Nevada government begins study of nurse staffing

Nevada RNformation, Nov 2003 by Bunch, Cynthia

-Find Out What YOU Can Do- YOU Are The Voice of Nursing!!

Hearings on the State Staffing study will begin in November 2003 and continue through May 2004. This is your opportunity to make your voice heard on this issue. You can listen to and view the hearings over the internet, testify in person or submit written testimony on how this issue has effected you. It is important that lawmakers hear from as many nurses as possible, including those nurses who have left bedside nursing due to staffing problems. Generally, we have only a week to 10 days notice of the hearing dates so it is critical to establish a system of e-mail notification to nurses that allows you to keep abreast of the hearing dates, any action that may be needed, links to listen to or view the hearings live via internet, minutes from the hearings, etc.. We will also include links in each e-mail to allow you to give your opinion or feedback to the lawmakers who will decide what action needs to be taken on nurse staffing. Nurse to Nurse Communication and Response have been the keys to success in this arena in other states. So, send us your e-mail address, stay informed as the study progresses - be a part of the solution -This is our opportunity to change the status quo. Our success depends on YOU!! To receive e-mail notification on this important issue send your e-mail address to us at NNA@nvnurses.org or visit our website at www.nvnurses.org. If you don't have internet access, call Lisa Black, RN, Executive Director of the Nevada Nurses Association at (775) 747-2333 or Cynthia Bunch, RN, President of the Nevada Nurses Association at (702) 897-2345. We will put you on a regular mailing list to receive updates.

Backgrounder on Nevada Nurse Staffing Study

For several years now the Nevada Nurses Association and the nursing community have been speaking to the media and State lawmakers about the need to address the problem of inadequate nurse staffing in many local health care facilities. As nurses continue to leave our local hospitals, administrators have pushed for "nurse replacements"- creating new "emergency room technicians", and expanding the duties of LPN's and respiratory therapists. These assistive personnel work under YOUR license increasing your supervisory responsibility and legal liability. This trend is likely to continue and the time has come for nurses to stop "running" from these problems and put forward their solutions to those who are in a position to make and change the laws that govern nurse staffing and patient safety in this State. The 63 lawmakers that comprise the Nevada State Legislature have acknowledged our need and they passed a new State law requiring one of the Legislatures' committees to do a comprehensive six month study of nurse staffing in Nevada. Legislative studies are expensive for State government and the Legislature grants only a handful of studies on issues of priority importance; your nurse colleagues have worked hard to get this study in place. The purpose of these "interim" studies is to allow a small group of the lawmakers to evaluate issues that are too complex and controversial to be addressed in the regular 4 month session of the Legislature. A final report of this study and recommendations for any changes in law that may be needed will be submitted to the full State Legislature by June 1, 2004. Be sure to read the articles in this newsletter on the " Nurse Staffing Forum" we hosted last month and the presentations by other States, organizations, and Nevada government agencies. Remember to send us your e-mail address, stay informed and involved as the study progresses - be a part of the solution - This is our opportunity to change the status quo. Our success depends on YOU !!

Below is the law we passed to create this study and the specifics on how it will be conducted:

Nevada Government Study of Nurse Staffing Assembly Bill No. 313 - Introduced by Assemblywomen Giunchigliani and Koivisto

AN ACT relating to health care; directing the Legislative Committee on Health Care to appoint a subcommittee to conduct an interim study of staffing of the system for the delivery of health care in Nevada; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

WHEREAS, Adequate levels of staffing of the system for the delivery of health care are among many of the components that help ensure the delivery of health care services in a manner that promotes proper care of patients and optimum outcomes; and

WHEREAS, The availability of adequate nursing staff is paramount to the access to high quality health care services in Nevada; and

WHEREAS, Appropriate staffing of the system for the delivery of health care helps ensure the quality of health care services provided to patients of the system for the delivery of health care in Nevada; now, therefore,

THE PEOPEE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1.

1. The Legislative Committee on Health Care shall appoint a subcommittee to conduct an interim study concerning staffing of the system for the delivery of health care in Nevada. The interim study must include: