NursingLink

News >> Browse Articles >> Nurse Features

In Ohio, Nurses Get Say in Staffing

A new Ohio law requires that nurses have a say on how they’re staffed at hospitals, but labor unions say the measure doesn’t go far enough to protect patients.

The law, which takes effect in September, requires hospitals to create a committee to recommend how many registered nurses should be in every unit, including emergency departments and intensive-care and surgical units.

The law also requires that nurses who provide direct patient care make up half of the committee and that hospital staffing plans be available to the public.

State Rep. Jim Hughes, a Columbus Republican who sponsored the bill, said the law will improve patient care. The measure is similar to legislation enacted in other states, including Illinois, Oregon and Texas.

Nurse administrators at area hospitals say these committees will include outspoken nurses.

“You want your informal leaders to participate and have a voice,” said Marcy Conti, chief nursing officer at Doctors Hospital.

The Ohio Nurses Association and the Ohio Hospital Association backed the bill.

Others, however, spoke against the legislation.

The Ohio chapter of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, part of the California Nurses Association, says the law doesn’t require hospital administrators to follow the nurses’ recommendations.

“Hospitals will still be able to staff within their budgets, and there lies the problem,” said Katrina Howard, a nurse and organizer of the National Nurses Organizing Committee. “It’s a joke.”

Howard’s association wants a law that sets nurse-to-patient ratios.

California law requires that each nurse have no more than five patients on general medical floors and in surgical units.

There’s debate on whether the law has improved patient care, particularly since some hospitals say they have cut support staff to maintain nursing ratios.

Ohio hospital leaders say set ratios are a bad idea.

“I think hospitals need the flexibility to adjust staffing based on patient volume and patient acuity,” said Jackie Watercutter, chief nursing officer at Mount Carmel West hospital.

Mary Nash, chief nursing executive at Ohio State University Medical Center, agrees.

“The last thing we all need is more mandates,” Nash said. “It increases costs, and people have to count things.”

Howard, a Cleveland nurse, said that, without set limits, patient safety is at risk.

“I’ve talked to nurses who work at Ohio hospitals where they take care of 13-14 patients at a time,” she said.

The Service Employees International Union District 1199, which represents 2,000 registered nurses in Ohio, supports ratios. But the union also wants a law that would prohibit hospitals from laying off support staff.

Mary Yost, an Ohio Hospital Association spokeswoman, said her organization would fight any bill that pushes set ratios.

The Ohio Nurses Association said the new law will help staffing issues.

“It is a great first step, and we hope it’s a last step,” said Terry Tran, director of health policy at the Ohio Nurses Association. “You can’t foretell the future, but we want to make this a success.”

(c) YellowBrix 2008

---