The purpose of this discussion post is to provide information on a health care topic of interest to policy makers. The policy brief development around staff staffing for our hospitals is a point of interest that should be brought to attention on a larger scale. The writer would like to discussion Michigan specifically regarding safe staffing in hospitals. The problem is there is no law in Michigan, that limits the number of patients a registered nurse can be assigned or the number of hours registered nurses are forced to work.
Some ICU’s in Michigan, a registered nurse may have up to four patients at a time but in other Michigan hospitals the registered nurse may have a limit of one to two. “The risk of dying in the ICU increases by a factor of 3.5 when the patient-to-nurse ratio is greater than 2.5 to 1” (Neuraz et al., 2015). Registered nurses are reporting that their workload is rarely or never adjusted when they report having an unsafe assignment. Michigan hospitals do not have to disclose current staffing levels. Registered nurses can be fired for refusing to work longer hours because administration classifies this as patient abandonment – this could also lead to the nurse losing their license. Scientific studies provide evidence of the link between inadequate registered nurse staffing and poor outcomes for hospital patients. Evidence supports: “The risk of death from cardiac arrest in the hospital is nearly 20% higher on the night shift, when RN staffing typically lower” (Peberdy et al., 2008). Additionally, not only do patients have a higher risk of dying of cardiac arrest due to staffing they also have an increase risk of getting an infection during their hospital stay. “Patients cared for in hospitals with higher RN staffing were 68% less likely to acquire infections” (Rogowski et al., 2013).
The involvement of Michigan Nurse Association has been a positive push towards the resolution of the staffing issues that Michigan hospitals have. The primary two things that MNA has done to support the Safe Patient Care Act: Connect members with legislators to share their stories and grown bipartisan support for the legislation and recruited the most cosponsors in the legislation’s history. The bipartisan Safe Patient Care Act is a plan to increase the safety of patients in Michigan hospitals and retain our nurses in an already stressful environment. The issue at hand is that there is no law that limits the number of patients a registered nurse can be assigned to take care of in the hospital. This is not only alarming nut is very unsafe for both the patient and nurse. There is also no law to prevent hospitals from making nurses work unlimited hours (leading to shifts of 14, 16 or even 20 hours). Nurses are becoming exhausted and stressed which increases the risk of mistakes and errors which is a very dangerous situation. Quality care and patient advocacy is a priority of the registered nurse. Understaffing and being overworked leads to unplanned events such as falls, infections, medication errors and deaths. There is a solution to lowering these risks and making a safer environment for our patients and registered nurses. “The Michigan Safe Patient Care Act is a 3-part bipartisan package in the state House and Senate that addresses rampant RN understaffing and excessive forced RN overtime. It will force administrators to make decisions based on patients’ needs, rather than misguided cost-cutting in the hospital industry” (MI Nurse Association, 2021).
The solution is the Michigan Safe Patient Care Act! The Michigan Safe Patient Care Act is a 3-part bipartisan package in the state House and Senate that addresses rampant RN understaffing and excessive forced RN overtime. It will force administrators to make decisions based on patients’ needs, rather than misguided cost-cutting in the hospital industry.
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Lavis, J. N., Permanand, G., Oxman, A. D., Lewin, S., & Fretheim, A. (2009). SUPPORT Tools for evidence-informed health Policymaking (STP) 13: Preparing and using policy briefs to support evidence-informed policymaking. Health Research Policy & Systems, Health Research Policy & Systems, 71–79.
MI Nurse Association. (2021). The bipartisan Safe Patient Care Act. https://www.misaferhospitals.org/uploads/7/7/1/1/7711851/with_bill_numbers_2021_spca_bills_cheat_sheet.pdf
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