor and delivery units, operating rooms, and others. We can and should do the same in Wisconsin.
Together, let’s raise our voice to improve patient care, better healthcare careers, and save lives in Wisconsin.